MISSOURI - Now that the emergency money is secure, Metro officials have begun informing bus riders that more than a third of the service cuts made in March will be restored this summer, giving transit users better job access west of Interstate 270 and throughout St. Louis County.

On Aug. 3, buses will return to west Manchester Road, South Lindbergh Boulevard and other parts of St. Louis County where vinyl signs cover hundreds of bus stops announcing suspended service. And trips will be added to existing routes in St. Louis where overcrowding is a problem, such as the 11 Chippewa and the 70 Grand.

Transit officials told Metro commissioners Friday that the agency will spend $7.4 million over two years from the Federal Transit Administration on new routes in places that once had service - including employment centers in Fenton's Gravois Bluffs and downtown St. Louis. The agency will start a Florissant-Clayton connector and a route linking the North Hanley Transit Center and Chesterfield.

An additional $12 million in federal stimulus funds from Missouri will allow some buses to return to hospitals and medical centers, educational facilities and other employment clusters. The 240X Bissell Hills Express, for one, will return, transporting riders between north St. Louis County and downtown. The 258 Clayton"'Chesterfield will begin running between Clayton and Chesterfield Valley.

Metro officials said riders who get bus service back should expect differences in the level of service. "Some of these lines are coming back, but service won't be as robust as in the past," said Ray Friem, Metro's senior vice president for transit operations.

The service restoration comes after Metro was forced to cut $35 million in service last spring to address funding shortages. In November, St. Louis County voters rejected a half cent sales tax to support transit, which would have prevented the cuts and allowed for MetroLink expansion, officials have said.