On Board Newsletter | Greater Dayton RTA

Reduced fare pass customers receive 30-day grace period
A new policy allows RTA reduced fare photo ID pass holders a 30-day grace period after the pass expiration date. Customers who qualify for reduced fares include senior citizens aged 65 and older, youth aged 6-12, and persons with documented disabilities. Download Document

Here's your chance to say goodbye to several retiring RTA operators
RTA employs 347 fixed route and Project Mobility operators. The average age at retirement is determined by many variables, including an operator’s age, outside service credit, military service credit, and other factors, according to RTA’s Human Resources department. Read More

RTA is there when people need more than a ride to work
We respond whenever the Red Cross or Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency asks for help with transportation for those who suddenly become displaced because of tragedy. The event might be a fire or a bad storm. It might not even involve human victims. Read More

RTA On The Road Community outreach bus coming your way
An ‘RTA On the Road’ bus will visit a destination near your neighborhood soon. The bus has been specially retrofitted to become a rolling education and training vehicle that connects RTA to your community at special events, local festivals, workplace sites, and more. Our RTA On the Road bus will debut August 3 at First Friday in downtown Dayton from 5 to 7 p.m. This event will be the RTA On the Road team’s inaugural event and the first in a series of RTA On the Road Fridays Read More

Seven operators honored at RTA Safety Days, inducted into 2012 Million Mile Club
Seven operators were honored on RTA’s annual Safety Day in June. Because they have achieved a driving history of more than 20 years without an accident by 2011, each was inducted into RTA’s prestigious Million Mile Club. The honorees are Darryl Daugherty, 21 years, Gill Steele, 20 years, Kevin Davis, 21 years, Lou Mohr, 22 years, Margie Fields, 20 years, Frank Graham, 20 years and Ronald Waldron, 20 years. Read More

New Commuter Advocacy Group forms
The RTA is looking for a wide variety of people to participate in its new Community Advocacy Group (CAG). A diverse group will boost participation and results during meetings, initiatives and activities, the agency believes. Read More

Program links human service reps with RTA Transit Links provides training to help clients connect to jobs
Early last year RTA launched a new program called Transit Links for counselors, social workers and any nonprofit human service provider in greater Dayton. Because we know how vital reliable transportation is for clients who need jobs or transportation to work, RTA offers two-hour training sessions several times a year for groups of up to 15 at its downtown headquarters at 4 S. Main Street. Read More

Turkmenistan transit officials visit RTA
The RTA recently hosted a high-level delegation of transportation officials from Turkmenistan. Read More

Kettering resident welcomes 12 months of RTA bus passes
Kettering’s Kelly Boger is our RTA Holiday Shopping contest big winner. Her entry was drawn to receive a year’s worth of RTA bus passes valued at $660 Read More

January service adjustments set to begin
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December 2011 - Santa Has Reindeer You have RTA!
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November 2011 - "He was a fantastic guy"
When 11-year RTA veteran operator Michael Dejohn Jefferson passed away on October 4, he was honored by family, friends and coworkers. Read More

October 2011 - Tennessee native chooses RTA every day
"Driving just never did excite me," he says. Read More

September 2011 - Students ride RTA to college, high school
This time of year students begin depending on RTA routes to get them to college and high school classes each day. RTA serves schools throughout the Miami Valley, including Wright State University, University of Dayton, Sinclair Community College (RTA’s most popular destination), and the Dayton public high schools. Download Document

August 2011 - How to beat the heat on RTA
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July 2011 - Safety comes first in RTA service
Your safety and security is RTA's most important promise to you. Download Document

June 2011 - RTA ranks high among cities transporting workers to jobs
Dayton's RTA ranks high among cities transporting workers to jobs. Download Document

May 2011 - Rack and Roll on RTA
We are proud to be a bicycle friendly transit system based in Dayton, one of only two Ohio cities designated as a Bicycle Friendly Community. Download Document

April 2011 - A helping hand
RTA's partnership with Montgomery County provided transportation for residents with power autages. Download Document

March 2011 - Loyal customer gets rewarded for holiday shopping
Janet Marie Mack has taken the bus since she was an 8-year-old girl when her mother pinned her name and address to her clothing, place her on the bus, and told the driver where she was going. Download Document

February 2011 - RTA wants to welcome you home
New Welcome Home packets are being mailed this month and the program will be introduced online in March. Download Document

January 2011 - Your Voice Counts
The RTA regularly adds new ways to make your voice count with government decision makers. Keeping Commuter Benefits was one of several things RTA has brought to you to ensure you were heard where public transit is concerned. Download Document

Guess who's driving the bus?
Every weekend from November 26, 2010 to January 2, 2011, you can ride on Route 34 for FREE!* It’s as if Santa himself were behind the wheel. Download Document

i-riderta.org - online schedule tool helps you plan your trip
RTA’s online schedule tool makes planning a trip easier than ever. Suppose you need to be somewhere before 7 a.m. and you’re not sure what time a bus will leave your stop. What can you do? Download Document

i-riderta.org - where to learn all about RTA
Looking for important behind-the-scenes information about RTA? Download Document

September 2010 - i-riderta.org - it's easy to schedule your ride
When you’re ready to ride, checking out an RTA schedule is likely the first thing you’ll want to do. While printed schedules for all 29 RTA routes are available at many locations, the schedules section at i-riderta.org offers a user-friendly alternative to paper route maps and schedules without leaving home. Download Document

August 2010 - i-riderta.org - all the RTA news you could ask for
Open, dynamic communication is vitally important to RTA. Download Document

July 2010 - i-riderta.org - customer support is one click away
The options available here on one click range from need-to-know phone contacts to our heartfelt customer service guarantees. Download Document

June 2010 - i-riderta.org/myRTA - offers many entertainment ideas
When you tour the new features at i-riderta.org, make note of a new lifestyle section called myRTA designed just for you and loaded with entertainment choices. Download Document

May 2010 - RTA rolls out 10 Hybrid Buses!
RTA rolled out ten 40-foot, Low Floor Gillig hybrid buses in April at Wright Stop Plaza. A hybrid bus, an electric trolley bus, a regular diesel bus and a paratransit Tesco bus were displayed on Third Street during the celebration. Download Document

March 2010 - i-riderta.org - we'll take you there in a click!
Whether you're a night owl or an early bird, you'll never have to wait until our offices open to find everything you need to know about RTA. Our new website - launching soon - has a new address, i-riderta.org, and a new attitude. Easy to get around, easy to access, almost every element you need is here at the touch of one click! Download Document

February 2010 - RTA adds customer connections
RTA always tries to provide the best possible service. A new way to connect with customers who have comments or complaints exists in our on-line customer feedback link at greaterdaytonrta.org. The program launched last July, according to Pat Kelly, Manager, Customer Support and Information. Download Document

January 2010 - RTA employees show generosity to needy
RTA's Employee Benefits Fund Committee recently sponsored a drive to collect items for the Good Neighbor House of Dayton. At RTA's annual holiday party, employees were asked to contribute nonperishable food items, paper products, personal care items, or warm hats, scarves and mittens for the group's clients. Download Document

December 2009 - Shop your heart out on RTA
With the holiday buying season in full bloom, consider taking RTA to one of your favorite shopping areas. You might be surprised to know how many are easily reached on one of our heated, comfortable buses. Download Document

November 2009 - RTA welcomes riders to traditional dinner, "A Feast of Giving
For 21 years RTA has given away free rides to the Beerman Foundation annual Thanksgiving dinner. This year will be no exception. Though the dinner has changed sponsorship, buses heading downtown will once again welcome diners to the traditional event. Download Document

October 2009 - Live Green Fest 2009 caps off a successful second year
Under mostly sunny skies and enjoyable temperatures, RTA held its second annual Live Green Fest Saturday, September 19, at Carillon Park. Thirty-three vendors signed up for the event, including six food vendors, and represented everything from small ecofriendly businesses to nonprofit organizations to corporate sponsors. In addition, five performers entertained the crowd. Download Document

Aug 01, 2009 01:42 PM On Board August
The new plaza provides a safer, more efficient and attractive riding environment, while improving traffic flow in the area and increasing pedestrian mobility throughout the heart of downtown Dayton. Download Document

Jun 01, 2009 01:43 PM On Board June
Though RTA received nearly $20 million from the national stimulus package, the windfall will do nothing to relieve the authority’s expected budget deficit this year. Download Document

May 01, 2009 01:52 PM On Board May
You’ve got a good eye and we want to use it! If you’re a customer riding RTA, start snapping away. Break out the camera phone (or buy that digital SLR outfit you’ve been drooling over) and send us your best RTA photo for a chance to be featured on anything RTA. Customers appreciate looking at real customers. And quite frankly, so do we. Download Document

Apr 01, 2009 01:54 PM On Board April
I know about RTA and about customer service and I love working with people,” said Jasmine Smith, one of RTA’s new Transit Ambassadors. Download Document

Mar 02, 2009 10:29 AM On Board March
Monico Ruiz left Mexico City in 1979 with nothing but bus fare, never suspecting he would eventually work as an American bus driver. In February RTA honored Ruiz as the “Employee of the Quarter” among fixed route operators. Download Document

Feb 01, 2009 01:56 PM On Board February
Imagine not having to dodge moving vehicles as you run across a busy intersection to catch your bus! You won’t have to do that after RTA’s new Wright Stop Plaza opens. The full-service transit center will include a weather-protected, winter climate-controlled waiting platform and clear, easily readable signage that will speed you toward your route. Well-lit large display panels will provide you real-time route arrival and departure times. Download Document

January 2009 - Couple reminisces about bus romance
William and Pat Carter often get nostalgic about RTA in December. Forty-four years ago in December their romance blossomed on the bus. William, 16, and Pat, 14, at the time, were not allowed to see each other officially, but they got to know each other on the bus coming home from weekly trips to the skating rink chaperoned by Pat’s brother. Download Document

Dec 01, 2008 01:59 PM On Board December
RTA wants to be sure senior citizens understand that riding transit is a sweet deal. Download Document

Nov 01, 2008 02:19 PM On Board November
Like all regular RTA riders, Mayor Rhine McLin has her own stories. There’s the time she waited and waited for her bus to come and, when it didn’t, she began walking home. She walked all the way to the steps of her house – over a mile – when her bus passed by. Download Document

Oct 01, 2008 02:20 PM On Board October
RTA visited college campuses around the Miami Valley to connect, collect ideas, and introduce public transit to new and continuing students arriving for their fall terms. RTA attended three collegecentered events in September, including Wright State University’s Fall Fest, Campus Connect on Courthouse Square in downtown Dayton, and Sinclair Community College’s Welcome event in an effort to acquaint students with RTA’s many transportation options. In return, the transit agency collected cl Download Document

Sep 01, 2008 02:21 PM On Board September
RTA received the 2008 Health and Welfare Advocacy Award by the Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities on August 13, 2008. The council voted by majority to select a single winner. Download Document

Jul 01, 2008 02:22 PM On Board July
You might wonder what’s been happening behind the Wright Stop Plaza downtown recently. Two years ago the abandoned Admiral Benbow Hotel came down, fences went up and Market Street closed to vehicular traffic. Now the fences are extended even farther and the entire street is closed to all traffic. The former RTA Pavilion is closed and the south concourse doors were locked early in July. Download Document

Jun 01, 2008 02:28 PM On Board June
Renee Bicknell, of Huber Heights, began riding RTA in March for the first time in her life to get to work. She entered our Ride ‘Round Town contest and won a free monthly bus pass. She was one of ten winners chosen each month in this contest. See details on line at www.greaterdaytonrta.org. Download Document

May 01, 2008 02:29 PM On Board May
A lush green plant dotted with vibrant yellow and purple flowers decorates Ellen Rodriguez’s new contemporary cherry desk. The card on the plant reads, “Love, Mom and Dad.” Her parents are obviously proud of her, and with good reason. Rodriguez has just taken charge of Greater Dayton RTA’s new Command Center. Download Document

Apr 01, 2008 02:29 PM On Board April
Willie Anderson doesn’t accept the idea of sitting down in old age. Anderson, 71, worked until recently as a Dayton street ambassador and often rides an RTA bus. Every year since 2001, he’s competed in the Miami Valley Senior Olympics at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. Download Document

Mar 01, 2008 02:30 PM On Board March
Welcome to our very first issue of OnBoard – a newsletter expressly provided for the riders of the Greater Dayton RTA! We want you to know how much we value each and every one of you. With this newsletter, we hope to reach out to our regular riders, our sometime riders, and even those of you who may never have boarded an RTA bus. Download Document

Jun 20, 2007 02:31 PM Summer Newsletter
When Operator Kevin Davis started out on his regular afternoon shift recently, he anticipated his usual Route 8 drive. An RTA operator for 20 years, Davis expects the need to display plenty of patience, but rarely heroics. This July day would be different. Download Document

Mar 15, 2007 02:28 PM Spring Newsletter
What do bus stops and sculpture have in common? Not much, usually. But the City of Kettering doesn’t see it that way. Kettering is working with the Greater Dayton RTA and a Dayton architect to turn its bus stops into public art that accommodates bus riders. Download Document

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