Three new 30-foot electric buses will soon be on the road ferrying passengers on fixed routes, but the south Bibb debut of Macon-Bibb County Transit Authority’s Rapid Transit van program is still weeks away.
Tuesday, at the authority’s first board meeting since October, members finalized the $2.8 million bus purchase from BYD Coach & Bus for the trio of buses that arrived in December, but still need to be emblazoned with MBCTA logos.
They also received the eighth-straight unmodified, or clean financial audit, the highest standard for accounting, and celebrated three awards it earned in November from the Georgia Transit Association, or GTA.
MBCTA hoped to have the new Rapid Transit app-led ride service up and running by November, but now are shooting for March as software developers work out glitches in the online payment system.
Under the Uber-like system, customers use an app to request a ride on one of four colorful vans that travel within a limited hub around downtown every day except Sunday. The service area will expand southward to Middle Georgia Regional Airport and south Bibb industrial areas in Phase II of the pilot program that began in July.
“As long as it is not working properly, it’ll continue to be on the pilot program, which is the downtown sector of this city,” MBCTA CEO Craig Ross told the authority board.
Authority Chief Operating Officer Tony Woodard said they thought the technology was working correctly before the Christmas break, but after discovering some issues, contractor TripSpark is upgrading its software. The company hoped to have that done any day now.
“We don’t want to start a South Zone, and then have to retract. So we’re hoping that it will only take a few days to prove that they have, in fact, taken care of the problem, and then we’ll be ready to launch the next phase,” Woodard reported.
Phase II could come as early as mid-March, Ross said.
In public comments, Paratransit rider Wade Horton said the federally-funded Rapid Transit program should have been piloted for the whole county, or at least offered in all Paratransit zones.
Once the app is working correctly, MBCTA expects to send the sky blue, blossom pink, sunny yellow, and bright green vans to other zones of the county that will be decided later this year and into 2027, according to the website.
Once the payment system is working, Rapid Transit will charge $5 per person, per ride, from 5:45 a.m. until 6 p.m. and the fare jumps to $8 from 6 p.m. until 11:45 p.m.
By comparison, fixed-route fares are $1.25 one way, with transfers available for 50 cents.
Senior citizens pay 60 cents per ride, high school students pay 75 cents a ride and children 12 and under can ride free with a paying adult.
With the rideshare-like option, the authority expects to draw new riders to public transportation.
Ross reported ridership already is on the rise with a nearly 14% increase in fixed route bus riders in 2025, compared to 2024.
Feats and Fitness
MBCTA was the only transit system to receive three awards at November’s GTA conference in Augusta, including the 2025 Performance Award at the GTA conference in Augusta for being one of the few transit systems in the state to see a steady increase in passengers since the COVID-19 pandemic, Ross said.
Eric Williams, President and CEO of Macon’s United Defense and Prince Service & Manufacturing was awarded the association’s highest honor — the Transit Champion Award — for donating bus shelters across the county, valued at $500,000 in supplies and services.
MBCTA’s Public Information Officer Jami Gaudet captured the 2025 Innovation Award for securing grant funding and county labor to build the new “Spirit of Macon Park” on Fifth Street near the Poplar Street underpass. The newly seeded lawn planted with 250 daffodil bulbs, shrubs and several trees is down the street from the bus terminal where the grant-funded Spirit of Macon mural project began in 2022 and continued later that year to the railroad bridge next to the park.
“This is going to be the little park that does,” Gaudet told the board and guests. “It’s not going to just be a beautiful little respite in the middle of this industrial area. It’s going to be filled with activity.”
Saturday at 11 a.m., the free wellness component of the park kicks off with an inaugural Tai Chi class for beginners and regular exercisers of all ages.
Tuesday, Feb. 10, a fitness instructor will teach sessions at 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. that explore the “Road to Good Health” and “Your Good Health in 2026.”
Gaudet was especially excited that Macon will be featured during World Tai Chi Day on Sat., April 25, with a 9 a.m. class at Spirit of Macon Park followed by a larger community event at Rosa Parks Square beginning at 10 a.m.
Tai Chi instruction boards with QR codes linking to exercise videos will be posted in the park so anyone can exercise when there’s no formal class.
Between March and the end of October, regular classes are scheduled every second Thursday at 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. through Macon-Bibb County Parks & Recreation.
“We hope that transit workers, bus drivers in particular, will be able to take advantage of this, and people who work or don’t work. That was always the plan. Movement and then learning about wellness,” Gaudet said. “Anybody can take 30 minutes for their health. And we think this is important.”
Horton told the board to make sure the public is aware of the new park.
“Health and all that, that’s very important to me, and if we can make Macon-Bibb County a healthier state, along with healthier transportation, we’ll be ahead of the game,” he said.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
