Nov. 26 METRO RTA Board meeting
Covered by Documenters Christina Brunson (see her notes here) and Emily Anderson (see her notes here)
METRO RTA’s Grocery Bus service helps Summit County residents living in food deserts get the groceries they need. Food deserts are areas where access to affordable and healthy food is limited by the absence of a grocery store within a convenient distance. The USDA estimates that more than 39 million people live in food deserts across the United States.
At its Nov. 26 meeting METRO RTA board members heard an update on the program which was highlighted at a statewide transportation conference.
The Grocery Bus, which began in 2004, took a break during the COVID-19 pandemic and restarted in August of 2023, runs one route each weekday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. The bus picks up passengers at scheduled apartment building stops and delivers them to that route’s designated grocery store.
Using this service, shoppers can go to:
- Walmart
- Arlington Road just south of Akron
- Hudson Road in Stow
- Giant Eagle
- Waterloo Road (at Canton Road) in Springfield Township
- West Market Street in Fairlawn
- West Avenue in Tallmadge
- Marc’s on Howe Avenue in Cuyahoga Falls
- Acme Fresh Market on South Avenue in Tallmadge
Shoppers have 90 to 120 minutes before the Grocery Bus returns for pickup. Passengers and their groceries are delivered back to their apartment buildings.
The Grocery Bus runs on planned routes. It does not make unscheduled stops at residences or other grocery stores. Riders pay the regular fare of$1.25 each way.
Interested in riding the Grocery Bus? Find out if your apartment building has a stop by checking the schedule.
Idea featured at state transportation conference
METRO CEO Dawn Distler and her staff presented in November at the Ohio Needs Transit conference in Columbus. They connected with transportation professionals and the Ohio Department of Transportation to discuss the Grocery Bus initiative as a measure to address food needs for area residents.
The Ohio Public Transit Association (OPTA) sponsored the three-day conference. OPTA is an advocacy organization that provides services to Ohio’s 63 transit agencies and associated businesses across the state.
METRO’s Nathan Leppo shared information in a presentation called “The Grocery Bus: Using Transit to Combat Food Deserts in Akron.” A dozen other presentations discussed topics such as zero emissions planning, local transit funding and data literacy.
METRO RTA provides the Grocery Bus, traditional bus routes, and SCAT service (on-demand for eligible seniors and disabled individuals) throughout Summit County. Riders can also travel to Cleveland on METRO’s Northcoast Express.
Last year, more than 4 million trips were taken on METRO’s fleet, traveling 4.1 million miles. Curious riders can learn more, including live bus tracking, at yourmetrobus.org, or on the MyStop app (Android, iOS).
