The Beaver County Transit Authority carried a record high number of passengers in the fiscal year ending June 30, and additional service to Pittsburgh may be offered on its Route 60 express route.

But a fare increase of 25 cents to 50 cents appears likely Jan. 1 because revenues from higher ridership have not offset skyrocketing fuel costs, said Mary Jo Morandini, the authority's general manager.

"We're in a very tough situation," Ms. Morandini said. "We want to encourage ridership, but we just can't keep up with the fuel costs."

She said the agency paid $350,000 for fuel in 2004-05. That cost increased to $750,000 in 2007-08 and is projected to top $1 million in this fiscal year, which started July 1.

"There's no way we can keep up with this," she said.

The Beaver County Transit Authority carried 754,017 passengers last year -- nearly a 60 percent increase in six years. The total represents a 12 percent increase from last year and is the sixth straight year of higher ridership.

The routes with the largest one-year increases were:

• Route 1 -- Between Chippewa and Pittsburgh, generally on Route 65, serving retail areas in Chippewa, the YMCA in New Brighton and Northern Lights Shopping Center in Economy, up 12 percent.

• Route 2 -- Hourly service between Rochester and Ambridge, serving Beaver Valley Mall, Wagner Road in Center, Community College of Beaver County, Green Garden Plaza and Franklin Avenue in Aliquippa, up 19 percent.

• Route 4 -- Express rush-hour trips between Chippewa and Pittsburgh via Route 60, serving the Expressway Travel Center in Center, up 12 percent.

• Route 11 -- Between Vanport and Rochester from 6:30 a.m. to about 6:15 p.m. Monday through Saturday, up 4 percent.

The transit authority provides about 3,000 trips on its fixed route system each weekday. In addition, it transported nearly 97,000 passengers on DART -- a demand and response transportation system offering door-to-door service for passengers age 65 and older.

The combined ridership on fixed routes, DART and the Medical Assistance Transportation Program totaled 937,519 -- a gain of 10.5 percent.

The authority operates hourly service on its local routes on weekdays and Saturdays throughout Beaver County, and it runs express buses on Route 60 and Route 65, serving the Airport Corridor and Ohio River Boulevard with trips to Pittsburgh.

While the rising cost of gasoline certainly was a factor in the ridership increase, Ms. Morandini said, "if you look at the last six years in a row, gasoline prices did not attribute to more riders. I think the system is easy to use and people are taking advantage of it."

Buses arrive and depart on the half hour at the agency's transportation center in Rochester.

"Transfers are easy and riders are confident that they can catch a bus at any half-hour so they're riding more," she said. "The transfer system enables people to shop, travel to neighborhoods, ride to Beaver County Community College classes or commute to their jobs."

Ms. Morandini said her agency plans to address the problem of crowding forcing riders to stand on its Express 60 service into Pittsburgh and on some runs on Route 2 buses.

"We have a consultant studying ways we can tweak the service and expand it to meet the demand," she said. "We're hoping to announce improvements by the end of the month."

She said ridership for July is ahead of last year's pace, so the agency may be headed toward another record year.

Ms. Moranidi said she was thrilled with the ridership increase and happy that the state Department of Transportation provided technical assistance to study the crowding problem.

"Looks like we're off to another great year," she said.

For Beaver County Transit Authority schedules, visit www.bcta.com.