Ohio University students and Athens residents won’t have to worry about finding a cheap lift to East State Street or the Ridges for the next 11 days.
Despite normally charging a $1 fare per ride, Athens Public Transit is offering free rides throughout Athens and The Plains starting Monday and lasting until Oct. 24.
The move is a promotion of the service’s recently expanded route schedule, said Athens City Councilwoman Chris Knisely, D-at large.
The transit system — in existence since the 1980s in multiple forms — expanded from three to five routes in August, in part to appeal to OU students and faculty, said Michael Lachman, the program’s transportation services manager.
One of the new routes is designed to take students living in East and South Green residence halls to East State Street stores such as Wal-Mart and Kroger.
Besides expanding routes, Lachman said, the program also moved its main connecting hub near Baker University Center from an old location at the city parking garage on Washington Street.
“This is really a new direction for us,” Lachman said. “It’s a lot more convenient for folks in residence halls.”
Besides convenience, Jacob Rife, a junior studying integrated language arts, said the service is also a cheap alternative to buying a parking pass.
Rife said the free-riding program could come in handy during the next week and a half.
“I can see myself utilizing that to get to Wal-Mart and other places I have to go,” Rife said, adding that he hopes students continue to use the service long after the free-riding program ends.
The service gets about 170 to 250 riders each day, but Lachman said he expects that number to rise because of the promotion.
“It’s a long-standing public service, but we are really trying to upgrade ourselves and make the public aware there is a bus system available to them,” Lachman said, adding that some OU faculty members are quickly becoming regulars.
With a fleet of nine buses, Lachman said, Athens Public Transit operates with an annual budget of about $900,000 from fare revenue and federal, state and local money.
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