Beeville moved one step closer on Monday to getting its own inner-city bus line.

The Bee Community Action Agency, an arm of the county government, voted to seek bids for three 18-seat passenger buses.

The three-bus fleet could be operating, picking up and dropping off passengers as early as Sept. 1, said Alex Rodriguez, transportation director for the BCAA.

“We’re still moving forward on our Sept. 1 launch date,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot of calls from people who are interested in riding the buses and we’re looking forward to providing a service we know many people in Beeville want and need.”

The BCAA already offers van transportation services to the community.

Those vans presently carry people to surrounding communities of Skidmore and Pettus for $3 one way and $6 round trip or to Corpus Christi for $19 round trip and Victoria for $15 round trip.

Rodriguez said the not-for-profit organization has applied to the Beeville Economic Improvement Corporation for a $48,000 grant to help pay for the three buses.

He said the BEIC notified the BCAA that the bus transportation service was eligible for grant funding, and forwarded the grant application to a subcommittee for further review.

The subcommittee has since approved the request, and will recommend the proposal to the to the BEIC board. The BEIC board will then recommend or not recommend the grant to the City Council.

“We hope to hear from them in the near future — maybe after their July meeting — whether or not they will give us the grant,” he said.

However, Rodriguez said, the BCAA will still be able to purchase the three low-floor buses capable of providing transportation to the disabled and those in wheelchairs.

“We are aware of how many people in our community are looking forward to (a city bus route) and we will do everything within our power to bring it to fruition,” he said. “If we don’t get the grant, we’ll get the money elsewhere.”

The BCAA was notified this year that it qualified for about $420,000 in federal stimulus funds, which could be spent replacing the vans in its fleet or buying the two buses it would need for the proposed bus route.

Preliminary plans call for the buses to follow routes from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Rodriguez said.

Present plans call for one of the buses to follow a north-south route and one to follow an east-west route.

The north-south bus would likely travel along Washington Street and the east-west bus along Houston Highway.

Rodriguez said the routes and their stops have yet to be definitely determined.

Tentative plans call for the passengers to pay anywhere from 35 cents to 50 cents for one way.

“The board hasn’t set a specific price yet; we’re still trying to decide what the fare will be,” he said.

Corpus Christi only charges 50 cents to ride the bus and San Antonio charges 75 cents.