- Gainesville's RTS bus service cut routes last year due to UF funding cuts, resulting in half a million fewer riders in the first six months of FY 2026.
- RTS received a $10.2 million federal grant to build a westside transfer station on UF property with six bus bays and 54 parking spaces.
- The city began running ADA Paratransit services in March, transporting 6,501 passengers in the first month under new management.
The Gainesville City Commission cut several RTS bus routes last year after funding reductions from the University of Florida, and city data shows half a million fewer riders in the first six months of the fiscal year.
At Monday’s Gainesville & Alachua County Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) meeting, backup documents showed 2,334,876 passengers from October 2025 through March 2026. The prior year, passenger numbers hit 2,867,196.
Krys Ochia with RTS said the drop is due to providing fewer services. He noted that the number of passengers per hour that RTS transports remained roughly the same—23.9 per hour compared to 24.6 from the year before.
Ochia said the number of passengers per hour is above the nationwide average, indicating residents are using the routes when they’re operating.
In March, the city of Gainesville took over ADA Paratransit services instead of using a contractor. For the first month, the service transported 6,501 passengers.
The most popular route is Reitz Union to Oaks Mall, followed by Butler Plaza to Midtown, Reitz Union to Butler Plaza and Downtown Station to Butler Plaza.
RTS recently received a $10.2 million grant from the federal government that will pay for a new westside transfer station and new buses. The station would include six bus bays, 54 parking spaces and a ticket office. The station would be used as a park and ride as well as for bus transfers.
Gainesville’s Chief Operating Officer Brian Singleton said the city is working with UF to site the station on a piece of its property.
He said the original plan was at The Oaks Mall, but that site and another along SW 62nd Street fell through. The UF property is the WRUF station at the intersection of SW 8th Avenue and Tower Road. UF owns 57 acres at the site.
TPO member Ken Cornell said it would be a great location with a lot of people in the area wanting RTS access, especially since SW 8th Avenue now connects to SW 20th Street and all the way into the city.
TPO Chair Casey Willits agreed and said RTS is getting ahead of the transportation needs.
“It does seem like this is the next 30 years of bus transit and not necessarily a today project,” Willits said.
The city recently started an eastside transfer station off Hawthorne Road in addition to the Rosa Parks Transfer Station downtown.
TPO member Adrian Hayes-Santos asked if RTS would add the route numbers to the bus stops again. The TPO previously asked about it, and RTS said it would under a route study it planned. But that could leave a two-year gap or more, and Hayes-Santos said with ridership going down, people rely on those signs and route numbers to use the bus system.
A new motion asked RTS to add temporary stickers until the full study happens and permanent signs are made.
Water is wet. Next!
Minor comment, but the appropriate acronyms for the Gainesville & Alachua County Transportation Planning Organization are either GACTPO, TPO, or even MPO (metropolitan planning organization). PTO is not correct as it refers to Paid Time Off.
That is actually a horrible spot for the RTS to be located—that area is already congested. So we have money to build a new station, but no money to keep routes. Hopefully, planning accounts for urban sprawl
Did you know the main bus station ” find my bus ” text number is 001 ? no? Neither did i because that is not posted there anywhere. I had to ask . Can you see the find my bus number from 5 feet away ? Neither can i .
…and now you can! Congrats!
A Friday “Downtown Happy Hour from the “Park and Ride” – PIckup at 6 – 2 routes back – 7:30 and 9:00. Tie in some specials and create habits.
If they really wanted to be 30 years ahead of transportation needs, they would have targeted building a station out on 122nd Street. The development in that area is a strong argument for a closer look by anyone interested in providing public services in the long term.