Bus driver shortage forces temporary elimination of some RTA routes beginning June 20

DAYTON — The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority announced multiple changes in their service routes including the temporary elimination of some bus routes.

The changes begin Sunday, June 20.

Changes in the routes were made “in response to a severe current shortage of bus route operators” and decreased demand by riders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an RTA spokesperson said in a media release.

“These changes are due to a lack of available bus drivers and were determined based on analysis of ridership on routes, specific trips, time periods experiencing lower ridership, and duplicative service coverage,” the spokesperson said.

A dozen communities across Montgomery County will be impacted by the route changes, according to the RTA spokesperson including Dayton, Oakwood, Kettering, Centerville, Miami Twp., Miamisburg, West Carrollton, Moraine, Trotwood, Clayton, Englewood, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Routes temporarily eliminated:

• Route 3, which travels through parts of Wayne Avenue in Dayton and into Riverside
• Route 5, which goes through parts of Dayton near Dayton Children’s Hospital and onto Far Hills Avenue through Oakwood and Kettering
• Route 23, which goes from the Eastown Transit Center through Kettering, Centerville, and to the Dayton Mall
• Route 24: A route that goes from West Carrollton, through parts of west Dayton and into Clayton.
• Route X5: A route that goes from the south hub in Miami Twp., along I-75, and into downtown Dayton.
• Route X1A and X1B: Two routes to and from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Four other routes have had service adjustments:

• Route 11, which goes from the Eastown Hub, through Dayton and Kettering to The Greene, and Route 34, which goes from the Miller Lane area to the Northwest Hub: All bus route service will run every 90 minutes.
• Route 14, which travels from the Northwest Hub, through downtown Dayton, and into Oakwood and Kettering via Far Hills Avenue: All bus route service will run every 80 minutes.
• Route 43, a route from downtown Dayton, up I-75 to the Dayton International Airport: Saturday morning trips eliminated.

RTA plans to restore service and even expand it once the employment situation has been resolved.

“As the employment situation improves and ridership levels return system wide, we will look at ways to restore and even grow transit services were needed,” the spokesperson said.

The transit group had previous hosted job fairs attempting to attract bus drivers to fill the shortage.

Cox Media Group