Meigs County Public Transportation is expanding its service with a new transportation hub
By: Alison Patton
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POMEROY, Ohio (WOUB) – After two years of service, Meigs County Public Transportation is getting a new $4 million building to expand its operations.
Director of MCPT Theresa Lavender said the program started in 2022 with two drivers and one dispatcher, but it has outgrown the office space it uses now.
The new transportation hub will have two buildings, Lavender said. One will be for offices and the other will have garages for vehicles.
Meigs County has over 20,000 residents, and MCPT currently serves 600 riders.
The service now has 10 drivers and 15 wheelchair accessible vehicles, including cars and shuttles.
MCPT offers free, on-demand transportation that picks residents up from their homes. This is possible through a state grant.
“Ohio Department of Transportation with their contributions for this really, really, really takes a lot of financial burdens away,” Meigs County Commissioner Shannon Miller said.
Miller said he saw an MCPT vehicle taking passengers to a dialysis treatment facility in Athens, and noted how important the service is.
“For a small county to be able to find someone who is willing to do that kind of stuff is great actually, it really is,” Miller said.
MCPT has caught the attention of state Rep. Jay Edwards, who showed up to the ceremony with an accommodation from the Ohio State House of Representatives.
“It takes a community down here and Meigs County’s got a great community that comes together to make sure these projects come to fruition,” Edwards said.
Edwards said southeast Ohio is unique in its transportation issues.
“We have a hard time in southeast Ohio getting public transportation, because we’re so spread out. We have a lot of families that live out on township roads (and) gravel roads,” Edwards said. “It’s one of the most foundational issues we have here in southeastern Ohio.”
Construction on the transportation hub is scheduled to finish up next summer.