Buses could be shuttling passengers along major roadway of the Golden Isles year-round if the city and county get on board with a public transportation system.

County staff members will meet with city commissioners at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Old City Hall to discuss acting on findings of the Brunswick Area Transportation Study, which says the Golden Isles has enough population density to justify regular public bus service.

The study proposes a setup similar to a small-scale version of the Chatham Area Transit System in Savannah, in which buses run fixed routes throughout the city's urban areas. It calls for 25 shuttle buses to be used to transport people along four routes, which would cover downtown, St. Simons Island, the retail are near Colonial Mall and commercial areas along U.S. 341.

Buses would run along four routes Mondays through Saturdays at intervals of from 30 to 40 minutes.

Last fall, the plan was recommended to be implemented over five years with the city and county sharing local costs that could rise from $42,000 the first year to as much as $277,000 the fifth year.

Both governments have earmarked funding for the service in 2006-2007 budgets. State and federal grants also would be utilized.

John Peterson, Glynn County Community Development director, said his staff hopes the city and county will move forward in implementing the proposed system.

"The point of the meeting is to talk about taking the next step," said Peterson, who will be among county officials talking with city commissioners Wednesday. "We decided to go one step further and (suggest) allowing an outside consultant to come in and determine the best way to run this.

"We want to find out whether the city ought to manage it or the county ought to manage it or if it ought to be privately owned. We want to determine the most cost effective way to do this so we can provide the best service to citizens of county."

Brunswick Mayor Bryan Thompson said a public transportation system could become a reality in the very near future.

"If everything works as we anticipate it will, we hope to have additional studies done and then move forward expeditiously (with implementation)," he said.

Thompson added that the system would help the area deal with anticipated population growth.

"Nothing is definite yet, but I certainly believe being able to put together a viable mass transit system for the community is something that's needed, and I think that need is going to grow in future," he said.

Public transportation would benefit the Golden Isles in other ways, too, said Robert Randall, a founding member Glynn Environmental Coalition. Although unfamiliar with the transportation study's findings, Randall said he supports the idea of a local public system.

"Generally speaking, public transportation is always an environmentally friendly thing," he said. "It reduces the amount of pollution pumping out of our cars, and also has benefits in terms of land use.

"The more people get out of their cars and onto public transportation, the less land we have to pave over."

Bus stops:

The Brunswick Area Transportation Study calls for regularly scheduled bus service along routes in urban areas throughout the Golden Isles. Proposed routes are:

* Downtown to Colonial Mall, with service extended to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center on Saturdays.

* Downtown to the intersection of Interstate 95 and U.S. 341, traveling along Altama Avenue, Cypress Mill Road and U.S. 341.

* Downtown to the intersection of Interstate 95 and Golden Isles Parkway, traveling along Altama Avenue and Golden Isles Parkway.

* Downtown to St. Simons Island, looping the island via Demere Road, Ocean Boulevard and Kings Way.