Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority

Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority

Slogan	it's Time to Ride
Founded	1972
Headquarters	4 South Main St, Dayton, Ohio
Service area	Montgomery County and Greene County, Ohio
Service type	bus service, express bus, paratransit
Routes	29
Hubs	Eastown Shopping Center Westown Shopping Center Northwest South (Dayton Mall) Wright Stop Plaza(Downtown Dayton)
Stations	Maintenance Facilities, 600 Longworth St, Dayton
Daily ridership	36,000
Fuel type	Diesel, Electric and Hybrid
Web site	GDRTA

The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, formerly known as the Miami Valley RTA, is a public transit agency that generally serves the greater Dayton, Ohio area. The GDRTA serves communities within Montgomery County and parts of Greene County, Ohio, USA. There are 29 routes. The buses operate seven days a week, 21 hours a day, and provide services to many citizens within the area. RTA's current executive director is Mark Donaghy.^[1]

Greater Dayton RTA is Ohio’s fourth-largest public transit system,^[2] serving Dayton and 23 surrounding communities in Montgomery County and parts of Greene County. RTA provides more than 11 million passenger trips per year on its buses.

History

Former GDRTA Logo

The Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority (now the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, or RTA) took over public transit operations in November 1972.

Trolley buses

Main article: Trolleybuses in Dayton

One of the first of RTA's ETI trolley buses, in 1996.

One notable feature of the GDRTA system is its use of electric trolley buses. Only five cities in the United States currently have electric trolley buses: Boston, Dayton, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.^[3] The first electric trolley bus (ETB) operation in Ohio occurred in Dayton, on April 23, 1933, when the Linden–Salem line was converted from streetcars to trackless trolleys — or trolley buses, as they are most commonly known today. The RTA renewed its commitment to electric transit with a Board of Trustees vote to continue the trolley bus service in 1991, and the purchase of a new fleet of ETBs from Electric Transit, Inc., a joint venture of the Czech company Skoda and the U.S. company AAI Corporation, based on Skoda's model 14Tr. Final assembly of the vehicles took place in Dayton in 1995–98. Electric streetcar service in Dayton had started in 1888, and it continued through to, and indeed beyond, the start of trolley bus service. Therefore, electric transit service has been operated continuously in Dayton since 1888, which is longer than in any other city in the United States.^[3]

Hybrid buses

With the addition of environmentally friendly diesel buses in 2009 and 2010 to the GDRTA's fleet, the GDRTA is Ohio's greenest transit fleet.^[4] In September 2010 RTA was designated the only 5-star Ohio Green Fleet by Clean Fuels Ohio.

Rate structure

On August 1, 2009, fares were raised to $1.75 in cash for adults, and $0.85 for children more than 45" in height, the disabled, and the elderly. Ten fare tokens for adults can be bought for $15.00, an adult weekly pass is $19.00, while an adult monthly pass is $55.00. For children under 45" in height, the elderly, and the disabled, ten fare tokens are $8.50, and the monthly pass rate is $32.00. These items are reduced for students at some area colleges according to school policies.

Transfers cost $0.25 for all riders.

Project Mobility fares are $3.50.

Hubs

The RTA operates five bus "hubs", or transit centers. Each hub serves as a connection to many suburban bus routes around Dayton.

Operation

The RTA operates with diesel and electric trolley buses. Dayton is the smallest city in the United States to still operate electric trolley buses.^[3] The trolley buses travel at least five miles on RTA routes serving Dayton and some neighboring suburbs. The routes include: Route 2, Route 3, Route 4, Route 5, Route 7 and Route 8. Formerly Route 1 served as a trolley bus. There are no bus routes serving the Dayton International Airport, although there is bus service near its location.

Contributions

The RTA has been involved in helping the city of Dayton through its contributions to the Dayton Dragons, The Schuster Center, and the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

In addition, RTA passed a resolution to make easier connections to its regional hubs and prevent misuse of transfers. In January 2007, RTA created an established proposal to make all buses serve regional businesses, establish transfer points in designated areas and streamline previously neighborhood routes. The RTA added two routes to serve areas frequently used by passengers. RTA discontinued eight routes in response to overlapping and low passenger counts.

Regular Route List

• 1 Wright State University-Third St-Westown TC-Drexel
• 2 Linden Ave-Eastown TC-Otterbein-Lexington-Northwest TC
• 3 (Weekday only) Wayne Ave.-Eastown
• 4 Townview-Hoover-Delphos-Xenia Ave./Linden Ave.-Eastown TC-Westown TC
• 5 Valley St-Children's Medical Center-Downtown Dayton-Far Hills
• 7 North Main St-Shiloh-Downtown Dayton-Watervliet
• 8 Northwest TC-Salem Ave-Lakeview-Westown TC
• 9 Northwest TC-Greenwich Village-Derby Rd-Westown
• 11 Kettering to Woodman-Downtown Dayton WPAFB Gate 1b-Kettering to Stroop-Kettering Medical Center & Kettering Rec. Center
• 12 Five Oaks-Valerie Arms-Forrer Blvd-Kettering Rec. Center
• 14 Northwest TC-Trotwood-Centerville
• 16 Union-Englewood-Kettering-Whipp & Bigger-Clyo Rd.
• 17 Vandalia-South TC
• 18 Huber Heights-Moraine-West Carrollton-Miamisburg
• 19 Huber Heights-Moraine-West Carrollton-Miamisburg
• 22 Keowee-Northridge-Job Center-Miller Ln-Gateway
• 23 Eastown TC-Kettering-Centerville-Dayton Mall-South TC
• 34 Garber Rd-Northwest TC-Westown TC-South TC
• 40 Weekday only Brookville
• 41 Weekday only New Lebanon-Montg. Co. Area 1 Court-Downtown Dayton
• 42 Weekday only Farmersville-Germantown-Miamisburg-South TC
• 60 Dayton Mall-South TC-Miamisburg
• 61 Villages of Miami-Dayton Mall-Mall Woods Dr-South TC
• X1A Downtown Dayton-WPAFB Express Areas A & C
• X1B Downtown Dayton-WPAFB Express Area B
• X5 Dayton Mall Express-Downtown Dayton-South TC
• 65 Senior E-Z Ride (Tues. and Thurs.)
• 66 Senior E-Z Ride (Mon. and Wed.)

Points of interest

Other destinations served but not listed above include:

• University of Dayton (including University of Dayton Arena)
• Sinclair Community College
• Dayton Art Institute
• The Greene
• National Museum of the United States Air Force
• Clayton
• Riverside
• Fifth Third Field
• John H. Patterson Homestead
• Carillon Historical Park
• Miami Valley Hospital
• Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
• Americas Packard Museum

References

1. ^ "Mark Donaghy, Executive Director". GDRTA. http://www.i-riderta.org/about/default.aspx. Retrieved 2009-06-05. 
2. ^ "Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products Announces Partnership with Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority". Business Wire. September 29, 2008. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080929005998&newsLang=en. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "A Brief History of Electric Transit in Dayton". Archived from the original on October 10, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071010063941/http://www.greaterdaytonrta.org/about_ETB.asp. Retrieved September 3, 2011. 
4. ^ "Dayton becomes Ohio’s greenest fleet". http://www.greaterdaytonrta.org/. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 

External links

• Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority
• City of Dayton official site