Small but significant steps are being taken to improve coordination between the T and the Kansas University bus system.

In an update that is part of Tuesday’s Lawrence City Commission agenda, the city’s transit administrator acknowledges that the progress he has to report may seem small, but he also is correct in saying those steps will set a foundation for increased cooperation between the two systems.

The first step in working together is communication, and the bus services have taken two important steps by merging their primary public information pieces. Beginning later this month, people who need information about either bus service can call a single number. The two systems also are merging their maps and timetable information into a single brochure. The combined brochure should make it much easier for riders to plan their routes and transfer between systems.

The bus systems also have agreed to eliminate one city route and two KU routes and replace them with a single new route that will connect campus and downtown to apartments and shopping areas on South Iowa Street. Both city and KU riders gain. The new route will run more frequently than the current city route, and KU riders will gain services in the evenings, on Saturdays and during school breaks when KU on Wheels isn’t operating.

Hopefully, this win-win deal is only the first of many cooperative efforts between the bus services. The two systems also are working to develop a joint transit maintenance facility. Sharing such a facility might eventually accomplish the primary goal for many local taxpayers: a financial savings.

As noted, the steps being reported by the city are not insignificant, but it remains to be seen whether these two systems can ever completely merge their operations. KU students value their system because it is specifically designed to serve student needs. Even if the two systems became one, it probably would be necessary to add routes and alter schedules when KU is in session and student demand is high.

Lawrence voters confirmed their support of public transportation last year when they approved by a large margin a sales tax increase to fund the T and paratransit services. Despite the sales tax passage, many of those voters also would be grateful for any measures that would increase ridership and efficiency and reduce how much the city must subsidize the service.

Every step the city can take to increase cooperation with KU on Wheels is a step in that direction and deserves applause.