RTA makes temporary service adjustments to service hours and routes beginning October 3

For Immediate Release

MEDIA CONTACT:  Jessica Olson (937) 425-8352, Communications Manager

(DAYTON, OHIO) … The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA), in response to a severe shortage of operators and decreased customer demand for services due to COVID-19, will be making the following temporary service adjustments beginning Sunday, October 3, 2021.

Temporary Service Hour Adjustments:

  • Fixed Route & Paratransit Service hours Monday through Saturday from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
  • Fixed Route & Paratransit Service hours Sunday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

During a public hearing, RTA heard from riders it was very important to keep service to midnight. For example, Beverly said “if you decide to stop buses at 11 p.m. on Monday through Saturday and 10 p.m. on Sunday, I would have to find some other way home or some other schedule for work.” As a result, RTA altered its originally proposed service hours based on customer feedback.

Temporary Route Eliminations:

  • Routes 64, 65, 66

Seniors shared with RTA concerns about eliminating the Senior EZ Ride. Carole said, “Please do not terminate this bus. I have no way of going to the grocery store.” In response to customer feedback, RTA plans to launch a new door-to-door service for older adults beginning in October. More details will be released soon.

Temporary Trip Eliminations:

  • Route 7: Eliminating southbound trips at 6:48 a.m., 5:07 p.m. from Meijer and 3:17 p.m. from Wright Stop Plaza. Also, eliminating northbound trips at 5:39 a.m., 8:09 a.m., 3:51 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. from Patterson/Woodman.
  • Route 8: Eliminating southbound trips at 5:38 a.m., 7:40 a.m. from the Northwest Transit Center and northbound trips at 6:37 a.m., 8:41 a.m. from the Westown Transit Center.
  • Route 16: Southbound trips at 5:54 a.m. from Sheets and Montgomery, 3:44 p.m. and 7:13 p.m. from Smith and Hoke. Also, eliminating northbound trips at 7:31 a.m., 2:44 p.m. and 5:28 p.m. from Costco.
  • Route 18: Eliminating southbound trip 3:07 p.m. from Wright Stop Plaza and Eliminating northbound trips 2:42 p.m. from Wright Stop Plaza, and 4:01 p.m. from First and Central.
  • Route 19: Eliminating southbound trips at 6:59 a.m., 3:43 p.m., 5:43 p.m. from Meijer and the northbound trip at 5:25 p.m. from the South Transit Center.

Other Service Changes:

  • Routes 1, 2 & 4: Routing changed to serve Third Street Bridge.
  • Route 12: Will serve Hope Center & Omega.
  • Route 17: Routing changed from Little York Road to Maxton Road.
  • Route 19: Returning service to Stebbins High School.
  • Route 22: Extended AM trip from Walmart to the Gateway Shelter.
  • Route 34: Extra trips added on Saturday.
  • Route 43: Adjusted some trips to serve Energizer. 

For more information on what specific trips have been eliminated or changed, please click here.

These proposed changes are due to a lack of available operators and decreased customer demand for services due to COVID-19. The changes were determined following feedback from customers and based on analysis of ridership on routes, specific trips, and time periods experiencing lower ridership. As the employment situation improves, RTA will look at ways to restore and even grow transit services where needed. You can find your route information here.