VALPARAISO | The city continues to take baby steps it hopes will enable it to begin commuter bus service to Chicago's Loop in a year or so.

Stuart Summers, executive director of the city's Redevelopment Commission, said at Thursday's commission meeting he and a couple of the members met last week with Dennis Rittenmeyer, chairman of the Regional Bus Authority, to get his support when the city asks the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority for $2 million to buy the buses.

Summers said the city assured Rittenmeyer it will become part of the RBA when that group is up and running and managing all the region's bus systems. That cooperation is necessary for the city's funding request to be considered by the RDA, Summers said.

The funding request will be presented to the RDA's committee of the whole next week and, if the committee supports it, could go before the full RDA board in December. The money will buy four buses, which will be used to provide morning and afternoon express service from downtown Valparaiso to the Loop.

Summers said it will take 12 to 18 months for the buses to be manufactured and delivered after funding is in place. The money would be in the form of a forgivable loan. The city also has $1.4 million in federal funds it can use for station facilities and operating the service.

The money comes from the federal highway bill's congestion mitigation/air quality category and from another fund for transit facilities. The latter will be used to provide parking and associated facilities at the planned transit oriented development to be build at the southwest corner of Campbell Street and Lincolnway.

Developer Jake Wagner had planned to build a station and parking the city could use for the bus service now and as a commuter rail station when the South Shore line eventually is extended to the site. The building would include retail space and be part of Wagner's Village Station development.

Summers said the costs of the station proposal were higher than expected, and the city now is looking to lease an existing building instead.