The Monroe County Council has approved over $184,000 in funding to keep a Bloomington Transit route to the west side operational for one year.
Route 13 runs from downtown Bloomington to an industrial park outside of city limits that includes Ivy Tech, Cook Medical, and Simtra.
The route has been in limbo since early February, when Bloomington Transit notified riders the route would cease operation on March 8th due to a lack of county funding.
The county pays only for the section of the route that runs outside city limits.
County councilmember David Henry expressed frustration with the last-minute nature of the funding for the route but voted for the appropriation along with the rest of the council.
“Of course we're going to support people to get to their work,” Henry said. “Of course we're going to support the public trying to rely on public bus services that they're building into their lives.”
Monroe county commissioners are expected to approve a one-year agreement with Bloomington Transit at their Thursday meeting.
