Many students come to Ohio University with no personal transportation, leaving their vehicles at home while they spend their first few semesters utilizing the public transportation available in Athens. Students and locals have access to a variety of transportation, including Athens Public Transit, Uber, Lyft, Cat Cab and Pink Cab.
Elise Jackson, a senior studying health administration, and Kalila Lithtle, a senior studying communication studies, said they prefer Lyft for nights out.
The two said they lived at the bottom of Mill Street and often grabbed a Lyft during the winter months.
“They’re usually not too bad either,” Lithtle said. “I feel like they're always like less than $15, unless it’s Mothers' Weekend.”
Jackson said she’s never had a bad experience with a Lyft driver in Athens, although she said she’s never used Uber locally. Lithtle agreed with this, and said Lyft has a “good batch” of consistent drivers. The two never used CatCab, but said their younger friends often talked about the service.
CatCab is OU’s accessible para-transit service available for students and guests with mobility limitations. This service is free and is meant to combat the “parking challenges” on campus, dropping off passengers directly at their doors.
CatCab is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. From Saturday to Sunday, the service is available from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
During school breaks, CatCab is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CatCab services passengers up to one mile from Baker University Center, and cannot service those wanting to travel past Stimson Avenue on East State Street due to the distance.
To use this service, students must first be registered with the Office of Accessibility Services and complete the CatCab agreement form.
Pink Cab is a transportation service only for women and non-male identifying passengers and drivers, as the idea behind the service is to ensure women and non-binary individuals feel comfortable while traveling. Two OU students launched this service on the messaging app GroupMe and received a positive response on their mission, according to a previous report from The Post.
Pink Cab charges $5 for a five-mile radius from College Green and $8 on busier weekends and event celebrations. Past the five-mile radius of College Green, the price is decided by the driver. Every person who joins the GroupMe is required to provide a photo of themselves for verification and are prohibited from bringing any male into the car.
Many students and locals need Athens Public Transit to get through their day, which Jackson and Lithtle used once during their freshman year.
“Nobody had a car on campus yet, and we needed to go to Walmart,” Jackson said. “So we made it happen.”
The Athens Public Transit is free, services passengers Monday through Friday and closes on major holidays, according to its website. Buses can only stop at marked stops, but passengers are able to flag down drivers in hail zones.
Hail zones for the Athens Public Transit are far down East State Street, Columbus Road, The Plains, Chauncey and Nelsonville. Locals can visit the Athens Public Transit rider guide for specific routes, times and locations.
