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Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority
Founded1975
Headquarters2000 Summit Rd.
Kent, Ohio
Service areaPortage County, Ohio
Service typeBus service, dial-a-bus
Routes6 county, 12 campus
StationsKent Central Gateway, C-Midway, Student Center
Fleet70 buses
Annual ridership633,800 (2022)[1]
Fuel typeDiesel, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
Websitepartaonline.org

The Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as PARTA, is a transit agency serving Portage County, Ohio. It is headquartered in Franklin Township just outside the Kent city limits. PARTA was formed in 1975 from an agreement between the city of Kent and Franklin Township[2] and has since expanded to include routes over much of Portage County. It operates several local routes including circulator and suburban routes in Kent, and an interurban route connecting Ravenna, Kent, and Stow. PARTA also offers express routes including services into downtown Cleveland, Akron as well as weekday service to the rural Portage County communities of Windham, Garrettsville and Hiram.[3] In addition, PARTA includes Kent State University's Campus Bus Service, which it acquired in 2004, and a dial-a-ride service. A proposed plan to acquire Lorain County Transit to serve better bus service in Lorain County. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 633,800.

PARTA operates a fleet of Orion VII, ENC Axess, and Gillig Advantage low-floor buses. Many of the Advantages, though not all, were acquired second-hand from Canton, Ohio's SARTA and most have had their fare-boxes removed. Due to the lack of fare-boxes, some of the Advantages are restricted to the Kent State Campus Bus Service, though the others retaining their boxes also make appearances on routes 35 and 40. The Orions and Axesses are used for all other routes in addition to the Campus Bus Services.

PARTA also operates the Kent Central Gateway. Finished in July 2013, it is the only parking garage in downtown Kent. This garage houses the city's downtown transit facility (off-campus), along with storefronts and offices for rent.[4][5][6]

Kent Central Gateway in downtown Kent
Gillig Advantage #7301
ENC Axess BRT #9803

County service

Campus service

All buses in the route 50 series (i.e. 51, 53) are fare-free to the public. The Cleveland Express is $5.00 each way and The Akron Express is $1.00 each way. No passes accepted in either of these routes.

Connecting services

PARTA provides connecting services with three neighboring transit authorities, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority[7] and the METRO Regional Transit Authority in Summit County. In addition, connections are possible to Greyhound, the Barons Bus Lines College Connection, the Stark Area Regional Transportation Authority (SARTA) by way of METRO's Pfaff Transit Center in Akron.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2022" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 1, 2023. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "Transit Authority Created". Record-Courier. Record Publishing. 22 May 1975.
  3. ^ "PARTA". Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority.
  4. ^ "Ride Parta".
  5. ^ https://www.record-courier.com/news/20180430/kent-central-gateway-on-track
  6. ^ "Federal Transit Administration Celebrates Opening of Kent Central Gateway Transit Center, Improved Access to Transit Options in Ohio | FTA".
  7. ^ "Out-of-County Connections". Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
  8. ^ "Barons Bus Stops and Routes – Barons Bus". baronsbus.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-14.

External links

Public transit in Ohio
Categories