A public transportation advocacy group braved the winter conditions and traveled -- by bus – to Albany today to call for more funding for upstate transit systems
Jason Partyka with the group Reconnect Rochester says the Reimagine process that RTS plans to launch in 2020 will be a nice foundation for bus service here.
``But now that we've got that new foundation, we want to expand out more into a wider region, he said. ``We'd like to see an increase in the frequency of buses. Unfortunately, because of limited funding with that increased frequency, they kind of had to shrink the service area a little bit so there's places out to Webster, down to Henrietta, down to Victor, that we'd like to see that restored, too."
Partyka's group is calling for a 50 percent increase in state operating assistance for upstate transit systems over the next five years, starting with a 10 percent jump in the 2019-2020 budget.
He says we need a transit system that serves its citizens in a meaningful way.
Reconnect Rochester and the "Our Streets Transit Coalition" was meeting with the Rochester delegation in Albany today