The Red Rose Transit Authority (RRTA) is a transit agency serving

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvan ...

. RRTA is headquartered in downtown Lancaster. The South Central Transit Authority owns RRTA and the

Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority Berks Area Regional Transportation Authority (BARTA), previously Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority, is a public transportation system serving the city of Reading and its surrounding area of Berks County, Pennsylvania. The South Central ...

(BARTA). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . RRTA has routes both within the city of

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

, and between Lancaster and other areas of the county. RRTA coordinates a

paratransit Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...

service, Red Rose Access, which is run by three private transportation providers. RRTA also operates a loop route in downtown Lancaster. Outside Lancaster city, RRTA buses will stop for passengers who hail them. Inside the city limits, riders must wait at designated stops.

History

The RRTA was formed as an administrative agency by Lancaster city and Lancaster County under the Municipality Authorities Act of 1945. On April 1, 1976, the RRTA became an operating agency after it took over fixed-route service from two private companies. A new operations facility was built in 1979. In 1992, the RRTA consolidated with the Lancaster Integrated Specialized Transportation System, with the paratransit service renamed Red Rose Access. The name "Red Rose" is a specific reference to the Red Rose of the House of Lancaster, associated lastly with King Henry VII of England. The Queen Street Station transit center in downtown Lancaster was completed in 2005 on the former site of the Otto Paving and Construction Company building that was built in 1926. Construction on the second phase of the transit center began in September 2009, which added a parking garage, three bus bays, and access to Chestnut Street. On December 1, 2014, the South Central Transit Authority was formed to oversee RRTA and the

(BARTA) in

Berks County Berks County (Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River ...

Route list

Red Rose Transit Authority operates the following routes, most of which run on a

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type system out of Downtown Lancaster.

Fares

RRTA bus fares are based on zones radiating out from Lancaster. The base cash fare is $1.70, while Zone 1 costs $1.85, Zone 2 costs $2.15, Zone 3 costs $2.50 and Zone 4 costs $2.90. Transfers to another bus route are available and cost $0.05 for the base zone, $0.20 for Zone 1, $0.50 for Zone 2, $0.85 for Zone 3, and $1.25 for Zone 4. Students in K-12 schools pay a reduced fare of $1.35 for the base zone, $1.50 for Zone 1, $1.80 for Zone 2, $2.15 for Zone 3, and $2.55 for Zone 4.

Millersville University Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...

students with their university ID can ride the Route 16, MU Xpress, and MU Park City Xpress for free when the university is in session. Persons with disabilities pay half fare, which costs $0.85 for the base zone, $0.90 for Zone 1, $1.05 for Zone 2, $1.25 for Zone 3, and $1.45 for Zone 4. Senior citizens age 65 or older ride RRTA buses for free. RRTA offers various bus passes for riders. The All Day Pass, which allows for unlimited rides in a single day, can be bought onboard buses and at sales outlets and costs $3.40 for up to two zones and $5.25 for all zones. The 10 Ride Pass, which allows for 10 one-way rides, costs $12.00 for the base zone, $13.50 for Zone 1, $15.50 for Zone 2, $18.50 for Zone 3, and $21.50 for Zone 4. The 31 Day Pass, which allows for unlimited rides over a 31-day period, costs $35.00 for the base zone, $40.00 for Zone 1, $47.00 for Zone 2, $55.00 for Zone 3, and $64.00 for Zone 4. The Half Fare 10 Ride Pass, which allows for 10 one-way rides for persons with disabilities, costs $6.00 for the base zone, $6.75 for Zone 1, $7.75 for Zone 2, $9.25 for Zone 3, and $10.75 for Zone 4.

Transit facilities

Queen Street Station

The Queen Street Station transit center located in downtown Lancaster serves 11 of RRTA's bus routes. The transit center contains shelters and benches in a park-like setting for riders waiting for their buses. The RRTA Information Center is located at Queen Street Station and contains a waiting area, restrooms, sales outlet, bike racks, snack machines, ATM, and television. A

parking garage A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

with 395 spaces is located adjacent to Queen Street Station.

Park and ride locations

RRTA operates nine

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ...

lots across Lancaster County: * Clipper Magazine Stadium (Route 6) *Former

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(Route 17) *Dutch Lanes Bowling Center (Route 11) *Former Kmart in Ephrata (Route 11) *Hawthorne Center (Route 19) *Kendig Square (Route 15) *

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(Route 14) *RRTA Operations Center (Route 3) *Willow Valley Square (Route 15)

Fleet

References

External links

Red Rose Transit Authority
{{Authority control Bus transportation in Pennsylvania Transportation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania Municipal authorities in Pennsylvania Government of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania