Kurt Janicek is plotting his map, marking new bus routes and gathering all the information he can for the October debut of nighttime transportation.

With the help of a Federal Transit Administration Grant, St. Joseph Public Transit will soon be able to provide a service called Job Access and Reverse Commute. The service will kick into action three overnight transit buses in specific areas of St. Joseph.

“This is designed to target large populations that live in low-income areas of the city and to get them access to second- and third-shift jobs,” said Mr. Janicek, resident transit manager.

Armed with information from the U.S. Census that identifies areas of low income in St. Joseph, Mr. Janicek is now talking with major employers to double-check that those are the areas that most need nighttime service.

“We want to customize the routes to make the bus stops as close to the affected populations as possible,” he said.

The target area is contained by Sixth Avenue on the north, 28th Street on the east, Atchison Street on the south and the Missouri River on the west. Mr. Janicek said other pockets of need also exist around the city.

The JARC program is awarded to a city based on its number of welfare and low-income recipients, and the specifics are designed by the local public transit system. A federal transportation bill called SAFETEA-LU has made possible the distribution of $727 million in JARC grants since 2006.

Daniel Nguyen, a community planner for the FTA, said the majority of the larger cities in the Kansas and Missouri area that he serves are using the grant. He said it opens the door for many employees who could not otherwise get to work in suburban areas.

“I think good things come in that the opportunity or the access is there for them to at least use the bus systems to go to work,” he said.

Donna Wagner, general manager of The Staffing Center, said the service also will provide a safer option for late-shift workers, many of whom are forced to walk to and from work.

“It will definitely help the people that are struggling that do not have their own transportation,” Ms. Wagner said. “For some of them, it’s just not an option for a different shift if they cannot use the bus.”

St. Joseph has secured the funding for two years of operation, but Andy Clements, assistant director of public works, said that after that, JARC services will be at the mercy of the transportation bill that will follow SAFETEA-LU. If funds are again allotted for systems like JARC, then St. Joseph could reapply for the service and continue as normal. If not, the service will either be dropped or citizens could advocate for another source of funding.

“JARC is kind of one of those programs that has the two-year fuse on it,” Mr. Clements said. “... It’s very much subject to the availability of funds.”