Orange County Public Transportation will be piloting a one-year, fare-free model for its fixed-route transit services beginning Jan. 2, 2026. The Orange County Board of Commissioners approved the move at its Dec. 9 meeting. In a press release, the county government hailed the move as “an important step in testing strategies to expand mobility, promote transit equity, and improve service efficiency for residents across the county.”

“I think it’s important to have a pilot,” board chair Jean Hamilton said at the meeting, “because we don’t know what the impact will be with demand and then how that will change the calculation of how much this costs… my view is, let’s do it for one year. Let’s see what happens.”

Orange County Public Transportation currently operates four fixed-route services: the Orange and Blue loops in and around Hillsborough, the “Hill-to-Hill” connector between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill and the Orange-Alamance Connector between Hillsborough, Efland and Mebane. Under OCPT’s current model, the Orange and Blue loops are free, while the Hill-to-Hill and Orange-Alamance connectors are $2 for the general public. The one-year pilot in 2026 will do away with those fares.

The Blue and Orange loops run Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Hill-to-Hill connector runs Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. hourly, and the Orange-Alamance connector runs Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On-demand routes will still carry fares.

In a presentation to the Board of Commissioners at the Dec. 9 meeting, interim transportation director Sarah Williamson noted that, when taking into account operating costs and fees for OCPT’s fare collection equipment, eliminating fares entirely would save the county approximately $32,000 annually.

“We’ve looked at programs around the country and studied what the implications would be here,” Williamson told the board. “We would save time and money.”

The motion to implement the model passed unanimously. For more information on the pilot model, click here.

 

Featured image via Orange County

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