Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
A Red Rose Transit Authority bus parked at a bus stop.
Jamie Hughes
Associate Photography Editor
Lancaster County’s public transit system, the Red Rose Transit Authority (RRTA), will be implementing updates to its service later in the fall semester.
The changes were approved by the RRTA’s parent company, the South Central Transit Authority, on July 17 following a public comment period in May.
The RRTA system serves a wide area of Lancaster County from its main station on Queen Street in downtown Lancaster, including Millersville University. Its service to Millersville provides a link for students and faculty between the campus and the city of Lancaster. The company also operates the MU Express campus shuttle during classes.
The updated service includes more straightforward bus departure times, with buses set to depart either every thirty minutes or every hour. The plans also introduce several new routes, including one covering locations on Harrisburg Pike such as Wegmans, Park City Center, and the Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center. Service to Lancaster City’s Amtrak station is also more consistent, with all-day coverage as part of its new route to locations on Fruitville Pike.
Previously, service to Amtrak was fragmented due to the Downtown Loop, which primarily covers the station, suspending service between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Manheim, Lititz and Ephrata routes currently cover the area around the station but do not stop directly at it.
The service updates, while originally planned to take effect on November 4, 2024, were pushed to November 11 to avoid confusion during the upcoming election on November 5. Updated paper guides to the bus system will be published in October, and the new schedules and routes are also available to view now on RRTA’s website. The new bus plans do not involve any changes to the fare structure.
With the updates to the bus system, public transit in Lancaster County is set to become more convenient for citizens in the years ahead.