The mayor of Athens will hire an administrator for a bus system connecting Athens to Columbus and Cincinnati to be set up by May 1.
Ohio Department of Transportation awarded the Ohio Rural Intercity Bus Program grant in fall 2009, Mayor Paul Wiehl said after city council voted at its meeting yesterday to allow him to hire the administrator.
The program would allow Athens to be connected to the two cities with only minimal costs to Athens. The only money Athens would pay for the system would be 20 percent of the salary for an administrator to oversee the operation, he said.
City Council will contract the administrator job out to a third party because of the city's current hiring freeze, which excludes only police officers and firefighters, he said. The administrator will organize and oversee the routes and connections of the bus system.
Through the program
ODOT would reimburse the running bus lines 50 percent of their costs and Greyhound busing would pay for the other 50 percent he said.
The city is currently accepting bids from three bus lines, Greyhound Lines, Lakefront Lines and FUN BUS, to take part in the program, Wiehl said. He said he expects the city will make a decision soon.
Once the city chooses a company, that company can apply to receive six large buses, which would run on the new routes to and from Athens, for free from ODOT, he said.
Several bus lines in the state are facing a deficit and that is part of the reason for the Ohio Rural Intercity Bus Program started, Wiehl said. The 50 percent matching funds from ODOT will allow bus lines to recover from the poor economy.
The trip from Athens to Columbus and Athens to Cincinnati once a day costs bus lines about $143,000 a year, he said.
Athens needs a bus system Wiehl said. Not everyone has cars.
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Alex Stuckey
