METRO Regional Transit Authority

METRO Regional Transit Authority (METRO RTA), also known as Akron Metropolitan Regional Transit Authority, is the public transit agency serving Summit County, Ohio and the city of Akron, Ohio, Akron. It operates a number of local routes, and also operates two routes into Downtown Cleveland, downtown Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland.
Akron Metro transports passengers to/from school, work, grocery stores, malls and jobs all across Summit County. METRO RTA's fleet consists of about 200+ vehicles running on diesel, diesel-electric hybrid and compressed natural gas fuels. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

Route list

*1 West Market/Montrose
*2 Arlington/Interstate Pkwy
*3 Copley Rd/Hawkins/Rolling Acres
*4 Delia/North Hawkins
*5 Joy Park/Gilchrist Rd. (5 Joy Park/Ellet on Saturdays)
*6 East Market/Lakemore
*7 Cuyahoga Falls Ave/Chapel Hill (some buses serve Studio City)
*8 Kenmore/Barberton
*9 Vernon Odom Blvd/East Ave/Rolling Acres
*10 Howard/Portage Trail
*11 South Akron
*12 Tallmadge Hill
*13 Grant/Firestone Park
*14 Euclid/Barberton Express
*17 Brown/Inman
*18 Thornton/Manchester
*19 Eastland
*21 South Main/DJFS/VA Clinic (Weekdays only)
*24 Lakeshore (Weekdays only)
*26 West Exchange/White Pond (Mon-Sat only)
*28 Merriman Valley/Weathervane (Weekdays only)
*30 Goodyear/Darrow/Tallmadge
*33 State Rd/Wyoga Lake (Mon-Sat only)
*34 Cascade Valley/Uhler
*50 Montrose Circulator (doesn't serve downtown) SUSPENDED
*51 Stow Circulator (doesn't serve downtown) SUSPENDED
*53 Portage/Graham Circulator (Weekdays only, doesn't serve downtown) SUSPENDED
*54 DASH Downtown Circulator Shuttle serving Downtown Akron and The University of Akron (Weekdays Only)
*59 Chapel Hill Circulator (doesn't serve downtown, Mon-Sat only) SUSPENDED
*60 Northcoast Express to Cleveland via Cuyahoga Falls (Weekdays only, doesn't serve downtown) SUSPENDED
*61 Northcoast Express to Cleveland via Ghent Road Park n Ride (Weekdays only)
*101 Richfield/Bath (Weekdays only)
*102 Northfield/Rocksino (Weekdays only)
*103 Stow/Hudson (Weekdays only)
*104 Twinsburg/Creekside (Weekdays only)
*110 Green/Springfield (Weekdays only)
*THE LOOP: Circulator service between Downtown and Akron Northside stop at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad. (June thru October. Wednesday thru Sunday)

Facilities

Head Office

:Address: 416 Kenmore Boulevard, Akron
:Coordinates:
:Facilities: Head office, administration, vehicle storage and maintenance

Robert K. Pfaff Transit Center

:Address: 631 South Broadway Street, downtown Akron
:Coordinates:
:Facilities: Terminus for local bus routes, suburban routes, ''X61 North Coast Express'' bus service to Cleveland,North Coast Express to Cleveland, Routes X61
/ref> intercity Greyhound Lines, Greyhound services, and Stark County & Portage County connecting buses. Youngstown’s WRTA route 81 serves as the Akron Youngstown express
:Opened: 18 January 2009

Rolling Acres Transit Center

:Address: 2340 Romig Road, Akron
:Facilities: Connector hub for routes 3, 14 and 9 serving West Akron and Barberton, Ohio. This hub is in the former Rolling Acres Mall parking lot. The mall has been shut down since 2008. The Rolling Acres hub shelter still remains as of 2019.

Independence Transit Center (Chapel Hill)

Due to a request by Chapel Hill Mall, all mall route buses no longer serve mall property.
Other buses have been moved to a street location outside mall property. The former Bakers Square Restaurant on Independence Avenue has been turned into a hub shelter for the routes 7, 10, 12, 19, & 34 serving the mall at "Independence Turnaround", which has no indoor facilities for passengers (indoor facilities are for Akron METRO drivers and staff only). As of 2021, the hub has turned into a transit center now known as Independence Transit Center (similar to Rolling Acres Transit Center). The other buses also stop on a street (Bucholzer Blvd) on the edge of the mall parking lot.

Connecting services

METRO RTA service offers a number of connection opportunities to other area transit agencies.

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, GCRTA, a neighboring transit agency, provides connecting services between Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Greater Cleveland) and Akron METRO RTA. The two systems connect with one line in Brecksville, Ohio, Brecksville on Katherine Boulevard (101), near the former VA Medical Center. GCRTA does not serve METRO RTA's Robert K. Pfaff Transit Center.

METRO RTA's "North Coast Express" routes (60, 61) connect with GCRTA routes in downtown Cleveland.

Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, PARTA, a neighboring transit agency, offers services between Portage County, Ohio (Kent, Ohio, Kent/Ravenna, Ohio, Ravenna) and Akron, Ohio, Akron, including service to METRO RTA's Robert K. Pfaff Transit Center (90), along with connections in Stow, Ohio, Stow(30).

Stark Area Regional Transit Authority, SARTA, a neighboring transit agency, operates one hourly weekday and Saturday route between Canton, Ohio, Canton and Akron starting at 6:00am, 6:45am and every :45 until 8:45pm. This route, 81 Canton Akron Express, connects with METRO RTA. SARTA route 81 also serves Downtown Canton, Akron-Canton Regional Airport, Belden Village Transit Center in North Canton, Ohio, & Staples on Arlington Road in Akron from both Akron and Canton. SARTA's route services METRO RTA's Robert K. Pfaff Transit Center. Effective in 2018, SARTA also operates a direct express route in the fall and spring directly from Akron Metro Transit Center to Stark State College in North Canton Ohio. This route is named the 88 Stark State Express and runs five times a day and services Akron Metro's RKP Downtown Transit Center Stark State College and Belden Village Transit Center respectively.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.akronmetro.org/

Bus transportation in Ohio
Transportation in Summit County, Ohio
Transportation in Akron, Ohio
Transit agencies in Ohio
1969 establishments in Ohio