The cuts at Lawrence City Hall just keep coming. Commissioners Tuesday cut 5 feet off a half-dozen city transit buses.

At their weekly meeting, commissioners unanimously agreed to purchase six, 25-foot transit buses to replace 30-foot buses that have run past recommended mileage levels.

“We’re looking to save some costs wherever we can,” said Robert Nugent, the city’s public transit administrator.

By going with the smaller buses, the city will save about $120,000 on the purchase price, and is expected to save money on fuel. How much better fuel mileage the smaller buses will get hasn’t been determined yet, Nugent said.

The idea of smaller buses has come up frequently from the public. The city’s previous transit administrator had recommended against using the smaller, lighter-duty buses because he had concerns it would require the city replace buses more frequently. Heavy-duty buses have a mileage life of about 350,000 miles. Lighter-duty buses have a life of closer to 150,000 to 200,000 miles.

But Nugent, who was hired in 2009, said a mix of different sizes of buses was appropriate for the city’s fleet. He said the smaller buses will be used once routes are changed in August. Those changes include the city going to a demand response system during slow periods of the day on Route No. 3, which goes from downtown to the area near Lawrence Memorial Hospital. The smaller buses also will be used on routes experiencing lower ridership totals.

The six smaller buses will represent half of the city’s fleet of fixed-route transit vehicles. The other six buses will include three 30-foot buses and three 40-foot hybrid buses that will be used on heavier-traveled routes the city operates in cooperation with Kansas University.

The smaller buses — which will look similar to the city’s paratransit buses — are expected to be on the streets by the fall. Total costs for the six shorter buses are $480,000. All the money will come from federal and state grants.