Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority


The Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority is a New York State public-benefit corporation which provides transportation services in the eight-county area in and around Rochester, New York. Currently, RGRTA oversees the daily operation of eleven subsidiaries under the parent company of the RGRTA, including paratransit services.

Organization

The RGRTA is guided by a 14-member board of commissioners. The management team is headed by CEO Bill Carpenter, who reports to the board. In 2017, the RGRTA had operating expenses of $116.51 million and a level of staffing of 1,045 people.

History

Rochester Railway Company

Public transportation in the greater Rochester area can trace its roots back to the streetcar and interurban lines operated by the Rochester Railway Company and later New York State Railways. In 1929, New York State Railways entered receivership, and local interests formed a plan to reorganize the former Rochester Railway. After several years of negotiation, the New York State Public Service Commission approved a reorganization plan in 1937 put together by attorney Howard Woods and his committee of stockholders.

Rochester Transit Corporation

On August 2, 1938, Rochester Transit Corporation assumed operation of the bus and streetcar operations serving the city. The last streetcar line was converted to bus operation in 1941, though contract operation of the city-owned Rochester Subway continued until 1956. The company was returned to local control in 1943 when the remaining shares owned by Associated Gas & Electric were bought out.

From Private to Public

With postwar prosperity came increased use of automobiles and the spread of population out to the suburbs. Rochester Transit Corporation was plagued by labor unrest, and strikes in 1952 and 1965 ground the system to a halt. A dispute over job listings and seniority caused a brief two-day strike in May 1967. With the transit workers contract coming to an end that fall, stalled negotiations led to another strike in November 1967. The work stoppage continued through the holiday season, and with no end in sight, the City of Rochester drew up a plan to condemn and purchase the transit company operations. Over the objections of RTC, the strike came to an end on January 25, 1968, and the city contracted with National City Management Company to operate the bus lines as Rochester Transit Service.
Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority was formed in 1968 by a state act of government which also formed three similar agencies in Syracuse, Buffalo, the Capital District around Albany and New York City. The RGRTA took over the former RTC bus operation from the City of Rochester and later began expanding bus service to outlying suburban and rural areas. The lines that made up the former RTC service became part of the Regional Transit Service in Rochester and Monroe County.

Regional Transit Service

The largest subsidiary of the RGRTA, Regional Transit Service serves Monroe County. RTS also serves major shopping centers and malls in Monroe County, such as various Walmart locations, Marketplace Mall in Henrietta, Eastview Mall in Victor and The Mall at Greece Ridge in Greece.

Bus routes

Regional Transit Service operates a number of individual routes, most of which operate on a hub and spoke system from Downtown Rochester. These routes originate at the RTS Transit Center at 60 St. Paul Street along Mortimer Street.
Prior to November 28, 2014, the opening date of the transit center, routes originated from the corner of Main and Clinton or from Broad Street. The Main and Clinton stops had been in place since 1863. With the move came a change in routes, stops and times including the elimination of through-routing, in which a bus would operate between two or more different routes during scheduled runs.
Routes are color coded with those in green serving the east side of the county and those in blue serving the west side. ROC-It routes are routes with limited stops.
The current routes operated by Regional Transit Service include the following :

Monroe County

Other subsidiaries

On August 19, 2014, RGRTA announced a rebranding of all their bus lines in the surrounding counties under their control to be named RTS, with the county name following, as shown above, rather than independent names. The changes were officially implemented immediately with equipment and uniforms changing as they are phased in.

Facilities

In 2014, the authority opened a $50 million RTS transit center in downtown Rochester, replacing the former bus station that was part of Midtown Plaza. The center has 30 bays capable of handling up to 100 buses per hour.