In the world of Eastside Metro Transit, most people are casual riders, taking the bus to Seattle football games or as a designated driver for bar hopping. There are also daily users, either those who find convenient routes or the die-hard environmentalists willing to take three transfers to get to work.

And then there is Fred Quiroz, who would take a bus over a car for the pleasure of it. Retired, he rides multiple times a day around the Eastside and into Seattle.

His top pick is Route 200, a free bus that loops through the business districts in Issaquah, connecting the city.

The City Council is expected to stop offering the route for free in October next year. It plans to use the fare money to help King County Metro expand with a new route.

The former owner of Las Margaritas in Issaquah, Quiroz has a car and can afford the 75-cent fee for seniors, but he knows that’s not the case for everyone.

It’s hard for the poor, he said. “This is the only route they use.”

Struggling seniors aren’t the only ones expected to meet disappointment this October, but also those youths without licenses or cars.

Tiger Mountain High School student Chris Harden takes the bus home from school about four times a week, he said. “It shortens my walk.”

Friends Nathan Damschen and Issac Thel take the bus across town from one job to another.

Walking from one side of Issaquah to the other is hard, Damschen said.

“We were just talking about how nice it was that it was free,” Thel added.

The money the city pays to keep Route 200 free will instead be used to help King County Metro start the second route.

The new route, called Dart 928, would connect Talus and the Highlands to the transit station along State Route 900.

It’s scheduled to start October 2011. The free fare on Route 200 will extend until then.

Metro couldn’t afford the new route, so a group called Transit Now pulled together Port Blakely, Talus and the city to help pay for it.

The city of Issaquah’s part is about $146,000 annually, but the money the city will save from Route 200 will only cover about a third of the new cost.

“It was to better use the money that we have,” Traeger said.

Even with the cut, the city is still investing in more public transportation in the coming years. The board is scheduled to vote in favor of the changes and the new budget Dec. 20.

“This was a tough year,” said council member Fred Butler. “We recognize that it’s something of value, but regrettably we’ll have to charge for (Route 200) if we’re going to expand service.”