Butler County Regional Transit Authority
{{Short description|Provider of mass transportation in Butler County, Ohio}}
{{Infobox Bus transit
| name = Butler County Regional Transit Authority
| logo =
| logo_size =
| image = Butler_County_RTA_bus.jpg
| image_caption = A Butler County RTA bus at the Middletown Transit Station in 2023
| company_slogan =
| parent =
| founded = 1994
| headquarters = 3045 Moser Court, Hamilton, OH
| locale = Hamilton, Middletown and Oxford
| service_area = Butler County, Ohio
| service_type = Bus service, paratransit
| alliance =
| routes = 12
| destinations =
| stops =
| hubs =
| stations = Middletown Transit Station
| lounge =
| fleet =
| annual ridership= 417,782 (2022)
| website = [https://www.butlercountyrta.com/ Butler County RTA]
}}
Butler County Regional Transit Authority, also stylized as BCRTA, is the primary provider of mass transportation in Butler County, Ohio with twelve routes serving the region. As of 2019, the system provided 620,233 rides over 70,789 annual vehicle revenue hours with 18 buses and 17 paratransit vehicles.{{cite web|url=https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/transit_agency_profile_doc/2019/50157.pdf|title= Butler County RTA Agency Profile|access-date=August 28, 2023}}
History
Public transit in Hamilton began with horsecars in 1875, with Middletown beginning horsecar service in 1879. Horsecars in both cities were replaced with electric streetcars in the 1880s and 1890s, which in turn were replaced by buses in 1918 in Middletown and in 1932 in Hamilton.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagorailfan.com/aatohcin.html|title=Transit Systems in Ohio|access-date=August 28, 2023}}
The BCRTA will be fare-free through 2024.{{cite news|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/middletown/middletown-council-approves-no-fares-for-bus-service-through-2022|title=Middletown council approves no fares for bus service through 2022|author=Rick McCrabb|date=September 26, 2021|newspaper=WCPO|access-date=August 28, 2023}} Service from Middletown to West Chester and Cincinnati has been proposed numerous times in recent years.{{cite news|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/rta-middletown-considering-commuter-bus-route-into-downtown-cincinnati|title=RTA, Middletown considering commuter bus route into downtown Cincinnati|author=Ed Richter|date=December 4, 2020|newspaper=WCPO|access-date=August 28, 2023}} The service would utilize commuter buses and provide express service to downtown Cincinnati.{{cite news|url=https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/middletown/middletown-one-step-closer-to-providing-bus-riders-service-to-cincinnati|title=Middletown one step closer to providing bus riders service to Cincinnati|author=Rick McCrabb|date=January 10, 2022|newspaper=WCPO|access-date=August 28, 2023}} Previously commuter buses connected Middletown, Monroe and Dayton, where riders could transfer to the Dayton RTA.{{cite news|url=https://www.daytondailynews.com/news/bcrta-plans-bus-route-connecting-monroe-middletown-south-dayton/xeFz9EdT67XCWExm5YuTDJ/|title=BCRTA plans bus route connecting Monroe, Middletown, South Dayton|author=Ed Richter|date=January 22, 2017|newspaper=Dayton Daily News|access-date=August 28, 2023}}
Service
Butler County RTA operates 12 regular weekday bus routes centered on Middletown and Oxford. Four routes operate in Middletown, five in Oxford, with three regional services connecting Hamilton, Middletown and Oxford. The R6 Job Connector provides connections to SORTA in Springdale.{{cite web|url=https://www.butlercountyrta.com/routes/view-all-routes/|title=BCRTA Routes|access-date=August 28, 2023}}
Hours of operation for the system are Monday through Friday from 6:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. Service in Middletown is provided from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. on Saturdays. There is no service on Sundays. Fixed route services are fare-free.{{cite web|url=https://www.butlercountyrta.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/BCRTA_General-Rider-Guides_2022_No-Bleeds.pdf|title=BCRTA Rider Guide|access-date=August 28, 2023}}
=Routes=
==Regional==
- R1 Hamilton/Middletown Shuttle
- R3 Forest Park/Oxford Connector
- R6 Job Connector
==Oxford local==
- U1 Campus Core
- U1W Campus Core w/Wal-Mart Flyer
- U3 Tollgate Loop
- U4 Western Campus/North Loop
- U4D Western Campus/North Loop w/Ditmer Flyer
==Middletown local==
- Blue Line
- Green Line
- Gold Line
- Red Line
==Express Routes==
- CincyLink Express
Fleet
Butler county RTA's fleet consist of a variety of vehicles that are used for Fixed route (FR), and demand response (DR) services.
| class="wikitable"
|+Cutaways !Year !Fleet !Model !Service !Garage !Notes |
| 2016
|1601-1606 |Ford |1601 FR equipped. |Hamilton |1601 active. All others retired |
| 2017
|1701-1705 749-750 |Ford |749 FR equipped. |Hamilton & Middletown. |1701-1705 Ex Dayton RTA. 749 and 750 purchased by Middletown. |
| 2018
|1895-1899 |Ford |1895 FR equipped. |Hamilton. |1899 retired. |
| 2020
|2080-2091 |Ford |2080-2082, 2084, 2088, and 2091 FR equipped. |Hamilton & Oxford. |2091 has 16 seats. |
| 2022
|2280 |Ford |Demand Response |Hamilton. |2280 is not equipped with a headsign. |
| 2024
|2501-2507 |Ford |2501, 2503, 2505 & 2507 FR equipped. |Hamilton. |In service as of June. |
| class="wikitable"
|+Gillig & MCI's. !Year !Fleet !Model !Service !Garage !Notes |
| 2015
|1501-1512 1520-1521 |Gillig & Ford |FR only |Oxford & Hamilton. |1520-1521 are Ford F-550's. (referred to as bullets). |
| 2016
|640-644 1607-1609 |Gillig |FR only |Middletown, Oxford And Hamilton. |640-644 purchased by Middletown. |
| 2019
|1901-1904 |Gillig |FR only |Oxford |Trolley body's. |
| 2021
|645 |Gillig |FR only |Middletown |Purchased by Middletown. |
| 2022
|2201-2205 2301-2303 |MCI's |Cincylink only. |Hamilton |Funded by Middletown, Powered by BCRTA. |
Other active vehicles include vans, which are listed as 1513-1517 (2015's), 1995-1997, & 1999 (2019's). All vans are used for demand response services.
Fixed route ridership
The ridership statistics shown here are for fixed route services only and do not include demand response services.{{cite web | title=The National Transit Database (NTD) | url=https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/data-product/monthly-module-adjusted-data-release | access-date=August 28, 2023}}
{{#invoke:Chart | bar chart
| group 1 = 276272:509734:483252:549465:548757:591948:589412:188787:256680:417782
| units suffix =
| group names = Annual ridership
| x legends =2013:2014:2015:2016:2017:2018:2019:2020:2021:2022
| colors = #{{rcr|Metra|SouthWest}}
}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.butlercountyrta.com/ Butler County RTA]
{{Ohio public transit}}
Category:Bus transportation in Ohio
Category:Transit agencies in Ohio
{{US-bus-transport-stub}}
{{Ohio-transport-stub}}