The Rockford Mass Transit District is the

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

operator for the metro area of

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

. Service is provided six days per week along 19 routes, with several of these routes being combined into five Sunday routes that service a large portion of the system. The core of the system is contained in The City Loop (Route 16 clockwise and 17 counterclockwise), which interconnects with every other service. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .

History

On April 20, 2020, RMTD reduced its daily routes after six employees, including five drivers, tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The district later received a $9.3 million grant from the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

as part of the

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2 ...

. In August 2020, pre-COVID-19, route system resumed and RMTD launched Token Transit, a mobile fare app that allows passengers to purchase bus passes on their cell phones. The app displays a digital bus pass or ticket on the phone's screen, eliminating the need for a paper pass or cash.

Facilities

The Downtown Transfer Center, located at 501 West State Street, is the primary hub for the RMTD, serving 14 routes. The center opened February 11, 2019, replacing an earlier transfer facility at the same location. The transfer center provides riders with restrooms, vending machines, an indoor waiting area and a location to purchase tickets and passes. The East Side Transfer Center, located at 725 North Lyford Road, opened in 2012, serving buses and riders on the east side of Rockford with 4 routes. The transfer center provides riders with restrooms, vending machines, an indoor waiting area and a location to purchase tickets and passes. In addition to serving RMTD buses,

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

intercity buses also stop here.

Fixed Route Ridership

The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response.

References

External links

Official website
Transportation in Rockford, Illinois Bus transportation in Illinois Transit agencies in Illinois {{Illinois-transport-stub