August 02, 2018
Rochester, NY: Regional Transit Service (RTS) today released the completed report and recommendation from Transportation Management & Design (TMD) for the fixed-route transit system in Monroe County. This milestone represents the end of TMD’s work on Reimagine RTS, which is the end of Stage 1 of the redesign process.
At a press conference today, RTS CEO Bill Carpenter recapped the study process to date, and shared the details of what TMD recommends for the fixed-route system. He also introduced a companion report created by RTS that outlines the next steps of Reimagine RTS and highlights feedback from the community that will be addressed in upcoming stages of the process.
“TMD’s completed report provides a clear recommendation for the specific structure of the fixed-route transit system in Monroe County. It also recommends the use of more cost-effective mobility options in the Community Mobility Zones and the creation of connection hubs to help customers connect to different parts of the network,” said Carpenter. With this stage of the project complete, we can now shift our focus to identifying the new mobility options that will help us provide a more connected and convenient transit system for the community. I thank TMD and Highland Planning for their partnership on this project. I also thank the many employees, customers, and stakeholders who have dedicated their time, passion and voice to such an important issue.”
Reimagine RTS Stage 1 Recap
Since beginning Reimagine RTS with TMD in September of 2017, we conducted four phases of work:
• Phase 1 (September – December 2017): During Phase 1, we put a significant focus on community outreach to gather input. We also set the goals for the redesign.
• Phase 2 (January – April 2018): During Phase 2, we analyzed data and developed the guiding principles for the new system.
• Phase 3 (May – July 2018): During Phase 3, we shared the draft of TMD’s recommendation with the community to gather additional input. This involved an extensive amount of outreach and education.
• Phase 4 (August 2018): During Phase 4, we shared TMD’s completed report and recommendation for the fixed-route transit system in Monroe County. Ensuring community participation was a key focus for RTS during Stage 1. Over the course of the past year, we conducted three surveys with more than 14,000 responses, and held more than 150 meetings and events.
Following is the detail of our outreach activities from September 2017 through July 2018.
Surveys (online and in-person): 3 (14,000 + responses)
Public Information Sessions: 5
Pop-Up Sessions (at RTS Transit Center & Community Locations): 40
Focus Group Meetings: 6
Park & Ride On-Bus / RTS Transit Center Gate Sessions: 29
Employee Meetings: 29 Meetings-in-a-Box: 7
Stakeholder/Executive Meetings :35+
TOTAL OUTREACH: 150+ Meetings & Events
TMD’s Recommendation
TMD’s recommendation for the fixed-route system includes 30 routes that run seven days a week, with 10 frequent routes and 20 local routes. It also includes seven community mobility zones for the use of more cost-effective mobility options, and 11 connection hubs to help customers make the connection between the community mobility zones and the fixed-route system. Ninety-five percent of our current customers would be within walking distance of TMD’s recommended fixed-route system and 64% would be within walking distance of the frequent network.
TMD’s completed recommendation is similar to the draft they released in May, with the following improvements based on feedback from employees and the community during Phase 3 outreach.
- Route 10 Dewey – Short Line and Long Line: This route has been altered to travel along Broad Street instead of State Street to create a “crosstown” connection to the following Southwest routes at Main & Broad (4 Genesee, 8 Chili, 9 Jay/Maple, 19 Plymouth, 25 Thurston/MCC).
- Route 3 Lyell Short Line: This route is now the Lyell-Upper Falls Crosstown. It will travel from the Lyell Wegmans Plaza area to Portland Avenue via Lyell Avenue and Upper Falls Boulevard.
- Seasonal Route to Seabreeze: This route is recommended to originate from the Skyview Plaza Connection Hub and will operate during the season when Seabreeze is open.
- Pittsford-Area Connection Hub: A Connection Hub near Pittsford Plaza was added to the recommendation.
- New Community Mobility Zone: A new Community Mobility Zone was added in the southeast part of the county, near the Eastview Mall area.
System Frequency
The following chart details the frequency and operating times of the two primary recommended products, the frequent and local routes.
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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
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60
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60
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The Frequent Network
The recommended frequent network represents a new feature for Monroe County’s fixed-route transit system. These 10 routes would offer more frequent service along major, mixed-use corridors and connections to other routes in the network. The frequent network routes are orange on the map. View Map
Local Service
Local service routes would provide circulation within neighborhoods and connect customers to the frequent network and the community mobility zones. This product includes the recommended addition of three crosstown routes that provide improved connectivity with the frequent network and major destinations along each corridor. The first crosstown route runs east-to-west along Ridge Road. The second runs north-to-south on the east side along Culver Road, making its way to Henrietta. The third runs east-to-west along Lyell Avenue and Upper Falls Boulevard. Local service routes are in blue in the map below. The crosstown routes are identified by the light blue outline. View Map
Community Mobility Zones
Fixed-route transit works best when there is the right density, diversity and design. Areas that do not have these characteristics are proposed as Community Mobility Zones to pilot more cost-effective mobility solutions. This will be our area of focus for Stage 2 of Reimagine RTS.
Stage 2 will include a study of mobility options (aside from the 40- and 60-foot buses) to identify the specific transportation products that will provide access to the five percent of current customers who do not live within walking distance of the recommended fixed-route system. The Stage 2 study will begin in the fall of 2018 and run through late winter of 2019. As part of the study, we will involve customers and stakeholders in each specific zone to ensure they have a voice in determining the best solutions for their area. The green dots on the map represent the community mobility zones. View Map
Connection Hubs
TMD also recommends the creation of connection hubs to help customers make the connection between the fixed-route system and the more cost-effective mobility solutions in the community mobility zones. These would be physical hubs at key locations throughout the proposed system, represented by the light blue dots on the map View Map These hubs can be a variety of shapes and sizes, with multiple transportation modes and facilities being co-located there.
Phase 4 Community Outreach
TMD’s completed report and recommendation is available for review on the Reimagine RTS website. We will be holding a meeting to update the community on TMD’s recommendation and the next steps of the Reimagine RTS process on Tuesday, August 14, at 6:00 p.m. at the Thomas P. Ryan Recreation Center. The Ryan Center is located at 530 Webster Avenue, Rochester, NY 14609. Anyone interested in learning more about TMD’s recommendation can attend the meeting and/or review the information on the Reimagine RTS website. Anyone interested in sharing their thoughts about TMD’s recommendation can do so at the Reimagine RTS website or the main RTS website.
RTS Companion Report
We received a lot of feedback from our customers during the study, as well as questions that will be answered in upcoming stages of the process. To address the most common items of feedback and some of the questions that we still need answers to, RTS prepared a companion report that we are sharing along with TMD’s completed report. One of the key learnings from the community is that they are looking for more than what TMD recommends. Some items require additional funding and some will be looked at as we identify the best solutions for the community mobility zones.
Items the community wants added when funding is available include more routes added to the frequent network, adding more frequency on weekday evenings and weekends, and extending the end time of service each day from midnight to 1:00 a.m. As we study solutions for the community mobility zones, we will look for opportunities to enhance service in Brighton and improve access for Park & Ride/commuter route customers.
The RTS Companion Report is available on the Reimagine RTS website.
Reimagine RTS Process
With Stage 1 complete, we have more clarity around the Reimagine RTS timeline:
Based on this timeline, we anticipate implementing the reimagined public transit network in the Summer of 2020.
For more information about the Reimagine RTS study please visit www.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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