Henry County has approved an implementation plan for a new local bus route. The route will connect McDonough and Stockbridge beginning in fall 2025. The county also approved its local bus stop placemaking and public art plan.
The county is receiving a federal grant worth $4.8 million to cover the first three years of bus operations. This funding would last into 2028. Afterward, the county will need to evaluate whether to maintain the route and fund locally the operating costs.
New Local Bus Route Plan
History
First, a little history: Henry County has operated “dial a ride” transit services since the 1990s. They completed a transit master plan in 2021 to look at future public transit plans within the county. The plan considered seventeen possible local bus routes before selecting the McDonough to Stockbridge route for the initial pilot. The county adopted the transit master plan in January 2022. The full plan is available to view on the county website (PDF link – 407 pages).
About the same time, Henry County applied for federal funds to launch a new local bus route. The county was selected to receive those funds in late 2022. Since then, the county has completed an implementation plan and further refined the proposed bus route. They also received a second grant for a local bus stop placemaking study. This study evaluated and prepared public art concepts to install at bus stops.
On May 6, 2025, the Henry County Board of Commissioners approved final plans for both the local bus route implementation plan and local bus stop placemaking study.
About the Bus Route
The local bus route will connect downtown McDonough and downtown Stockbridge. Points of interest on the route include the McDonough Square, Piedmont Henry Hospital, Stockbridge Amphitheater & City Hall, and Stockbridge Park & Ride Lot.
The county plans to operate the local bus route on Monday through Friday from 6 am to 6 pm. The fare will be $2.50 for a one-way trip. The route will be on a 60-minute frequency. This means the bus will come once per hour. The projected annual operating expense for the 60-minute frequency is $660,000. The estimated startup capital costs are $850,000. This included the purchase of a new bus which the county has already completed.
The new route is slated to begin service in fall 2025. An exact date is to be announced. Before the route begins service, the county will be training drivers and installing bus stop signage along the route. They will also finalize a timetable for the bus route.
According to the county, 23,800 residents and 9,000+ jobs are located within a half-mile of the proposed bus route. The county’s implementation plan estimates a daily ridership of 40 passengers.
Placemaking / Public Art Study
The county’s placemaking study recommends public art installations at four locations along the bus route. Those locations include the following:
- Henry County Courthouse,
- Jonesboro Road at Alexander Park West,
- Jonesboro Road at Mt. Carmel Road, and
- North Henry Blvd at the Stockbridge Amphitheater.
The plan prepared art concepts one each for Henry County, as well as the cities of McDonough and Stockbridge. Each concept is intended to represent the city or county.
All concepts credit to Henry County.
The final location, in front of the Henry County Courthouse, would be similar to the Alexander Park West location.
Next Steps
The installation of any of the above public art concepts is subject to funding availability. The placemaking plan identified several possible grants which the county could pursue to support the public arts installation. The estimated cost to construct the “Henry County logo” bus stop on Jonesboro Road is about $200 thousand.
Plan Documents
The full plans are available to view on the county website:
- Local Bus Route Implementation Plan (PDF link – 65 pages)
- Bus Stop Creative Placemaking Plan (PDF link – 84 pages)
Featured image shows a Henry County Transit bus in front of the Henry County Courthouse. Henry County photo.
