Bus service in the Big Horn Basin will remain – for now – according to officials attending a meeting of the Big Horn Basin Transportation Authority last Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Lovell, but how long the service will continue is still very much up in the air.


A trial period to determine the feasibility of continuing bus service in the basin was to end Sept. 30, and a meeting to discuss the future of the service was called for last Wednesday by the Transportation Authority and officials from Arrow/Black Hills Stage Lines.


Attending the meeting were members of the Transportation Authority including Lovell Town Councilman Brian Dickson; Rich Douglass and John Black of the Wyoming Dept. of Transportation; Janice Johnson and Jim Maly of Arrow/Black Hills Stage Lines and local citizens.


Black Hills Stage Lines of Norfolk, Neb., operating in the Big Horn Basin under the company’s Arrow Stage Lines flag, began service on Wednesday, July 9, offering daily northbound and southbound service between Billings and Denver.


A shuttle service from Lovell to Cody via Powell also ties into the Arrow Stage Line schedule, operated by Palmer’s Outpost of Cody.


Arrow/Black Hills essentially picked up the route formerly operated by Powder River Transportation, which pulled out of the basin in December of 2007.


At the time Arrow/Black Hills started service, the company did so on a trial basis, with the trial running through Sept. 30.


Rumors had surfaced in recent weeks that ridership has not been sufficient to warrant continued service, and Dickson, Lovell’s representative on the Transportation Authority, has expressed concern about the future of the service.


Dickson said a federal subsidy for the bus service, which is administered by WyDOT, is critical to the future of the bus service in the basin, but he said Douglass, the WyDOT local government coordinator, expressed concern about the level of the subsidy to the bus service, noting that there are other areas of the state that “need this money also,” Dickson said. Douglass also said he is not sure how the federal budget will come out and what the level of funding will be.


Dickson said the subsidy issue will be discussed again at the next meeting of the Transportation Authority in late October in Worland.


Dickson said his message to the Black Hills/Arrow officials was simple:


“We appreciate their service and their efforts,” he said. “We recognize that they’re in the business to make money, not as a public service. We recognize they have to make a profit, and with the western route (from Denver to Billings) siphoning riders from the eastern route (through Buffalo and Sheridan), they’ve doubled their expense but still have not doubled their riders.


“The service will continue at least through October. I get the feeling from Jim (Maly) that they want to continue, but they’re still having trouble finding drivers.


“We’re not out of the woods yet.”


Dickson said the new service has not matched the level of ridership that existed under the former Powder River Transporation line, and while Lovell Drug has fielded many inquiries about scheduling, there have not been many tickets sold.


He also noted that a few people depend on the service to reach medical services in Billings.


Dickson said the community must support the bus service or it will not continue.


“If there’s a big rush on riders, it would give us more leverage to say we hope it’s going to improve,” he said. “It’s use it or lose it, and those who use it need to spread the word.”


He also said the subsidy is the key to the future of the service, noting, “If that subsidy decreases appreciably, the bus service will go away. We’ll know more at the October meeting.”