ATHENS, Ohio — Athens Public Transit will continue to offer free fares through at least April 2027, Athens City Council learned Monday.
The service, run by Hocking Athens Perry Community Action, offers six routes across Athens County, serving Albany, Athens, Chauncey, Nelsonville and The Plains.
Continued free fares are supported by a $150,000 grant from AmeritasHealth, HAPCAP Mobility Coordinator Ben Ziff told the council Monday night. The free fares save riders about $2 per round trip, he said.
Athens Public Transit ridership increased by just over 13% last year, serving more than 343,000 riders, Ziff said.
Ridership peaked in 2019 at nearly a half-million rides, Ziff said. At the time, the service had seven lines and Saturday service. One of the lines and Saturday service were dropped in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although ridership is rebounding, Ziff said HAPCAP has no plans to resume Saturday service because of limitations with funding and staffing.
“No one saw this problem coming, except for everyone,” he said.
In the meantime, HAPCAP has improved bus shelters and stops, including posting full system maps at shelters, Ziff said. The agency plans to erect route-specific signs at designated stops to give bus riders more confidence about pick-up times, Ziff said.
The agency also plans to acquire two new 28-passenger buses and three minivans with an Ohio Workforce Mobility Grant through the Ohio Department of Transportation, Ziff said.
In addition to Athens Public Transit, HAPCAP manages Athens On Demand, Logan Public Transit and GoBus. Across all services, Ziff said, HAPCAP transportation vehicles completed nearly 507,000 trips in 2025, traveling over 2 million miles — including 1.1 million miles of GoBus trips.
Athens on Demand’s accessible vans provided over 17,000 rides in 2025, Ziff said. To increase efficiency, he said, the service has begun to schedule rides in groups of four, with passengers picked up within one hour of another.
GoBus offers 63 routes that connect rural communities to major urban centers including Akron, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Toledo, Ziff said. New routes now run between Columbus and Pittsburgh and between Toledo to Ashtabula, Cincinnati and Columbus. Fares are based on distance traveled and start at $5.
Although college students are GoBus’ largest group of riders, Amish riders also comprise a significant portion of riders, Ziff said.
Eight affordable homes soon to be green-lighted
The council’s Planning and Development Committee advanced a proposed ordinance conveying three city-owned parcels on Hudson Avenue to Community Building Partners. City Service-Safety Director Andy Stone said that the three parcels contain a storage building for city equipment and a parking lot behind a fence.
Community Building Partners also is buying the property owned by the American Red Cross at 100 S. May Ave. The state’s Welcome Home Ohio program is providing $2 million in grant funding to construct eight single-family modular homes that will be sold for up to $180,000 to qualifying buyers.
Joe Recchie, CEO of Community Building Partners, said half of the home construction work will be done off-site and half on-site. Once buyers have been selected, it will take 90 days for the homes to be delivered, he said.
One of the eight homes will be Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible. Under the terms of the grant, homeowners can earn up to 80% of the median income for the area to be eligible for home ownership.
“We know that the market is there,” Recchie said. “There’s a great need for it.”
The city’s stored property, which includes seasonal equipment and traffic signal maintenance equipment, as well as police evidence and impounded property, will be moved to a new facility on Kenny Drive, Stone said.
Under terms of the grant requirement, the city will convey property to Community Building Partners, who in turn convey the homes to home buyers. The city then will receive titles to the homes for one day before turning titles over to homeowners.
In other matters Monday:
- The Planning and Development Committee moved ahead with plans to renew the city’s contract with Sunday Creek Horizons, a consultant and advocate/lobbyist to secure federal and state funds for projects. The cost of the contract is $120,000 per year, the same as last year. The contract will appear as an upcoming ordinance. Projects Sunday Creek Horizons is working on include the Athens Armory, an city ADA transition plan, the proposed Athens Farmers Market pavilion, and a Hocking River boat ramp on West Union Street.
- The Planning and Development Committee forwarded to the council plans to re-appoint Randy Gonzalez and James Kaufman to two-year terms on The Ridges New Community Authority board. The committee also moved forward with the appointment of Ric Wasserman to the Rental Inspection Process Subcommittee of the Affordable Housing Commission and Mollie Fitzgerald to the Board of Zoning Appeals.
- The Transportation Committee forwarded to the council plans for vehicle charging stations, as part of an agreement with Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council. Charging stations would be placed on Armory Street, at the fire station on Stimson Avenue and in the city parking garage.
- The Transportation Committee forwarded to the council changing of the location for the May 16 Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area celebration to West State Street, near Casa Nueva. Additionally, the International King Midget Jamboree Cruise-In, slated for Aug. 7, is set for addition to the list of events seeking temporary street closures. The jamboree will be held on Court Street from West Union to Washington streets.
- The City and Safety Services Committee forwarded to the council authorization to apply for an Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s NatureWorks grant for up to $30,000, which would be used to develop a 1.5 miles of city trails, including at Camp Rotan and the Gawande Preserve.
Athens City Council’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday, March 30, at Athens City Hall, Council Chambers, third floor, 8 E. Washington St. Meetings are also streamed online. Regular sessions are on the first and third Mondays of the month; committee meetings are on the second and fourth Mondays.
