May 04, 2018
Rochester, NY: Regional Transit Service (RTS) today announced the start of phase three of Reimagine RTS, the study of a redesign of the public transit system in Monroe County. The purpose of phase three of Reimagine RTS is to share with the community the draft of what RTS’s project consultant – Transportation Management & Design, Inc. (TMD) – will recommend at the end of the study in August, and gather feedback from the community.
At a press conference held earlier today, RTS CEO Bill Carpenter provided a brief recap of phases one and two, and provided an overview of TMD’s draft recommendation for the transit system. Carpenter highlighted the significant outreach plan in place to engage the community and announced a new microsite dedicated to the study.
“Phase three of Reimagine RTS marks an important step forward for the future of public transportation in Monroe County,” said Carpenter. “Our customers told us they want faster, more direct service, shorter wait times, and more frequent service. While the draft recommendation from our consultant embraces those priorities, we want to continue our conversation with the community and gather their feedback so we can improve on this draft recommendation.”
The Draft Recommendation
System Frequency
The draft of the proposed system includes two primary mass transit products – a frequent network and local service. The frequent network consists of 10 routes where buses run every 15 minutes during the day on weekdays, and every 30 minutes during the day on weekends. Local service consists of 20 routes where buses run every 30 minutes during the day on weekdays and every hour on weekends. The following chart details the frequency and operating times of the two primary recommended products.
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Day Type & Span
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Frequent Network
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Local Service
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Weekday
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|
|
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5:00am - 6:00am
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30
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60
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6:00am - 6:00pm
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15
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30
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6:00pm - Midnight
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30
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60
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|
Weekend
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|
|
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6:00am - 7:00am
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60
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60
|
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7:00am - 6:00pm
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30
|
60
|
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6:00pm - Midnight
|
60
|
60
|
| |
| |
The Frequent Network
The frequent network represents a potentially new feature for Monroe County’s transit system. These 10 routes would offer more frequent service along major, mixed-use corridors and connections to other routes in the network. The addition of a frequent network means customers of these core routes would experience shorter wait times, faster trips and better connectivity to the entire system. The frequent network routes are orange in the following map.
Local Service
Local bus service would provide circulation within neighborhoods and connect customers to the frequent network. This product includes the recommended addition of two crosstown routes that provide improved connectivity with the frequent network and major destinations along each corridor. One crosstown route runs east-to-west along Ridge Road and the other runs north-to-south along Culver Road, making its way to Henrietta. Local service routes are in blue in the map below. The crosstown routes are identified by the light blue outline.
Community Mobility Zones
95 percent of current customers would be within a 10-minute walk of the frequent network and local service area. Community Mobility Zones are areas outside these two primary product areas where we would focus on developing solutions for the 5 percent of current customers outside a 10-minute walk to the proposed system. These are areas where we can pilot more cost-effective mobility solutions such as customized business partnerships, on-demand shuttles, vanpools, and shared-ride trips. During phase three, the RTS team will have conversations with customers in these areas to begin identifying the options that would work best. The areas outside the local service routes (represented by the green dots) in the following map represent the community mobility zones.
Connection Hubs
In addition to the new route structure, TMD also recommends the creation of connection hubs. These would be physical hubs at key locations in the outer areas of the proposed system, represented by the light blue dots in the map below. These hubs would help customers connect to frequent network and local service routes, as well as more cost-effective options in the community mobility zones. This portion of the draft recommendation is currently unfunded.
Phase 3 Community Outreach
More than 60 events are scheduled for the next several weeks. This includes three public information sessions, six focus groups, 29 pop-up sessions at the RTS Transit Center, 7 pop-up sessions at locations in the community, and 21 sessions with RTS employees. The dates, times and locations for the community events are available on the events page of the new Reimagine RTS microsite. Customers are encouraged to attend any of the events to review the draft recommendation and take the latest Reimagine RTS survey to provide feedback.
New Reimagine RTS Microsite
RTS has developed a new microsite to make it easy for the community to access all the information available about the Reimagine RTS study. The web address for the site is myRTS.com/reimagine. Visitors to the site can try an interactive map to review the draft recommendation, take the survey to share feedback, see the schedule of events, read answers to frequently asked questions, sign up for more information, and watch a brief video that provides an overview of phase three of the study.
Carpenter went on to say: “For us to successfully reimagine our transit system, we want as many people as possible to participate in the process. Between the robust schedule of community events and the new microsite, we have taken steps to make it as easy as possible for everyone to access information on the study, ask questions, and share feedback. With Reimagine RTS, we are in the process of advancing the transit system to move people in high demand areas frequently, reliably and with greater ease, while providing connections to move individuals and small groups.”
For more information about the Reimagine RTS study please visit myRTS.com/reimagine.
For all other information, visit myRTS.com.
About RTS
Regional Transit Service (RTS) is a regional transit authority established by New York State with more than 900 employees who proudly serve customers and business partners in Monroe, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne and Wyoming counties. Recognized as one of the best-run transit systems in the nation, RTS provides safe, reliable and convenient public bus transportation to more than 16 million people each year. We carry out our mission by connecting our customers to jobs, school, healthcare, shopping and recreational activities every day. For more information, visit myRTS.com.
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