MOUNT VERNON — Knox Area Transit will launch a free shuttle to the Mid-Ohio Market in Bladensburg starting Aug. 27.
The shuttle runs every Tuesday morning. Riders can schedule a pickup with KAT at 740-392-7433.
KAT will coordinate pickups in Zone 1 (five miles from Public Square in Mount Vernon) between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
Riders outside of Zone 1 will be picked up by regular service free of charge and dropped off at the KAT building on Columbus Road. Riders will catch a 9:30 shuttle to Bladensburg.
The shuttle will leave Bladensburg at 11 a.m. to return to Mount Vernon.
The Mid-Ohio Market is a joint effort between the Center of Hope and the Mid-Ohio Food Collective (MOFC).
Center of Hope opened in 2019 and houses a free grocery market. It provides other services, such as mobile food programs, senior services, health and wellness education, and chaplain services.
“The goal is to have a group of 18 at least to send down there,” Transit Director Bethany Celmar told the county commissioners. “This was the best time for us. The other times that the market’s open is 3 to 4 in the afternoon. That is the busiest hour of our day.”
A Food for The Hungry grant covers the fare cost.
Celmar hopes to make the shuttle permanent. She believes more stability will help ridership.
“With the way that we did some of the Food For The Hungry trips before, it was very broad. I think we might see more involvement with this. It’s more focused, and it’s also just such an amazing place,” she said.
“I want more people to have access to it.”
