Capital District Transportation Authority

Capital District Transportation Authority

CDTA Gillig Low Floor BRT hybrid in iRide branding.
Slogan iRide
Founded 1970 (previously United Traction Company in 1890)
Headquarters 110 Watervliet Avenue
Albany, NY 12206
Locale Capital District
Service area Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties
Service type Local Bus Service
Routes 59 [1]
Stops 3,135 [2]
Fleet 306 [2]
Annual ridership 15,407,000 (FY 2008–2009) [2]
Fuel type Diesel, Diesel-electric hybrid
Operator CDTA
(all except Northway Express)
Upstate Transit
(Northway Express only)
Chief executive Carm Basile
Web site www.cdta.org

The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) is a public benefit organization that provides transportation in the Capital District of New York State (Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer and Saratoga counties). CDTA runs buses and operates the Albany-Rensselaer and Saratoga Springs Amtrak stations.

In August 1970, a state act of government formed CDTA and three similar agencies in Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. In 1970, CDTA took over the United Traction Company, and Schenectady Transit.

CDTA bus operators, dispatchers, and supervisory staff are organized in Local 1321 of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).

Contents

Fixed route services

CDTA operates 56 routes, many of which connect neighborhoods to downtowns or downtowns to shopping areas; with six routes linking key towns together. Two routes, 11-UAlbany Shuttle and 286-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.).

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 next to CDTA's headquarters on 110 Watervliet Avenue in Albany.

''Albany County Route Restructuring''[3] In early 2011 CDTA announced its plans to restructure bus routes in Albany county beginning with the city of Albany. It launched a public input campaign until August 2011. the results are 5 new neighborhood routes and 3 commuter routes. its goal is to have a more uniformed bus system without any route deviations. Every bus route in the city of Albany except routes 1 and 905 will be effected. the new routeing system goes into effect November 13, 2011'

  • 1 Central Avenue
  • 6 Second Avenue (restructured route and scheduling as of November 13,) 2011
  • 7 Glenmont(restructured route and scheduling as of November 13,) 2011
  • 10 Western Avenue (schedule change as of November 13, 2011)
  • 11 UAlbany Shuttle (schedule change as of November 13, 2011)
  • 12 Washington Avenue(restructured route and scheduling as of November 13,) 2011
  • 13 New Scotland Avenue (schedule change as of November 13, 2011)
  • 18 Delaware Avenue(restructured route and scheduling as of November 13,) 2011
  • 19 Voorheesville
  • 21X Altamont
  • 22 Albany-Troy via Watervliet
  • 29 Albany-Cohoes (operated By Troy Division)
  • 35X Albany-Troy via I-787
  • 100 Mid-City Belt
  • 114 Madison/Washington Aves
  • 116 Albany/Menands
  • 125 Clinton Ave/Sand Creek Rd
  • 138 Allen St/ Livingston Ave
  • 214 Rensselaer/Third Street - Amtrak
  • 224 Albany-Troy-Rensselaer
  • 232 Hampton Manor
  • 233 Albany-Schodack
  • 520 Nassau Express
  • 712 Harriman/Patroon Creek
  • 734 Hackett/Buckingham Pond
  • 737 Corporate Woods/Airport

Albany Division also operates half of Route 90 (with Troy Division).

Schenectady Division

Before CDTA, many of these routes were run by Schenectady Transit, which became insolvent and was taken over by Schenectady County in the late 1960s. Buses operate from the Electric Depot located at 2401 Maxon Road Ext. in Schenectady.

Of the Schenectady routes, the 50 (Route 50) and 355 (Schenectady/Colonie) run on Sundays. Effective April 3, 2011 two additional Schenectady routes 354 Rotterdam Square Mall/Nott Street and 353 Scotia/Mont Pleasant began providing Sunday service. On May 24, 2010 CDTA implemented five new cross-town routes for Schenectady as a part of their new service plan, removing routes 51, 52, 53, 54, 59, 61, 62, 66,and 77 and combining them into routes 351, 352, 353, 354,and 358 (Route 358 has since been eliminated due to low ridership) This is a part of their new 3-digit route identification system. Routes 530, 531 & 532 are express services to Downtown Albany replacing the former 55x bus route and do not carry any local passengers.

Route Terminals Major streets History Notes
63
Washington Ave. & State St. Hudson Ave. & Broadway Madison Ave., Washington Ave., Rt. 20 limited service, weekdays only.
70
Washington Ave. & State St. River St. & Front St. NY 2
351
Golub Corp. Lancaster & Gerling Broadway, Van Vranken Ave
352
Price Chopper Lancaster & Gerling McClellan St., Altamont Ave. limited service, no Sunday service
353
Walmart Glenville Price Chopper Plaza - Altamont Ave Mohawk Ave
354
Rotterdam Square Mall Shoprite Square(Formally known as St. James Square) I-890
355
Washington Ave & State St. Route 5 & Colonie Center NY 5
530
Rotterdam Square Mall Express Hudson Ave & Broadway I-90, I-890 weekday express service only
531
St. Luke’s Park & Ride Express Hudson Ave & Broadway I-787, I-90, I-890 weekday express service only
532
Woodlawn Park & Ride Express Hudson Ave & Broadway I-90 weekday express service only

Saratoga Service

The City of Saratoga Springs service also operates out of Schenectady Division. These routes run seven days a week.

Route Terminals Major streets History Notes
472
Saratoga Springs train station Wilton Mall Lake Avenue
473
Saratoga Casino and Raceway Skidmore College Jefferson Street
875
Skidmore's Case Center Saratoga Performing Arts Center Rt. 9 Seasonal (replaces parts of the former 471 Lake Ave. seasonal route)
NX
Albany – Rensselaer Train Station Saratoga Train Station Weekdays only does not run on major or state holidays

In addition, Saratoga Springs is also served from Schenectady's Route 50 service.

On May 24, 2010, CDTA began testing a new route, numbered route 409, to serve NY 9 between Downtown Saratoga Springs and the town of Clifton Park. It is a pilot program that is federally funded. CDTA will operate the route for one year and will analyze the need for it, with a minimum ridership of 15 passengers per hour. CDTA announced that bus 409 will be discontinued on September 2, 2011 due to the failure to maintain the above ridership quota.

Troy Division

Before CDTA, most of these routes were operated by the Troy-Fifth Avenue Bus Company. Buses run out of the Uncle Sam Depot at 40 Hoosick Street in Troy which also used to run routes 471 and 472 (originally routes 98 and 99).

Route Terminals Major streets History Notes
80
River St. & Front St. Northern Dr. & 8th St. 5th Ave.
82
River St. & Front St. Mohawk St. & School St. NY 32 no service on Sunday
85
Broad St. & 6th St. Van Rensselaer Manor Rt. 4
87
River St. & Front St. Price Chopper & Walmart Hoosick St. and 15th St.
90
Crossgates Mall Sunset Terrace & Forsyth Dr. I-87, NY 2, and Wolf Rd. no service on Sunday
280
River St. & Front St. Vanderhyden Hall Pawling Ave.
286
Sunset Terrace & Forsyth Dr. Pawling Ave. & Myrtle Ave. Pawling Ave., 15th St., Congress St. Runs while RPI is in session
289
Madison Ave & Project St 15th St & Massachusetts Ave Pawling Ave., 4th St., 15th St. no service on Sunday
432
River St. & Front St. North Main Street NY 32 and I-787 Weekday service only. Continues on as 35X

Troy Division also operates parts of Routes 22, 224, and 29 with Albany Division and Route 70 with Schenectady Division as well as Route 620

Other Services

Shuttles

CDTA operates three suburban shuttles that use smaller "cutaway" vehicles and serve offices and major points of interest not on main CDTA routes.

Saratoga "Trolley"

In cooperation with the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce, CDTA operates open-air trolleys from June to September along Broadway from Skidmore College to Saratoga Performing Arts Center. While not marked as such on the vehicles, this service appears as Route 875 on the Saratoga Service map.

STAR Service

In 1982, CDTA began providing paratransit services to riders who are medically unable to take regular transit services. Wheelchair-accessible buses were added 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).

NX: Northway Xpress

The NX: Northway Xpress is a group of express routes that links Albany to towns in Saratoga County which is operated under contract to Upstate Transit (which had been contracted to run the service since 2006). These routes run from Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, and Clifton Park Mechanicville, and South Glens Falls to downtown Albany with a single roundtrip each day serving both the Wolf Road corridor and the Harriman State Office Campus and nearby buildings.

Fleet

Active Fleet

All buses are wheelchair accessible.

Year Builder Model Length
(feet)
Width
(inches)
Seating Numbers Operators
1996 Motor Coach Industries 102DW3SS 40 102 Suburban 313-315 Upstate Transit
1996–1997 Orion Bus Industries Orion VI 06.501 40 102 Transit 2000–2020 CDTA Albany
1998 Orion Bus Industries Orion VI 06.501 40 102 Transit 2021–2102 CDTA Schenectady, Troy
1999 Nova Bus LFS TL40-102 40 102 Transit 9901-9949 CDTA Albany
1999 Nova Bus LFS TL40-102 40 102 Suburban 9950-9959 CDTA Albany
1999 North American Bus Industries 35LFW 35 102 Transit 9960-9984 CDTA Albany
2000–2003 Coach & Equipment Condor & Phoenix 25 96 Transit various numbers in 100 series CDTA Albany, Troy
2000 Nova Bus LFS TL40-102 40 102 Suburban 3001-3011 CDTA Albany
2000 Nova Bus LFS TL40-102 40 102 Transit 3021-3030 CDTA Albany
2001 Molly Trolley N/A 30 96 Transit various, high 800s CDTA Troy
2002 Motor Coach Industries D4000 40 102 Suburban 316-319 Upstate Transit
2004 Coach & Equipment Condor 25 96 Transit 401-402 CDTA Albany
2005 Supreme Senator 25 96 Paratransit 200-219 CDTA Albany, Schenectady, Troy
2006 ElDorado National AeroElite 25 96 Transit 403-408 CDTA Albany, Schenectady
2006 Motor Coach Industries D4500CL 45 102 Suburban 320-324 Upstate Transit
2007 Gillig Low Floor T-40 40 102 Transit 4000-4007 CDTA Troy
2007 Gillig Low Floor T-40 BRT Hybrid 41 102 Transit 4008H-4013H CDTA Albany, Schenectady
2007 Gillig Low Floor T-29 30 102 Transit 3100-3107 CDTA Schenectady
2007 Supreme Senator 25 96 Paratransit 220-229 CDTA Albany, Schenectady, Troy
2008 ElDorado National AeroElite 25 96 Transit 409-415 CDTA Albany
2008 Gillig Low Floor T-40 Hybrid 40 102 Transit 4014H-4035H CDTA Albany
2008 Gillig Low Floor T-40 Hybrid 40 102 Transit 325H CDTA Albany

Future fleet

The Gillig buses are part of a five-year contract between CDTA and Gillig awarded in April 2006, and will replace most of the 1996 Orion VI fleet.[4]

Buses numbered up to at least 4072H are on the property and in service.

Fares

The CDTA increased fares on April 1, 2009, to close a $9 million budget gap.

Increases to the new fares were:

Transit Development Plan

In 2005, CDTA commissioned a transit development plan.[5] Parts of this plan include:

BusPlus

The 2005 plan included the development of bus rapid transit on the busy Route 5 corridor, supplementing the route 55 bus (which handles 20% of CDTA's ridership). This plan also has led to modifications on routes 1 and 2. Articulated buses were planned for this and other busy routes. Queue jumping and signal priority were planned to make BRT more attractive to the region after light rail was rejected. As of mid-2007, this part of the 2005 plan was placed on hold.[5]

In early 2008, the CDTA announced that it was going forward with the bus rapid transit line on Route 5, which will include 18 upgraded stations.[7] Bus Plus service along NY Route 5 began Monday, April 4, 2011 with new silver and red BusPlus-branded Gillig 40-foot hybrid buses, and designated as route 905. Instead of supplementing route 55, this altered the route's Schenectady-side portion of route 55 into route 355, operating from Downtown Schenectady to the Colonie Center BusPlus Station. Route 1 still operates from Downtown Albany to Colonie Center BusPlus station with increased service hours. Alternatively, route 2 remained unchanged. BusPlus service runs the entire length of the Route 5 corridor, although it currently operates differently from the original plans. In the short term, transit signal priority and queue jump lanes are being constructed and will be rolled out in 2011 as features of the bus rapid transit service. Articulated buses and ticket vending machines (TVMs) have not been purchased. Although it is called bus rapid transit, the 905 line resembles an enhanced limited-stop service. Improvements and expansions to BusPlus are still in planning, with proposed lines along Washington and Western Avenues in Albany.

See also

References

External links