Russ Wheeler decided to start his business after he had potential customers pounding on his door.

Wheeler, president of Lawrence-based Midwest Transportation Corp., began operating Bar Hop, a late-night bus service, on Thursday.

The bus service operates from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and travels a route that stops at 20 Lawrence bars and nine areas of concentrated student housing.

“We knew there was a demand for it because we run a lot of party buses as charters and every time we would be parked at a bar or anywhere downtown, people would be trying to get on,” Wheeler said. “We kind of had to beat people off the bus, so that’s when I thought we might be on to something.”

The service, which includes two buses that can carry about 60 people each, charges $1 per ride. Unlike the T or KU on Wheels, the bus system doesn’t receive any subsidies from the city or Kansas University. Instead, it charges bars that are on the route $100 a month.

Wheeler, Lawrence, declined to say how much he had invested in the business but said it was a risky venture given that most public transportation systems weren’t self-supporting. He also said he didn’t know of a similar system operating in any other community.

“I think we’re kind of the template or the guinea pig here,” Wheeler said. “But as long as college kids want to party, hopefully we’ll be in business.”

People in the bar industry said the business seemed to be providing a needed service.

“I think it is a great idea because one of the things to do in this town is go bar-hopping,” said Dianne Gil, a bartender at the Jet Lag Lounge, which is on the route. “If they’re only charging a dollar, that is a pretty good incentive to not drive drunk.”

Russ Wheeler, president of Lawrence-based Midwest Transportation Corp., has started a bus service that caters to the late-night needs of bar patrons.

KU, through the Lawrence Bus Co., also operates a late-night transportation service. Its Safe Ride program has 10 vehicles, but its mission is different in that it only takes riders home, not to another bar, manager Eric Darnell said.

He said Safe Ride has about 300 riders on an average Friday or Saturday night. Wheeler said he hoped his services, which unlike Safe Ride won’t be limited to KU students, will increase to about 1,000 riders per night. He didn’t have an estimate on how many people took advantage of his services on Thursday.

Darnell said he had some concerns about the message the new bus service was sending.

“I’m not all that hip to it,” Darnell said. “It seems like there is enough drinking going on and people should learn to be responsible rather than someone making it easier for them to continue a bad habit.”

But Wheeler — whose Midwest Transportation also operates a cab service, airport shuttle and limousine business — said he thought Bar Hop would provide a valuable community service.

“I think it will really help clear out the downtown at closing time and I think that will really help out the police,” Wheeler said.

Bar Hop will keep partiers from driving