Butler County Regional Transit Authority

Butler County Regional Transit Authority
A Butler County RTA bus at the Middletown Transit Station in 2023
Founded1994
Headquarters3045 Moser Court, Hamilton, OH
LocaleHamilton, Middletown and Oxford
Service areaButler County, Ohio
Service typeBus service, paratransit
Routes12
StationsMiddletown Transit Station
Annual ridership417,782 (2022)
WebsiteButler 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.[1]

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.[2]

The BCRTA will be fare-free through 2024.[3] Service from Middletown to West Chester and Cincinnati has been proposed numerous times in recent years.[4] The service would utilize commuter buses and provide express service to downtown Cincinnati.[5] Previously commuter buses connected Middletown, Monroe and Dayton, where riders could transfer to the Dayton RTA.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.

Cutaways
Year Fleet Model Service Garage Notes
2016 1601-1606 Ford 1601 FR equipped. Hamilton 1601 active. All others retired
2017 1797-1799

749-750

Ford 749 FR equipped. Hamilton &

Middletown.

1797-1799 are retired.

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.
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.[9]

100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022

See also

References

  1. ^ "Butler County RTA Agency Profile" (PDF). Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  2. ^ "Transit Systems in Ohio". Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Rick McCrabb (September 26, 2021). "Middletown council approves no fares for bus service through 2022". WCPO. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  4. ^ Ed Richter (December 4, 2020). "RTA, Middletown considering commuter bus route into downtown Cincinnati". WCPO. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  5. ^ Rick McCrabb (January 10, 2022). "Middletown one step closer to providing bus riders service to Cincinnati". WCPO. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  6. ^ Ed Richter (January 22, 2017). "BCRTA plans bus route connecting Monroe, Middletown, South Dayton". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  7. ^ "BCRTA Routes". Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "BCRTA Rider Guide" (PDF). Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  9. ^ "The National Transit Database (NTD)". Retrieved August 28, 2023.


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