The Kennebec Valley Community Action Project is continuing to expand its fixed-route public transportation offerings with a new bus route connecting Fairfield and Augusta.

The KVCAP route, launched Monday, will start at 63 High St. in Fairfield, stop by Kennebec Valley Community College on Western Avenue, then travel down Interstate 95 to MaineGeneral Medical Center, Walmart and the Augusta Transportation Center, said Kirk Bellavance, senior transportation director at KVCAP.

The route will run eight times a day from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Fares are $4 between Augusta and Fairfield and $2 for trips within either community. Discounted fares are $2 between Augusta and Fairfield and $1 for local trips.

Discounted fares are available to riders ages 11-17 and 65 and older, veterans, people with disabilities and Medicare cardholders.

Both this route and a western Augusta route also launched by KVCAP on Monday will be four-month demonstration projects to gauge the level the of interest and need for the routes.

KVCAP is self-financing the demonstration route between Fairfield and Augusta but received funding for the Augusta-only route from the city of Augusta’s sale of the old police station building to Developer’s Collaborative, which plans to create affordable housing.

Augusta city officials and KVCAP also made a quick push to get a public bus route up and running to help Developer’s Collaborative score higher on grant applications for its affordable housing project.

If the new Fairfield route is successful, KVCAP will look into finding funding from community partners or the town of Fairfield to extend the route into the future.

KVCAP launched this service with Kennebec Valley Community College and University of Maine at Augusta students and those needing to get to the hospital in mind, Bellavance said.

The organization used to offer a route between Fairfield and MaineGeneral, but discontinued it in 2023 after the pandemic resulted in decreased ridership. KVCAP switched instead to offering appointment-based transportation in Waterville, Augusta, Skowhegan, Fairfield and Winslow.

Now, with the demonstration program approach, KVCAP is hoping to determine the current level of interest and ridership in the route. Bellavance said he hopes to see a minimum of two riders per hour for the route over the next few months.

KCVAP is also proposing two 12-month pilot program routes, a northern and an eastern route in Augusta, in January in addition to potentially extending the western Augusta and Fairfield–Augusta routes. The organization will hold public meetings and conduct surveys during the pilot period to hear community feedback on the two year-long proposed routes.