Did someone say free? Why yes, yes they did.

Burlington County officially has a shuttle bus at no cost to residents. Now they just have to use it.

Beginning Sept. 21, the South Jersey Transportation Authority will start providing shuttles across Burlington County, part of a broader program aimed at plugging chronic public transportation gaps across South Jersey.

The initiative, SJ Connects, actually began earlier this year with shuttles in six of seven South Jersey counties. Burlington’s participation was delayed because it wasn’t officially part of the South Jersey Transportation Authority’s jurisdiction. Legislation sponsored by Burlington’s own state Senator Troy Singleton rectified that technicality and was enacted in June.

Burlington is the largest county in New Jersey based on land area, with more than 800 square miles and 480,000 people. Nearly 5% of households in the county have no vehicles, and one in three have only one vehicle, according to U.S. Census data.

“A shuttle service like this can be a lifeline for these families,” Burlington County Commissioner Randy Brolo said. “It provides a viable option for residents to try to get jobs, health care, shopping, recreation, and more.”

Brolo, Singleton and other officials spoke Monday at a press conference in front of Cooper University Health Care’s Moorestown Mall Campus, one of the shuttle’s stops. During a ride-along, the 20-person, ADA-compliant shuttle demonstrated the route, which includes Moorestown library, Walmart of Mount Laurel, Fox Meadow Apartments in Maple Shade, ShopRite of Cinnaminson and NJ Transit’s Pennsauken station.

Singleton said he expects Burlington County to be SJ Connects’ busiest line. He credited the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey for working with government and local officials to get SJ Connects launched. The initiative is an 18-24-month pilot program funded with $5 million from NJ Transit. The SJTA’s ridership goal for SJ Connects is at least 5,000 one-way trips each month according to executive director Stephen Dougherty.

The key to extending and expanding the shuttle and keeping it free is ridership, said Christina Renna, CEO of the chamber.

“We need to make sure folks know about these lines. We need to make sure they ride these lines,” Renna said. “So in 18 to 24 months, we can hopefully re-up these lines and potentially even expand them if all goes well.”