Slogan Enjoy The Ride Motto Enjoy The Ride Service type Public transport | Hubs RTS Transit Center Headquarters Rochester Founded 1969 | |
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Service area Destinations Rochester and surrounding area | ||
The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) is a public benefit organization which provides transportation services in the area in and around Rochester, New York. Currently, RGRTA oversees the daily operation of eleven subsidiaries under the parent company of the RGRTA including the Regional Transit Service (RTS), RTS Genesee (RTSG), RTS Ontario (RTSO), RTS Livingston (RTSL), RTS Wayne (RTSW), RTS Wyoming (RTSW), RTS Orleans (RTSOR), RTS Seneca (RTSS) and RTS Access.
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Rochester Railway Company
Public transportation in the greater Rochester area can trace its roots back to the streetcar and interurban lines operated by the Rochester Railway Company and later New York State Railways. In 1929, New York State Railways entered receivership, and local interests formed a plan to reorganize the former Rochester Railway. After several years of negotiation, the Public Service Commission approved a reorganization plan in 1937 put together by attorney Howard Woods and his committee of stockholders.
Rochester Transit Corporation
On August 2, 1938, Rochester Transit Corporation assumed operation of the bus and streetcar operations serving the city. The last streetcar line was converted to bus operation in 1941, though contract operation of the city-owned Rochester Subway continued until 1956 (RTC ended freight operations in the Subway by 1957, transferring the responsibility to the connecting railroads). The company was returned to local control in 1943 when the remaining shares owned by Associated Gas & Electric were bought out.
From Private to Public
With postwar prosperity came increased use of automobiles and the spread of population out to the suburbs. Rochester Transit Corporation was plagued by labor unrest, and strikes in 1952 and 1965 ground the system to a halt. A dispute over job listings and seniority caused a brief two-day strike in May 1967. With the transit workers contract coming to an end that fall, stalled negotiations led to another strike in November 1967. The work stoppage continued through the holiday season, and with no end in sight, the City of Rochester drew up a plan to condemn and purchase the transit company operations. Over the objections of RTC, the strike came to an end on January 25, 1968, and the city contracted with National City Management Company to operate the bus lines as Rochester Transit Service.
Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) was formed in 1968 by a state act of government which also formed three similar agencies in Syracuse, Buffalo, the Capital District around Albany and New York City. The RGRTA took over the former RTC bus operation from the City of Rochester and later began expanding bus service to outlying suburban and rural areas. The lines that made up the former RTC service became part of the Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester and Monroe County.
Regional Transit Service
The largest subsidiary of the RGRTA, Regional Transit Service (RTS) serves Monroe County (Rochester and its immediate suburbs) as well as providing service to students at University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology. Suburban and park-and-ride routes serve the outlying towns in Monroe County and surrounding counties of Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne and Wyoming, including service into Avon, Victor, Lyons, and Le Roy).
Bus routes
Regional Transit Service operates 45 individual routes, most of which operate on a hub and spoke system from Downtown Rochester. All routes originate at the RTS Transit Center (Pictured Below) at 60 St. Paul Street along Mortimer Street.
Prior to November 28, 2014 and the opening of the transit center routes originated from the corner of Main and Clinton or from Broad Street. The Main and Clinton stops had been in place since 1863. With the move came a change in routes, stops and times including the elimination of through-routing, in which a bus would operate between two or more different routes during scheduled runs.
Routes are color coded with those in green serving the east side of the county and those in blue serving the west side.
The current routes operated by Regional Transit Service include:
Other subsidiaries
On August 19, 2014, RGRTA announced a re branding of all their bus lines in the surrounding counties under their control to feature RTS (insert region here) rather than independent names. The changes were officially implemented immediately with equipment and uniforms changing as they are phased in.
Facilities
In 2014, the authority opened a $50 million 87,000 square feet (8,082.56 m2) RTS transit center in downtown Rochester, replacing the former bus station that was part of Midtown Plaza (Rochester). The center has 30 bays capable of handling up to 100 buses per hour.