Founded | 1972 |
---|---|
Headquarters | 4 South Main St, Dayton, Ohio |
Service area | Montgomery County and Greene County, Ohio |
Service type | bus service, trolleybus, express bus, paratransit |
Routes | 18 |
Stops | +2,500 |
Hubs | Eastown Shopping Center Westown Shopping Center Northwest South (Dayton Mall) Wright Stop Plaza (Downtown Dayton) |
Stations | Maintenance Facilities, 600 Longworth St, Dayton |
Fleet | 260 |
Daily ridership | 24,600 (weekdays, Q2 2024) [1] |
Annual ridership | 6,570,600 (2023) [2] |
Fuel type | Diesel, Electric and Hybrid |
Operator | 350 |
Website | i-riderta |
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 18 routes. RTA operates diesel and electric trolley buses seven days a week, 21 hours a day, and provides services to many citizens within the area. RTA's current CEO is Bob Ruzinsky. [3] In 2023, the system had a ridership of 6,570,600, or about 24,600 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
Greater Dayton RTA is Ohio’s fourth-largest public transit system, [4] serving Dayton and 23 surrounding communities in Montgomery County and parts of Greene County.
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The Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority (now the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority, or RTA) took over public transit operations in November 1972. In 2003, its board of trustees voted to change the transit agency's name to the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority. [5]
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. [6] 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. In 2014, the system added its first low-floor trolley buses, with four dual-mode prototypes purchased from Vossloh Kiepe (now Kiepe Electric) and using bodies from Gillig, for testing and evaluation. In January 2018, RTA placed an order with Kiepe for 26 production-series dual-mode trolleybuses of the same design as the prototypes, with Gillig low-floor bodies, for delivery starting in 2019. [7]
Electric streetcar service in Dayton had started in 1888, and it continued through to, and indeed beyond, the start of the 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. [6]
With the addition of environmentally friendly hybrid buses in 2010 to the GDRTA's fleet, the GDRTA is Ohio's greenest transit fleet. [8] [ failed verification ] In September 2010 RTA was designated the only 5-star Ohio Green Fleet by Clean Fuels Ohio.
The RTA operates five bus "hubs", or transit centers. Each hub serves as a connection to many suburban bus routes around Dayton. The one in downtown Dayton is named Wright Stop Plaza and opened for service on September 1, 2009 (after a ceremonial opening earlier). [9] [10]
The RTA operates with diesel and electric trolley buses. Dayton is the smallest city in the United States to operate electric trolley buses still. [6] The trolley buses travel at least five miles on RTA routes serving Dayton and some neighboring suburbs. The routes include: Route 1, Route 2, Route 4, Route 7 and Route 8. Bus service to Dayton International Airport from downtown Dayton began on 11 August 2013. Service was expanded to stops on Pentagon Boulevard in Beavercreek, allowing access to the Fairfield Commons Mall and Soin Medical Center, on January 12, 2014.
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 smoother 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.
Year | Manufacturer | Model | Fleet Numbers | Engine | Transmission | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Gillig | BRT Plus ETB 40' | 1401-1404 | Vossloh Kiepe | Only for routes 1, 2, 4, 7, 8. | |
2016 | Gillig | Low Floor 40' | 1601-1624 | Cummins ISL9 | Voith D864.5 | |
2017 | Gillig | Low Floor 40' | 1701-1725 | Cummins ISL9 | Voith D864.6 | |
2018 | Gillig | Low Floor 29'/40' | 1801-1824, 1831-1834 | Cummins L9 | Voith D864.6 | 1801-1824 are 40'foot and 1831-1834 are 29'foot |
2019 | Gillig | Low Floor 40' | 1901-1917 | Cummins L9 | Voith D864.6 | |
2019 | Gillig | BRT Plus ETB 40' | 1951-1971 | Vosslon Kiepe | Only for routes 1, 2, 4, 7, 8. | |
2020 | Gillig | BRT 35' | 2031-2037 | Cummins L9 | Voith D864.6 | Only use for the Flyer service |
2020 | Gillig | BRT Plus ETB 40' | 2051-2070 | Vosslon Kiepe | Only for routes 1, 2, 4, 7, 8. | |
2021 | Gillig | Low Floor 40' | 2101-2111 | Cummins L9 | Voith D864.6 | |
2023 | Gillig | Low Floor 29' | 2331-2358 | Cummins L9 | Voith D864.6 |
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, with a ridership of 22,431,500, or about 79,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) is a New York State public-benefit corporation overseeing a number of multi-modal parts of public transportation in the Capital District of New York State. CDTA runs local and express buses, including four lines of an express bus service called BusPlus, and day-to-day management of three Amtrak stations in the Capital region–the Albany-Rensselaer, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs Amtrak stations. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 15,779,000, or about 57,100 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
Gillig is an American designer and manufacturer of buses. The company headquarters, along with its manufacturing operations, is located in Livermore, California. By volume, Gillig is the second-largest transit bus manufacturer in North America. As of 2013, Gillig had an approximate 31 percent market share of the combined United States and Canadian heavy-duty transit bus manufacturing industry, based on the number of equivalent unit deliveries.
Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre park and museum in Dayton, Ohio, which contains historic buildings and exhibits concerning the history of technology and the history of Dayton and its residents from 1796 to the present. As a part of the University of Dayton, the historical elements of the park were the brainchild of Colonel Edward Deeds. The major sections include settlement, transportation, invention, and industry. The park also contains the Carillon Park Railroad, a 7+1⁄2 in gauge miniature railway.
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METRO Regional Transit Authority, also known as Akron Metropolitan Regional Transit Authority, is the public transit agency serving Summit County, Ohio and the city of Akron. It operates a number of local routes, and also operates one route into downtown Cleveland. Akron Metro transports passengers to/from school, work, grocery stores, malls and jobs all across Summit County. METRO RTA's fleet consists of about 200+ vehicles running on diesel, diesel-electric hybrid and as of 2022/2023, two fully electric Gillig vehicles, compressed natural gas fuels. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 4,260,900, or about 23,300 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. SORTA operates Metro fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services. SORTA's headquarters are located at the Huntington Building in Cincinnati’s Central Business District. The agency is managed by CEO and General Manager Darryl Haley along with a 13-member board of trustees. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 13,091,500, or about 42,900 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is a government agency that provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a fixed-route bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including two express routes to Tampa; the Central Avenue Trolley; the Suncoast Beach Trolley; and the bus rapid transit service, the SunRunner.
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Electric Transit, Inc. (ETI) was a joint venture between the Škoda group in the Czech Republic and AAI Corporation in the United States which made trolleybuses for the Dayton and San Francisco trolleybus systems, constructing a total of 330 trolleybuses. ETI was formed in 1994, and ownership was divided as 65% by Škoda and 35% by AAI. The latter was a wholly owned subsidiary of United Industrial Corporation. Up to that time, Škoda had built more than 12,000 trolleybuses since 1935, but none for cities outside Europe and Asia. The ETI joint venture was dissolved in 2004, shortly after an unsuccessful bid to supply trolleybuses to Vancouver.
Metro Dayton or the Miami Valley, or more formally the Dayton–Kettering–Beavercreek, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of three counties in the Miami Valley region of Ohio and is anchored by the city of Dayton. As of 2020, it is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Ohio and the 73rd-largest metropolitan area by population in the United States with a population of 814,049.
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The Vancouver trolley bus system forms part of the TransLink public transport network serving Metro Vancouver in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Opened in 1948, the system was originally owned and operated by the British Columbia Electric Railway. By 1954, Vancouver had the largest trolley bus fleet in Canada, with 327 units, and the fleet grew to an all-time peak of 352 in early 1957. There were 19 routes by 1955 and a peak of 20 by the second quarter of 1957. The last route to open in the 1950s was the only express trolley bus service that ever existed in Canada. Several, mostly short, extensions to the system were constructed in the 1980s and later.
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The Seattle trolleybus system forms part of the public transportation network in the city of Seattle, Washington, operated by King County Metro. Originally opened on April 28, 1940, the network consists of 15 routes, with 174 trolleybuses operating on 68 miles (109 km) of two-way parallel overhead lines. As of the second quarter of 2024, the system carries riders on an average of 39,900 trips per weekday, comprising about 18 percent of King County Metro's total daily ridership.
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