Capital District Transportation Authority

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CDTA Nova Bus LFS 9937 in Downtown Albany on Washington Avenue and Swan Street operating Route 2 to Colonie Center. The livery on this bus, prototype to the 2005 interim scheme, is one-of-a-kind.
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CDTA Nova Bus LFS 9937 in Downtown Albany on Washington Avenue and Swan Street operating Route 2 to Colonie Center. The livery on this bus, prototype to the 2005 interim scheme, is one-of-a-kind.

The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) is a public benefit organization which provides transportation services to the Capital District of New York State (Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer counties plus part of Saratoga). CDTA was formed in August in 1970 by a state act of government which also formed three similar agencies in Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo; CDTA took over the area's four private operators between 1971 and 1972. The function of CDTA is to operate public transportation as well as to operate Albany International Airport and two Amtrak stations in the service area (Albany-Rennselaer and Saratoga Springs). CDTA bus operators, dispatchers, and supervisory staff are organized in Local 1394 of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).

Contents

[edit] Routes

CDTA operates 60 different routes, many of which connect neighborhoods to downtowns or downtowns to shopping areas with six routes linking key towns together. Two routes, 11-SUNY Shuttle and 86-RPI Shuttle, are shuttle services for area universities which are also open to the public. Service mostly runs from 5:30 a.m.-12:00 a.m. weeknights, 6:00 a.m.-12:00 a.m. Saturdays, and 7:00 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Sundays with the college routes running until 2:00 a.m. in Albany and Troy (with several RPI-only runs running until 4:00 a.m.).

[edit] Albany Division

Before CDTA, many of these routes belonged to the Albany-Nassau Bus Company (Routes 32/33) and United Traction. Buses run out of Capital Depot adjacent to CDTA's headquarters on Watervliet Ave. in Albany

  • 1 Central Avenue
  • 2 West Albany
  • 3 Quail Street Belt
  • 4 Pine Hills
  • 5 Northern Boulevard
  • 6 Second Avenue
  • 7 Glenmont
  • 8 Arbor Hill
  • 9 Whitehall Road
  • 10 Western Avenue
  • 11 UAlbany Shuttle
  • 12 Washington Avenue
  • 13 New Scotland Avenue
  • 14 Rensselaer Third Street/Amtrak
  • 15 Rensselaer First Street
  • 16 Downtown Albany Circulator
  • 18 Delaware Avenue
  • 19 Vorheesville
  • 21X Altamont
  • 22 Albany-Troy via Watervliet
  • 24 Albany-Troy via Rensselaer
  • 27 Corporate Woods
  • 29 Albany-Cohoes
  • 30 Hackett Blvd Belt
  • 31 Shaker Road
  • 32 Hampton
  • 33(X) Nassau
  • 35X Albany-Troy via I-787
  • 95 Rural Service (Berne/Knox, Westerlo, Rensselaerville)

Albany Division also operates half of Routes 55 (with Schenectady Division) and 90 (with Troy Division) plus the ShuttleBug and Shuttle Fly.

[edit] Schenectady Division

Before CDTA, many of these routes were run by Schenectady Transit (which itself was taken over in the late 1960's by Schenectady Countyafter that company became insolvant). Buses run out of the Electric Depoton Maxon Avenue in Schenectady. With the exception of the 55 Albany-Schenectady via Route 5, no Schenectady Division routes run on Sundays or major holidays.

  • 50 Route Fifty
  • 51 Broadway
  • 52 Crane Street
  • 53 Altamont Ave.
  • 54 Scotia/WalMart
  • 55(X) Albany-Schenectady via Route 5
  • 56X Scenectady-State Office Campus
  • 57X Albany-Rotterdam Square Mall
  • 59 Nott Street
  • 61 Van Vranken
  • 62 State Street-McClellan Sreet
  • 63 Albany-Schenectady via Route 20
  • 66 South Loop
  • 70 Troy-Schenectady
  • 77 North Loop
  • 78 South Loop
  • 95 Rural Service (Duanesberg/Delanson)

[edit] Troy Division

Before CDTA, most of these routes were operated by the Troy-Fifth Avenue Bus Company. Routes 71 and 72 in Saratoga Springs (originally Routes 98 and 99) were the first routes CDTA created in 1974. Buses run out of the Uncle Sam Depoton Hoosick St. in Troy.

  • 71 Saratoga Springs-Ballston Spa
  • 72 Saratoga Springs City Bus
  • 73 Victory Mills (Wednesday-only, Galway-Saratoga Springs)
  • 80 Albia-Fifth Avenue
  • 82 Troy-Cohoes-Green Island
  • 84 Watervliet Belt
  • 85 Waterford-Troy
  • 86 RPI Shuttle
  • 87 Sycaway/Beman Park
  • 89 Griswold Heights
  • 90 Troy/Latham/Crossgates Mall
  • 90X Troy-State Office Campus
  • 96 Rensselaer County Rural (Hoosick Falls-Troy)

Troy Division also operates parts of Routes 22, 24, and 29 with Albany Division and Route 70 with Schenectady Division as well as the ShuttleBee (see below).

[edit] Shuttles

CDTA also operates three suburban shuttles, all using smaller "cutaway" vehicles and providing services to offices and major points of interest not on main CDTA routes. These routes are run under contract to outside providers, originally to Northland Transportation, today by Upstate Transit (which runs commuter routes from Albany to Saratoga Counties).

[edit] STAR Service

In 1981, CDTA began providing paratransit services to riders who are medically unable to take regular transit services. This service was supplemented with the addition of wheelchair-accessible buses in 1988; since 2004, all CDTA routes have been handicapped accessible. Star's fleet has had a variety of minibuses, for most of its history has been dominated by the Orion II low-floor minibus though with that model out-of-production STAR has replaced older models with Startrans "Senator" cutaway vehicles. Others in the fleet include Ford "ELF" minibuses and several transfers from suburban shuttle routes (see below).

[edit] Fleet

This list covers only buses purchased by (plus one order in preparation for) CDTA. Upon CDTA's various takeovers, a mix of General Motors of both the "Old Look" and "New Look" varieties were inherited, most of these buses were retired by the 1980s with the last leaving service in 1991.

--Denotes accessible buses.

[edit] Active Fleet

  • 1996-1998 Orion 06.501 "Orion VI" (40' 102") 2001-2020 (1996), 2000 (1997), 2021-2102 (1998)
  • 1999 NABI 35-LFW (35' 102") 9960-9984
  • 1999 NovaBus TL40-102 "LFS" (40' 102") 9901-9949 (transit-style), 9950-9959 (semi-suburban)
  • 2000 NovaBus TL40-102 "LFS" (40' 102") 3021-3030 (transit-style), 3001-3011 (semi-suburban)
  • 2000-2003 Coach and Equipment Condor and Phoenix (25' cab on chassis bus) assorted numbers in 100 series
  • 2004 Coach and Equipment Condor (25' cab on chassis bus) 400-402
  • 2006 El Dorado National "Aero Elite" (25' cab on chassis bus) 403-409

Upstate Transit

  • 1991-2006 (years approximate) MCI 102A3 311 (substitute bus)
  • 1994-1998 (years approxmiate) MCI 102DL3WSS 310-315 (acquired by CDTA in 2004)
  • 2000-2002 (years approxmiate) MCI D4000 316-319 (acquired by CDTA in 2004)
  • 2006 MCI D4500CL 320-324 (these buses are in the new blue, silver, and gold "NX: Northway Xpress" scheme)

Fleet anamolies include the following:

  • Orion VI 2000 has a slightly different interior design than the rest of the Orion VI order.
  • Orion VI's 2012 and 2055 had their exterior side markings outside of fleet numbers removed in July 2006 for unknown reasons.
  • Orion VI 2088 features artwork from Troy City Schools students in lieu of advertising.
  • Nova LFS 9913 is a bus saluting Rosa Parks in memorium, with support from Citizens Bank.
  • Nova LFS 9937 (pictured in this article) is the pilot bus for the 2005 interim paint scheme.
  • Nova LFS 3005 is the first fixed route bus in CDTA's fleet to have an LED destination sign as opposed to the standard rollsigns (though LED signs have been used on new bus purchases since 2004).

[edit] Future Fleet

On April 27, 2006, CDTA announced a five-year deal with Gillig to supply buses for the authority, namely that of their low-floor model (unoffically known as the "Advantage")[1]. The first buses of this deal, to arrive in the first half of 2007, will be as follows:

  • 8 29-foot buses, to be used either in a similar capacity to the NABI buses or as shuttle upgrades
  • 8 40-foot buses, to be used on highly-used routes
  • 6 40-foot hybrid buses, to be used mainly on the Central Avenue routes (1/55) and possibly Washington Avenue (12) . These buses are part of a statewide consortium order between upstate transit providers and Gillig.

The buses will also be the first to wear a new scheme (with variations for local, link, and express routes) to replace the current blue and yellow stripe scheme dating back to 1975. Preliminary pictures of the new scheme have a blue base with yellow and red streaks. The 2007 order will replace fleet losses and the subsequent orders will replace most, if not all, Orion VI buses.

[edit] Retired Fleet

Upstate Transit

[edit] Future plans

Beyond 2006, other plans are either definite or under exploration.

  • Expansion and diversification of Saratoga Springs services including increased hours, new routes, and 13 new vehicles (some hybrid) to replace the current "cutaway" vehicles [2].
  • The replacement of all currently running buses by 2016 as well as the possible midlife overhaul of the Nova LFS and NABI 35LFW buses. Unlike in the past, future fleet replacements will be gradual rather than a large number within a small period of time given the increased costs of maintaining aging fleets [3].
  • Possibly purchasing new articulated buses for CDTA's busiest routes (probably in conjunction with the Bus Rapid Transit project mentioned below.
  • The planning of Bus Rapid Transit on the busy Route 5 corridor, in turn supplementing the current 55 bus (which is responsible for 20% of CDTA's ridership). Such a plan would also lead to a refocusing of the current routes 1 and 2 and potentially the current ShuttleFly (which would be extended to serve SUNY Albany and Crossgates Mall).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Durr, Eric (2006). CDTA board approves $8.3M bus deal. Capital District Business Review. Retrieved on 2006-04-27.
  2. ^ Crowe, Kenneth C. II (2006). CDTA bus service to grow in Saratoga style. Albany Times-Union. Retrieved on 2006-03-14.
  3. ^ Woodruff, Cathy (2006). CDTA budget aims to revitalize fleet. Albany Times-Union. Retrieved on 2006-03-30.

[edit] External links

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