WAUSAU, Wis. (WAOW) -- Public transportation could soon see a makeover in Marathon County.

The county's Metropolitan Planning Commission announced the formation of a "transit planning work group" Tuesday, which is designed to bring leaders from the greater Wausau area and local transit officials together to discuss potential options for transit in the near future.

"What we're hoping to do is get everybody to talk about...opportunities for us to have cross-community transit services that would address the business, social, and other needs of our residents," said John Robinson, who currently serves as the chair of the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

The group will operate like a task force, consisting of people like new Metro Ride director Aaron Hursey, Wausau Chamber of Commerce president Dave Eckmann, and other officials from Wausau, Schofield, Rib Mountain, Rothschild, and Weston.

Public transportation in Wausau is run by Metro Ride, which only has stops within Wausau's city limits.

Some tell News 9 they would greatly appreciate expansion of services, especially to places outside Wausau.

"Like Weston, Rothschild, that kind of area, because then it can all be around and not just in one area," said Kaden Reynolds-Helvey of Wausau.

Others say it's important to help people get to and from work reliably, especially if their job is outside of Wausau or they live outside of Wausau.

"I need to go to work, I live too far from my work, and my dad can't drive me," said Randilynn Seidens of Wausau.

"Any opportunities we have to get to either get people to employable in areas that aren't being serviced by the buses or to get people who can't get to those businesses on their own, get them to shop and contribute to the economy, I think would be a wonderful thing," added Hector Delgado of Wausau.

The work group cannot make changes themselves, as they can only make recommendations to municipalities, but the scope of what they can come up with is broad.

"We want all the parties at the table to discuss what are realistic routes, what are realistic approaches, and that's what we're hopefully kicking off with this task force," Robinson said.

It does ultimately come down to what can get funded in what areas, but some say route expansion is necessary for the growth of the greater Wausau area.

"Any opportunities we have to get to either get people to employable in areas that aren't being serviced by the buses or to get people who can't get to those businesses on their own, get them to shop and contribute to the economy, I think would be a wonderful thing," Delgado said.

That group is welcoming feedback from the public and plans to start meeting in April and potentially dissolve within one year.

For more on their stated timeline, click here and scroll to page 14.

Full article here.