ASHLAND — Ashland’s city transit department received a $1.32 million grant that will lead to the construction of its own headquarters near downtown, Mayor Matt Miller announced on Facebook on Tuesday.
Ashland Public Transit plans to use the ODOT grant to build a 14,500 square-foot facility on the corner of Third and Union streets.
Officials have said the building will include office space for the 14-person staff, a wash bay, a mechanical working area, 20 bays and room to store its fleet of 10 vehicles.
The project’s total cost is $1.65 million, after accounting for a $150,000 allocation for inflation and a 20-percent match from the city, Miller said.
The mayor said part of the city’s matching funds came from the $150,000 purchase of the new headquarter’s property, which Ashland City Council did in December 2021.
The other matching funds will come from the Ashland Public Transit’s budget, Miller said.
The headquarters could also serve as a hub for commercial buses such as Greyhound or GoBUS, which transports people from Columbus to Cleveland and has stops in cities such as Mansfield and Akron.
Liz McClurg, Ashland’s transit coordinator, said she hopes to have more information regarding a timeline for the project in the months to come.
“The very next part of the process is going through an environmental study of the property,” she said. “We’re hoping to be under contract at the end of the year and that the project can start next year.”
She said the transit system, which became a city department in January 2019, has grown in operation in recent years.
Ashland Public Transit provides service on an appointment basis. It does not have fixed routes typically found in larger metro areas.
A fixed route system also means having larger buses to meet the demand. In Ashland, the demand is among an aging population, McClurg has said. So APT will instead use smaller buses that can carry up to eight passengers as the system grows, she said.
Miller said there are no conversations currently to introduce fixed routes to Ashland.
“At this time, we’re not having serious discussions about fixed routes. But as the city continues to grow, that may very well become a legitimate idea,” he said.
The new headquarters will be a major step for the transit system, having been housed on the first floor of the Ashland city building on Claremont Avenue, Miller said. The fleet currently uses a section of the building’s parking lot off Broad Street.
“It’s a pretty small and congested space. All our vehicles are stored outside in parking lot and vulnerable to all the weather that we experience in Ohio,” the mayor said. “Plus, this will make it easier to dispatch our vehicles and they will be more secure because they’ll be inside.”
The transit system operates from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. It is closed Sundays and all major holidays.
