WUFT | News and public media for north central Florida
RTS riders brace for bumpy changes ahead
By Chrystie Blot, Jasmine Oliphant
June 26, 2025 at 10:17 AM EDT
Lisa Davis was waiting at the Butler Plaza Transfer Station for the No. 5 bus after work.
The Gainesville resident said she was frustrated with the upcoming changes to the city’s Regional Transit System, or RTS, that go into effect at the start of Summer B next week.
Four bus routes are gone: Route 16 (merged into Route 17), Route 34 (riders told to use Route 12), Route 35 (absorbed by two routes, 12 and 37) and Route 711 (take Route 11 instead).
Eleven routes have major changes in alignment, schedules or both — Routes 1, 46, 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 17, 20, 23, 33, 75. And nine routes — 5, 8, 9, 11, 15, 26, 37, 38, 43 — face other types of changes classified as minor, such as less frequency. Some routes are on summer hiatus. And only two routes — 10 and 52 — face no changes at all.
But most of all, Davis said, she was frustrated by the shrinking hours that she could use the public transportation system at all.
The system shuts down too early, she said. On weekdays, it’s 10 p.m. when it used to be 11:30. On Saturdays, she’s at the bus stop no later than 8:05 p.m.; on Sundays, 5:35 p.m. Buses, she recalled, used to run until 2 in the morning. “That's the biggest thing that irks me about the bus,” Davis said.
RTS is contending with a 22% drop in its operating budget — from about $12.7 million to $9.9 million — for the 2025-26 fiscal year. This cut corresponds with a $2.9 million reduction in funding from the University of Florida, according to a post on the city’s website. RTS’s operating budget is also less than last year’s, which was $14 million.
If there’s consensus on one thing, it’s that everyone who uses public transportation, Gainesville residents and college students alike, will feel the effects of the cuts.
“We're gonna have fewer routes,” said a disheartened Harvey Ward, mayor of Gainesville, his face visibly showing his frustration. “People are going to have more crowded buses. And people are going to have routes that just don't exist anymore.”
About 30% of the city’s bus riders are Gainesville residents who are not associated with the university — and 70% of RTS riders are UF students, faculty and staff, according to a 2024 Q&A document about the budget posted on the city’s website. In the previous fiscal year, the Q&A noted, UF made up a majority of RTS riders while providing 49.2% of the system’s funding.
The public transit system receives funding from entities other than UF as well. RTS generates revenue from fares (1.1%) and other sources, including partnerships with Santa Fe College and Alachua County; and funds from state and federal grants.
As time for making adjustments to their work, school and personal schedules drew nearer, some riders recently voiced their thoughts and concerns.
(1146x645, AR: 1.7767441860465116)
UF student, Ravane Gueye, is majoring in medical geography. He relies on bus routes 9, 35 and 38 to get from Gainesville Place apartments to the Hub or the Reitz Union on campus. One of his routes is on the chopping block.
And it is one of the busier routes, he said, recalling a time he waited at the bus stop only to have the driver pull up and open the door long enough to say “We can't let anybody else on the bus” and keep going.
“I had to sit there and wait for the next bus, and now you're telling me you want to cut that line,” the rising senior said. “It just makes no sense to me.”
Now Gueye and students like him must work on adjusting their way of getting around or risk being late to class, work or appointments. For those who rely on public transit, adjusting to changes is made more difficult when you add Gainesville’s summertime heat and limited transportation alternatives.
Najah Calizaire, a first-year Santa Fe College student majoring in dentistry, said RTS is her main transportation source to get to school and home.
Calizaire has been riding on bus No. 76 to go straight to school. But the route is one of five — the others are 21, 28, 46 and 78 — that RTS put on hiatus for the Summer B session only.
“Bus 76 usually took me like 30 to 40 minutes,” Calizaier lamented about the hour it now takes for her to make the trip using two separate buses. “Overall, waiting is now most of the travel.”
She worries about making it to her Summer B classes on time. And she doesn’t want problems with public transportation forcing her to switch to online learning.
“Like, I don't even know when I'm gonna get a car… I don't know if I'm gonna be able to rely on this,” Calizaier said while waiting at the bus stop. “I need to get my school stuff done. I don't like doing online school.”
Something else to think about are workers like bus drivers of the cut routes who are also affected. This also raises concerns about job security at a time when the world economy is uncertain.
Gainesville local Aashah Jackson sees the cuts as a good change for her. “It’s more convenient 'cause it would only be one bus now,” she said, a new concern has popped up over her new ride on bus No. 20.
“That would really suck if they have so many people on the buses and then it's like you have to wait for the next,” Jackson said, “and then, oh my gosh, that's a crazy thought.”
University of Florida’s Director of Communication, Amy Armstrong, said the changes to bus routes are permanent. She said UF still wants to continue the partnership with the city of Gainesville, with their goal to ensure that student fees are used for the betterment of UF students.
“The Transportation Access Fee paid by all UF students funds most of the RTS payment, along with the cost of operating the Campus Connector, SNAP, UF Safe Rides and Gator Lift,” Armstrong said. “The recent route adjustments now bring the costs of operating these services in line with the available TAF funds.”
The TAF funds are the technology fees students pay to fund technology resources for students and faculty. As students pivot for alternatives ways to get from point A to B, Gainesville residents are doing the same.
Anna Bright, a Gainesville resident since 1978, uses RTS to go to the grocery stores, doctor’s appointments and to run errands. She is preparing for changes in the system she heavily relies upon. She is concerned about how she is going to get around the city.
“Think about us, the people that don't own a car and people that can't drive anymore, people that never could drive, and how we rely on RTS,” she said.
These kinds of cuts in services are “gonna put a big dent in people's lives because we rely on the bus transportation,” Bright said. “It's a good service for people who don't have it. You don't have anybody to rely on, you don't have money to just be calling cabs and Ubers and Lyfts.”
Bright utilizes a Personal Care Attendant (PCA), who used to be able to ride RTS for free while traveling on the bus with individuals with disabilities. But part of the changes disrupted that.
PCAs no longer ride for free on RTS routes: A bus ride costs $1.50, the all-day rate is $3, but there is no fee for them to ride with individuals with disabilities going on Paratransit trips.
Ray Cohen said the cost stops her from considering options like car ride services Lyft or Uber. She added that she feels especially bad for the elderly and for youth who take public transportation to school.
“I feel like they shouldn't [cut bus routes] because a lot of people live in places where they get access to that bus,” the Ph.D. candidate said as she waited for bus No. 23, which is one of 11 routes undergoing major changes. “And when you don't have that access, you’re stuck.”
While this is not the first time RTS riders have been hit with budget cuts and adjustment in services — this is an ongoing issue, dating back to the 1990s, between UF and RTS — bus riders hope the worst of this financial storm is behind them.
“It's to the point,” said Davis who was waiting for the No. 5 bus, “where I'm ready to move to Jacksonville.”
The Gainesville resident said she was frustrated with the upcoming changes to the city’s Regional Transit System, or RTS, that go into effect at the start of Summer B next week.
Four bus routes are gone: Route 16 (merged into Route 17), Route 34 (riders told to use Route 12), Route 35 (absorbed by two routes, 12 and 37) and Route 711 (take Route 11 instead).
Eleven routes have major changes in alignment, schedules or both — Routes 1, 46, 3, 6, 7, 12, 13, 17, 20, 23, 33, 75. And nine routes — 5, 8, 9, 11, 15, 26, 37, 38, 43 — face other types of changes classified as minor, such as less frequency. Some routes are on summer hiatus. And only two routes — 10 and 52 — face no changes at all.
But most of all, Davis said, she was frustrated by the shrinking hours that she could use the public transportation system at all.
The system shuts down too early, she said. On weekdays, it’s 10 p.m. when it used to be 11:30. On Saturdays, she’s at the bus stop no later than 8:05 p.m.; on Sundays, 5:35 p.m. Buses, she recalled, used to run until 2 in the morning. “That's the biggest thing that irks me about the bus,” Davis said.
RTS is contending with a 22% drop in its operating budget — from about $12.7 million to $9.9 million — for the 2025-26 fiscal year. This cut corresponds with a $2.9 million reduction in funding from the University of Florida, according to a post on the city’s website. RTS’s operating budget is also less than last year’s, which was $14 million.
If there’s consensus on one thing, it’s that everyone who uses public transportation, Gainesville residents and college students alike, will feel the effects of the cuts.
“We're gonna have fewer routes,” said a disheartened Harvey Ward, mayor of Gainesville, his face visibly showing his frustration. “People are going to have more crowded buses. And people are going to have routes that just don't exist anymore.”
About 30% of the city’s bus riders are Gainesville residents who are not associated with the university — and 70% of RTS riders are UF students, faculty and staff, according to a 2024 Q&A document about the budget posted on the city’s website. In the previous fiscal year, the Q&A noted, UF made up a majority of RTS riders while providing 49.2% of the system’s funding.
The public transit system receives funding from entities other than UF as well. RTS generates revenue from fares (1.1%) and other sources, including partnerships with Santa Fe College and Alachua County; and funds from state and federal grants.
As time for making adjustments to their work, school and personal schedules drew nearer, some riders recently voiced their thoughts and concerns.
(1146x645, AR: 1.7767441860465116)
UF student, Ravane Gueye, is majoring in medical geography. He relies on bus routes 9, 35 and 38 to get from Gainesville Place apartments to the Hub or the Reitz Union on campus. One of his routes is on the chopping block.
And it is one of the busier routes, he said, recalling a time he waited at the bus stop only to have the driver pull up and open the door long enough to say “We can't let anybody else on the bus” and keep going.
“I had to sit there and wait for the next bus, and now you're telling me you want to cut that line,” the rising senior said. “It just makes no sense to me.”
Now Gueye and students like him must work on adjusting their way of getting around or risk being late to class, work or appointments. For those who rely on public transit, adjusting to changes is made more difficult when you add Gainesville’s summertime heat and limited transportation alternatives.
Najah Calizaire, a first-year Santa Fe College student majoring in dentistry, said RTS is her main transportation source to get to school and home.
Calizaire has been riding on bus No. 76 to go straight to school. But the route is one of five — the others are 21, 28, 46 and 78 — that RTS put on hiatus for the Summer B session only.
“Bus 76 usually took me like 30 to 40 minutes,” Calizaier lamented about the hour it now takes for her to make the trip using two separate buses. “Overall, waiting is now most of the travel.”
She worries about making it to her Summer B classes on time. And she doesn’t want problems with public transportation forcing her to switch to online learning.
“Like, I don't even know when I'm gonna get a car… I don't know if I'm gonna be able to rely on this,” Calizaier said while waiting at the bus stop. “I need to get my school stuff done. I don't like doing online school.”
Something else to think about are workers like bus drivers of the cut routes who are also affected. This also raises concerns about job security at a time when the world economy is uncertain.
Gainesville local Aashah Jackson sees the cuts as a good change for her. “It’s more convenient 'cause it would only be one bus now,” she said, a new concern has popped up over her new ride on bus No. 20.
“That would really suck if they have so many people on the buses and then it's like you have to wait for the next,” Jackson said, “and then, oh my gosh, that's a crazy thought.”
University of Florida’s Director of Communication, Amy Armstrong, said the changes to bus routes are permanent. She said UF still wants to continue the partnership with the city of Gainesville, with their goal to ensure that student fees are used for the betterment of UF students.
“The Transportation Access Fee paid by all UF students funds most of the RTS payment, along with the cost of operating the Campus Connector, SNAP, UF Safe Rides and Gator Lift,” Armstrong said. “The recent route adjustments now bring the costs of operating these services in line with the available TAF funds.”
The TAF funds are the technology fees students pay to fund technology resources for students and faculty. As students pivot for alternatives ways to get from point A to B, Gainesville residents are doing the same.
Anna Bright, a Gainesville resident since 1978, uses RTS to go to the grocery stores, doctor’s appointments and to run errands. She is preparing for changes in the system she heavily relies upon. She is concerned about how she is going to get around the city.
“Think about us, the people that don't own a car and people that can't drive anymore, people that never could drive, and how we rely on RTS,” she said.
These kinds of cuts in services are “gonna put a big dent in people's lives because we rely on the bus transportation,” Bright said. “It's a good service for people who don't have it. You don't have anybody to rely on, you don't have money to just be calling cabs and Ubers and Lyfts.”
Bright utilizes a Personal Care Attendant (PCA), who used to be able to ride RTS for free while traveling on the bus with individuals with disabilities. But part of the changes disrupted that.
PCAs no longer ride for free on RTS routes: A bus ride costs $1.50, the all-day rate is $3, but there is no fee for them to ride with individuals with disabilities going on Paratransit trips.
Ray Cohen said the cost stops her from considering options like car ride services Lyft or Uber. She added that she feels especially bad for the elderly and for youth who take public transportation to school.
“I feel like they shouldn't [cut bus routes] because a lot of people live in places where they get access to that bus,” the Ph.D. candidate said as she waited for bus No. 23, which is one of 11 routes undergoing major changes. “And when you don't have that access, you’re stuck.”
While this is not the first time RTS riders have been hit with budget cuts and adjustment in services — this is an ongoing issue, dating back to the 1990s, between UF and RTS — bus riders hope the worst of this financial storm is behind them.
“It's to the point,” said Davis who was waiting for the No. 5 bus, “where I'm ready to move to Jacksonville.”