RTS is hoping to make riding the bus easier and more accessible in the coming years. But they need feedback from the community to do so.
On Friday, CEO Bill Carpenter announced the transit group would move into Phase 3 of the Reimagine RTS study. It’s doing the project with a consultant, Transportation Management and Design, and now a draft of the report is ready for community members to weigh in on.
“The purpose of Phase 3 is to share with the community the draft of what TMD recommends and gather feedback so we can continue the conversation we’ve been having about our transit system,” he said.
Carpenter shared the highlights of the report, including two new crosstown routes that get riders from Greece to Irondequoit and from Irondequoit to Henrietta. And he says buses with service on the weekend will be extended into the weekend as well, so people with weekend jobs aren’t locked out of transportation. Another major change? The Frequent Network. That’s ten of the city’s most populous routes and Carpenter says they’ll increase service on those lines.
“With the Frequent Network now you can easily and predictably make your connections to know ‘hey when I get off here, there will be a bus here in 15 minutes. It’ll be simple for me to plan my trip.’”
“64 percent of our customers, a third of all jobs in our community are served by the frequent network,” he continued. Some of those lines include service along Lake Ave, Dewey Avenue and St. Paul Street. “It’s simplified local service. If it works on Monday, it works on Sunday. How it goes out on Monday is the same as Thursday throughout the day. So much simpler for people to plan their trips.”
The finalized version of that report won’t be available until August leaving residents several weeks to share their thoughts on local transportation.
There will be at least 60 events in May alone, including public information sessions and pop-up sessions at area bus stops and major sites like the Public Market. Visit RTS’s website to learn more.