The K-10 Connector bus service has begun for the school year, but the route may see changes in the future as Lawrence and Johnson County leaders continue to debate its funding.

Johnson County operates the route, and ahead of Lawrence’s recent budget discussions requested that the city more than double its funding for the service. Johnson County officials indicated at the time that if Lawrence didn’t do so, its support for the route would likely need to be reassessed.

“We really wanted to make sure that funding was secure, and obviously there was an interest in having that discussion of ‘what does equitable look like?'” said Josh Powers, business liaison for the Johnson County manager’s office.

Lawrence elected not to deliver on the request, and instead maintained the service’s funding at $120,000 for 2017. Johnson County officials had requested nearly $330,000, citing a plan had been discussed with former City Manager David Corliss to increase the funding to that level. Lawrence’s new city manager, Tom Markus, recommended keeping funding flat.

Powers said that the K-10 Connector route will continue as is for 2017, but that discussions regarding the long-term funding plan of the service are forthcoming.

“We understand that the city has to work within what is really kind of a new budget reality with the new city manager, and his take on what he’s recommended to the commission,” Powers said.

The route runs along Kansas Highway 10 and takes riders between Kansas University, Johnson County Community College and KU’s Edwards Campus. The annual ridership on the route is just under 120,000, according to Powers.

To better inform the budget discussion, Powers said Johnson County will begin conducting an on-board volunteer survey of riders in coming weeks to see what percent live in Douglas County, as well as other details.

“We want to work hand in hand with (the) City of Lawrence to look at that data and better understand it,” Powers said. “What we want to know is what’s truly happening: where people are getting on, where they’re riding to, for what purpose. All of those things help us better tailor the service to the folks who are actually using it.”

The last survey was conducted in 2012, and indicated that 60 percent of riders were from Douglas County, Powers said.

Lawrence officials also want to be sure to make a data-driven decision. Lawrence Assistant City Manager Diane Stoddard said that more information will inform both funding and structure for the route.

“We want to look at all the facts about the route and continue to have that good information,” Stoddard said.

Whether the city’s funding of the route will change is to be determined, she said.

“The ongoing discussions will be related to the 2018 year and we’ll just need to understand what Johnson County is requesting and have those further discussions with them,” Stoddard said.