In an effort to connect more Northern Kentucky neighborhoods and transit-dependent people with fixed-route bus service, Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) – a public transit system serving Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties and downtown Cincinnati – announced 2025 service and fare changes taking effect this spring.
Guided by extensive research of riders’ travel patterns and feedback from the community, TANK will implement changes to five of its current routes, as well as the Southbank Shuttle, which are as follows:
Route 42x
• Three additional morning and evening Park-and-Ride Only trips will be added to the direct route which runs from the Florence Hub to downtown Cincinnati in the mornings, and from Cincinnati to the Florence Hub in the evenings.
• In Florence, the route will now begin and end at the Turfway at Drexel and Turfway at Lloyd stops.
• All trips will be moved back 15 minutes to allow for easier transfers in downtown Cincinnati.
Southbank Shuttle
• The Cincinnati routing has been adjusted to improve the on-time performance of the route. The Shuttle will only run on 2nd and 3rd streets in Cincinnati. All stops north of 3rd Street and south of 2nd Street in Cincinnati will be removed.
• A stop will be added at the corner of 2nd and Vine streets outside of the Freedom Center to serve The Banks and allow for seamless transfer to The Connector.
• The stop at Broadway Street and Pete Rose Way (headed south to Newport) will be moved onto the 2nd Street ramp next to the Reds Stadium and Central Riverfront Garage.
Route 5
• The stop at St. Elizabeth in Covington will be restored from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Routes 1 and 25
• The two routes will be unlinked to improve their on-time performance.
• Schedules will be adjusted to accommodate smooth transfers between Routes 1 and 25 as riders who are accustomed to staying on the same bus to ride both routes will now need to make a transfer.
Route 30x
• The weekend morning trip will now pick up in downtown Cincinnati at 6:45 a.m. and arrive at Taylor Farms at 7:15 a.m.
Due to consistently low ridership and to make other services more efficient, TANK will eliminate five of its current routes including 17x, 22x, 32x, 61 and 62. Nearby alternative routes are available.
“The COVID-19 pandemic affected where people live, work and how they travel,” said Gina Douthat, TANK general manager. “We took every opportunity to learn about our customers and region’s employers to better meet these changing demands and accommodate our riders.”
In addition to the service changes, TANK will increase fares for the first time in more than 15 years to keep up with rising costs and to support general operating costs.
The changes are:
• Fixed Routes (Local and Express) will increase from $1.50 to $2
• Southbank Shuttle will increase from $1 to $2
• Reduced Fare (Seniors/Disabled) will increase from $0.75 to $1
• TANK Day Pass will increase from $3.50 to $4
• TANK 30-Day Pass will increase from $66 to $70
• Reduced Fare TANK 30-Day Pass (Seniors/Disabled) will increase from $33 to $35
• Game Day Pass will increase from $2 to $4
The service and fare changes go into effect March 22.
To help riders save money, TANK is developing an account-based ticketing (ABT) program that will allow riders who can’t afford a monthly pass to pay as they go and automatically transition to a monthly pass once they reach the equivalent cost. The program is expected to launch later this year.
For more information about the upcoming service and fare changes, alternate routes for riders and the ABT program, visit tankbus.org.
Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky