The city of Pflugerville approved the use of $150,000 in reserve funds June 14 to purchase a new bus for senior citizen groups that meet at the Pflugerville Recreation Center. 

Pflugerville Parks and Recreation Director James Hemenes said the bus will have a capacity for 40 passengers and feature two lifts for those who use a wheelchair.

He said senior groups took more than 50 trips in the last year. Hemenes said the city currently has two buses—one that can fit 24 people and has a lift accessory, and another that can carry 54 passengers but does not have a lift accessory. He said the bus with the lift is primarily used for seniors, but it limits their capacity to transport seniors on trips.

“We’ve really outgrown this bus,” he said.

Hemenes said the recreation center hosts trips for seniors both locally and throughout the region. When trips are outside the Austin area, the center charters a transportation service and the new bus will reduce the number of trips they need to charter, he said.