The Greater Richmond Transit Company, known locally as GRTC Transit System, is a local government-owned

public service company A public service company (or public utility company) is a corporation or other non-governmental business entity (i.e. limited partnership) which delivers public services - certain services considered essential to the public interest. The ranks of su ...

which operates an

urban-suburban bus line A coach (or coach bus/motorcoach) is a type of bus built for longer-distance service, in contrast to transit buses that are typically used within a single metropolitan region. Often used for touring, intercity, and international bus service ...

based in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . GRTC primarily serves the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

of Richmond and a very small portion of the adjacent counties of Henrico,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

with a fleet of over 157 diesel-powered and CNG-powered

transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

es operating approximately 45 routes. GRTC uses government-funded equipment and resources principally provided by the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

(FTA),

Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (VDRPT) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. According to its web site, the state agency's mission is "to improve the mobility of people and goods while expanding ...

(VDRPT), and local funds. It also maintains equipment and has other affiliations with

Petersburg Area Transit Petersburg Area Transit is a bus system for the Petersburg Tri-cities Area. There are twelve color-coded routes that extend to such destinations as Virginia State University, Southpark Mall, and Fort Lee. In a partnership with Greater Richmond ...

, a similar agency which also serves a portion of Chesterfield County.

Ownership and management

As a

, GRTC is owned equally by the City of Richmond and neighboring Chesterfield County. Henrico and Hanover counties currently purchase services from it, but hold no ownership interest. It is managed by a private transit management company that provides the CEO, COO, and Transportation Manager, as was its predecessor, Virginia Transit Company (VTC). GRTC itself has 400 employees. Immediately after GRTC was formed, American Transportation Enterprises, Inc., through a subsidiary, continued to provide management.

Fleet

142 transit vehicles, 96 CARE vehicles, and 27 support vehicles (vans, wreckers, trucks, SUVs, etc)
95 fixed route transit vehicles use CNG fuel
88 CARE vehicles use CNG fuel In June 2020, the GRTC Board of Directors approved to purchase a replacement bus for #2004 that was destroyed during the riots. The bus should be placed into service on the GRTC Pulse route sometime in January 2021. This bus will be a 40 ft Gillig Low Floor CNG BRTPlus model. In August 2020, the GRTC Board of Directors approved the purchase of 29 buses to replace older buses to keep the fleet in a state of good repair, as well as to keep up with demand increases in the Richmond Area. All 29 of these buses will be 40 ft Gillig Low Floor CNG BRT model. 14 of the buses will be put into service in the 1st Quarter of FY2022, and the last 15 will enter service in the 3rd Quarter of FY2022.

Routes

GRTC offers convenient and free Park ‘N Ride lots that run along Express service routes to the downtown Business District. All Park ‘N Ride lots are safe, well-lit, and easily accessible. Hop from your car to work, without wearing out yourself or your car! *Glenside/Parham Express - 23x - (Glenside lot) 4100 Glenside Drive, Henrico, VA 23228; (Parham lot) 8525 Fordson Rd, Henrico, VA, 23229 - TEMPORARILY DISCONTINUED EFFECTIVE SEPT 12, 2021. USE 29X!
*Parham Express - 26x - 8525 Fordson Rd, Henrico, VA, 23229 - TEMPORARILY DISCONTINUED EFFECTIVE SEPT 12, 2021. USE 29X!
*Glenside Express - 27x - 4100 Glenside Drive, Henrico, VA 23228 - TEMPORARILY DISCONTINUED EFFECTIVE SEPT 12, 2021. USE 29X!
*White Oak Village Park ’N Ride - 28x - 4521- 4571 S Laburnum Ave, Richmond, VA 23231 - TEMPORARILY DISCONTINUED. USE ROUTE 7A/B!
*Gaskins Express - 29x - 2900 Gaskins Rd, Henrico, VA, 23233 - EFFECTIVE SEPT 12, 2021
*Bon Air Baptist Church Park 'N Ride - 64x - 2531 Buford Rd, Richmond, VA 23235
*Commonwealth 20 - 82x - 4600 Commonwealth Centre Pkwy, Midlothian, VA 23112
*Petersburg Transit Center Park 'N Ride - 95x - 24 S Union St, Petersburg, VA, 23803
*Kings Dominion (Seasonal) - 102x - Ashland lot 109-121 Junction Drive, Ashland, VA, 23005 - TEMPORARILY DISCONTINUED.

Paratransit service

GRTC Transit System’s CARE and CARE Plus services provide origin-to-destination service under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for the citizens of the Richmond Region. CARE and CARE Plus provide public transportation access to individuals with disabilities who may not be reasonably able to use GRTC fixed route bus service. All CARE trips are identified as either CARE or CARE Plus service. CARE and CARE Plus services are available in the City of Richmond, Henrico County, and portions of Chesterfield County.

Facilities

The GRTC Headquarters and bus garage is located near the intersection of

Belt Boulevard State Route 161 is a primary state highway in and near Richmond, Virginia, United States. It extends from an interchange with Interstate 95 (I-95) in the independent city of Richmond north to an intersection with U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in the L ...

and Midlothian Turnpike in South Richmond.

Incidents

* On September 21, 2007, a woman was struck by a GRTC bus along 8th and Marshall. The women was seriously injured and would later file charges against GRTC. * On December 5, 2012, a car rear-ended a GRTC bus and caught fire along Broad Street. One person was sent to the hospital. * On September 24, 2015, A GRTC bus struck a utility pole in the Randolph neighborhood leaving hundreds without power. * On June 27, 2018, multiple people were injured when an GRTC bus and a car collided head in eastern Henrico County. * On July 10, 2018, a GRTC bus collided with a pickup truck when it was making a left-hand turn through the dedicated bus lane on West Broad Street, at the intersection of Broad and N Allen Ave. * On January 5, 2019, a GRTC bus and an SUV collided along Broad Street. Multiple people were injured. * On March 5, 2019, a GRTC bus was involved in a minor collision with a car along the intersection of Crutchfield and Roanoke. * On October 8, 2019, a GRTC bus struck and killed a woman along Broad Street. The driver was also taken to the hospital. * On November 11, 2019, a GRTC bus was involved in a head-on collision along West 33rd Street and Midlothian Turnpike. Four people were injured. * On February 24, 2020, a man attempted to hijack a GRTC bus along Brook Road and Azalea Ave. The man was later arrested. * On May 20, 2020, a driver spun out of control and crashed into a GRTC bus along East Broad Street. The driver of the car was killed and three passengers on the bus were injured. * During the overnight hours of May 29 into May 30, 2020, rioters vandalized and set fire to a GRTC Pulse bus in Downtown Richmond following protests and riots over the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

. There were no passengers or a driver on board at the time. The bus was destroyed in the ensuing protests.

References

External links

GRTC website

Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation website

{{Authority control Companies based in Richmond, Virginia 1860 establishments in Virginia Transport companies established in 1860 American companies established in 1860