Without a commercial airport and rising gas prices, making the trip to Phoenix or Los Angeles can be difficult for Havasuvians.

After about four years, Greyhound buses could return to Lake Havasu City, offering a mode of commercial transportation in and out of the area. City Transportation Services Manager Gary Parsons said he’s applied for grant funding that would revitalize the transfer station on Mesquite Avenue and Capri Boulevard to provide a permanent home for bus services in the city.

“One of the reasons Greyhound left in the past is because they couldn’t find a permanent home here,” Parsons said, adding that the bus service left the city around 2005. “When Greyhound left, they were getting 15 to 20 people going in each direction. Our current situation is much more feasible to bring them back.”

Parsons said he is applied recently for about $700,000 for Federal Transit Administration stimulus funding in hopes of building a fully furnished transit center at the transfer station location. The Arizona Department of Transportation is conducting a National Environmental Policy Act study and once that is completed the grant application will go before the FTA.

Parsons’ proposal calls for a passenger lounge, kiosk, bathrooms, picnic tables and information station.

“We want to do it right the first time because Havasu doesn’t have a proper transit center building right now,” Parsons said. “We’re optimistic and hopefully they’ll listen to our cause. … What we’re looking for is some place, especially in the warmer summer months, for people to have a refuge from the heat when waiting for buses and a place where they can buy all of their bus passes to head outside of the city.”

Interagency Director Rich Miers, who also sits on the Transit Advisory Board, said he and Parsons have been working to develop a way to bring Greyhound back to the city since the company left.

“We don’t have any transportation out of the community here. If people want to go to Phoenix, California or anywhere else, they have to go to Kingman first,” Miers said. “Being isolated as we are and not having flight service, we’re trying to reduce the isolation of trying to commute outside of Lake Havasu City. Especially if you don’t have, or can’t operate, a vehicle.”

Parsons said the proposed transfer station would also be helpful for providing service to Kingman or Bullhead City, after staff and City Council denied joining the Tri-City transit service at a recent council meeting.

“The Tri-City connector service simply wasn’t feasible right now,” Parsons said. “Running between the cities at this time with our economic situation and the estimated low ridership, it just didn’t seem like the smart move this year.”

Interim City Manager Charlie Cassens said he expects the city to join the service in the future when costs are not as high.

“But right now, given the current economic conditions and despite the fact that the first year of funding would be 100 percent paid for, we couldn’t realistically do it,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to use that funding for the first year without the full intention of carrying it forward once that funding runs dry. So we thought it best, given the numbers of riders, overall cost per rider and the cost of operating, it didn’t pencil out for us right now.”

Parsons said he couldn’t estimate when he would receive word from Greyhound on the proposal, but he’s hopeful it will happen in the next year.

“It’s not something that is happening very quickly,” he said. “But we’re trying to take advantage when it is available and make sure we apply for it because it would be very helpful if we could get it.”

You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com