CHRISTIANSBURG -- Residents who use Blacksburg Transit's one route in Christiansburg say they are on board with a plan to expand the bus service. The question is whether the Christiansburg Town Council is, too.

"I hope it happens. I'd like to see it happen," said Barry Bowling, a frequent rider.

The Two Town Trolley Christiansburg Loop is Bowling's primary source of transportation to his job at Hot Topic, a clothing store in the New River Valley Mall.

Evelyn Sensabaugh also uses the bus to get to her job at Hardee's on Roanoke Street and said expanding the service would benefit residents. With the project resting in the hands of the town council, Sensabaugh didn't hesitate to say what decision should be made.

"I think they need to do it," she said.

At the May 5 council meeting, a month after Blacksburg Transit presented the results of its surveys of Christiansburg residents, council members balked at the idea of funding for the expansion in the town's $36 million budget for 2009-10.

According to the survey conducted late last year, 60 percent of respondents said they would use the buses if the transit system expanded its routes farther into Christiansburg. Currently, the bus service provides 11 routes in Blacksburg compared with one in Christiansburg that loops from the New River Valley Mall to the Montgomery County Government Center.

Overall, the transit system serves 2.6 million riders a year, Director Rebecca Martin said.

But during a public hearing on the budget at that meeting, council members said they were reluctant to include the $163,000 project because of the recession.

"We need to know more before we can vote on this," Councilman Ernie Wade said then.

Vice Mayor Brad Stipes said the sum is a small price to pay to provide a service to help residents in need.

"There are a lot of people out there that are having problems, increasingly, getting from one point to another," Stipes said.

Council will address the company with these questions at a special work session Monday afternoon, and a representative from the bus service plans to be there.

"We're pretty optimistic that if we answer their questions they should have everything they need to move forward," said Erik Olsen of Blacksburg Transit.

The council will then gather Tuesday night for its regular meeting, at which it is scheduled to vote on the 2009-10 budget -- with or without the transit funding.

Based on the survey results, Blacksburg Transit has created a variety of routes for council to choose from to fit the riders' needs.

The Christiansburg Downtown Loop would replace the current Two Town Trolley, which Martin said has low ridership and limited connectivity to neighborhoods. The route would focus on downtown commercial areas and would serve riders who need to shop, run errands or visit government facilities.

The Christiansburg Flex Route would focus on neighborhood access and convenience for riders. Riders could call 24 hours in advance to request service between various town hubs.

The third option, the Mall Commercial Circulator, links to other proposed routes, as well as the Blacksburg portion of the Two Town Trolley. This route would also connect to various shopping places near the mall.

The last two options are commuter routes intended to circulate to popular areas throughout Christiansburg, while also connecting to Blacksburg. This route would also operate as a van pool, Martin said, allowing riders to contact Blacksburg Transit for rides to their jobs.

Olsen said Blacksburg Transit could begin the Downtown, Circulator and Flex routes this year. Should council opt for the commuter routes, the company would plan to launch them by next spring, which allows time for additional research on route times and funding.

During the first run of the Two Town Trolley Christiansburg Loop on Wednesday afternoon, the bus had some 10 to 15 riders. Most passengers were making a trip to work. The loop begins at 12:45 p.m. during the week.

"I think they need to do some more routes, especially in the morning," Sensabaugh said.

Jason McGinnis, an employee at Southern Classic Auto Wash, said he takes the bus to work three times a week, and offering earlier times would make his commute easier.

Chris Rhoades, who works at Famous Anthony's in Blacksburg, said a wider variety of pickup times would generate a lot of new riders, especially among Christiansburg residents who commute to Blacksburg for work.

"It would help people on the farther end of town get and keep good jobs," he said.

Rhoades said he has trouble with his commute because the route starts so late. He rides the earliest run of the Two Town Trolley loop, which begins more than an hour before he has to clock in, and often arrives at work 15 minutes late. Also because the loop stops running shortly after 6 p.m., he has to pack bags of clothes and "crash here and there" at friends' houses after working late evenings, because the bus is his only way back home.

Rhoades said he thinks many residents deal with the same issue. And for them, a vehicle "just isn't in the budget."

Rhoades said "you can't beat" the current 50 cent charge to ride the bus and understands the price could go up if routes are added.

Given the importance of the service to residents, Rhoades said he would "find it sort of rude" if the price rose above $1 per ride. But if it rose to just $1 he would comfortably pay it. It beats the $20 alternative of taking a cab, he said.

Olsen said while it will cost the town to expand service, the council is getting a good deal, because the town would pay only 10 percent of capital costs for more buses. Federal and state grants would pay the rest. Operation costs would be split 50-50, Olsen said.

"If they decide within the next week to go forward, we should be up and running by October," he said.