One of the biggest concerns students have when considering Ohio University off campus housing is getting to and from campus without a car. It’s a fair concern as Athens is hilly, the weather isn’t always cooperative, and nobody wants to be stranded far from class. The good news is that between the university’s own transit services and the city’s public bus system, students living off campus have more options than most people realize.
University Transportation Options Available
Ohio University runs several transit services designed to make the campus accessible from all corners of Athens.
The Campus Area Transit System, or CATS, operates shuttles that connect all main points of campus throughout the day. For students who need to get around after dark, CATS Late Night extends service until 11 p.m., seven days a week, which covers most evening library sessions and late study groups without any issue.
Students with mobility limitations can use CATCAB, a free service that provides transport within a one-mile radius of Baker Center. However, proper documentation needs to be on file before you can use the service, so it’s worth sorting that out early in the semester rather than scrambling when you need it.
The Bobcat Pass Program
One of the most useful and underutilized perks for OU students is the Bobcat Pass Program, a partnership between Ohio University and Athens Public Transit that lets students ride the city’s entire public bus network for free, just by showing their student ID.
For students in apartments near Ohio University who want to get around town without a car, this is genuinely useful. Bus fares for non-students are $1 per ride, but with an OU ID, they cost nothing. All buses are also wheelchair accessible.
As for how crowded the buses get, it depends on the route and the time of day. Students who have ridden the Athens Public Transit system regularly say that most routes have plenty of space, though afternoon runs on busier lines can fill up.
The Summit area, for example, has dedicated bus service, and those routes tend to run full-size buses. If you’re planning your schedule around bus times, it’s worth checking the Athens Public Transit website for current route maps and schedules. The DoubleMap live tracking app that students previously used to track buses in real time was discontinued, and while the university has indicated it is working on switching to a new tracking service, there is no confirmed timeline. In the meantime, keeping a screenshot of the bus schedule on your phone is the practical workaround most students are using.
Getting to Athens From Further Away
For students coming from out of town, the GoBus intercity service runs twice daily between Athens and several Ohio cities, including Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Marietta. It operates seven days a week, year-round, with one-way fares ranging from around $8 to $35 before tax. John Glenn Columbus International Airport is the closest major airport, about 90 minutes from Athens by car, and has connections to more than 150 destinations across the country.
Renting a Car When You Need One
Don’t have a car but occasionally need one? Ohio University has a ZipCar arrangement on campus that lets students rent a car by the hour or the day. Students under 21 can apply for membership through the university; anyone 21 and older can apply directly through ZipCar. It’s a practical option for bigger grocery runs, day trips, or anything else that’s genuinely hard to manage without a vehicle.
Parking
If you do have a car and your rental doesn’t come with off-street parking, there are parking lots and spaces available for rent throughout Athens, both through private rental companies and through the university. It’s worth sorting parking out before the semester starts rather than after, since spots in convenient locations tend to go quickly. And if you’re living on a street with public parking, keep in mind that Athens enforces a 24-hour parking rule; vehicles can’t stay in the same spot for more than a day without being ticketed.
The Real Advantage of Living Off Campus
The transportation infrastructure in Athens makes Ohio University off-campus apartments a genuinely viable option, even for students without cars. Living further from campus often means more space, more quiet, and more room to actually focus, a yard for a hammock, a front porch to study on, or just a neighborhood that isn’t packed with foot traffic every night of the week. With CATS, the Bobcat Pass, and ZipCar all available to students, the distance between your rental and the classroom is a lot more manageable than it might seem at first.
For students looking for apartments in Athens, Ohio, near campus that still give them breathing room from the uptown crowds, browse Krause Rentals’ available listings by location and bedroom count to find something that fits.