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June 12th, 2013
Posted in Events + Meetings, Things You Can Do To Help | 1 Comment »

ROC Transit Day is just a week away. About 85 local businesses and organizations have signed up to participate on June 20 – either encouraging their employees & members to leave their cars home, or by offering exclusive deals to transit riders .
Rex the Rhino is planning his bus ride as we speak. Music buskers are tuning up for their performances during the evening rush hour on Main Street. Murphy’s Law on East Avenue is priming the kegs for our happy hour celebration (RSVP here ). And our volunteers are wrapping up HUNDREDS of prizes to deliver to random transit riders.
Get Your Fare Card!
Best of all, we still have 300 limited edition ROC Transit Day fare cards left to give away before the 20th. And we’re making them available to you now – first come first serve. Send us your mailing address and let us know how many fare cards you’d like (no more than 5 per person please). Email your request to info@reconnectrochester.org.
We can’t guarantee on time delivery for requests made after Sunday, June 16. So email us now!
Tags: bus, mass transit, mass transportation, public transit, Reconnect Rochester, Regional Transit Service (RTS), ROC Transit Day, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) Posted in Events + Meetings, Things You Can Do To Help | 1 Comment »
June 2nd, 2013
Posted in Events + Meetings, Things You Can Do To Help | No Comments »

A few short weeks ago I told you about ROC Transit Day 2013 . The idea is simple… pedestrians make for a vibrant city. The more people Rochester has walking the streets instead of driving, the stronger our community will be; and the stronger our local economy will be. ROC Transit Day is a holiday from our cars. It’s a day to celebrate local businesses. And it’s a day to cast a symbolic vote for a stronger transit system…
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Tags: bus, mass transit, mass transportation, public transit, Reconnect Rochester, Regional Transit Service (RTS), ROC Transit Day, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) Posted in Events + Meetings, Things You Can Do To Help | No Comments »
May 12th, 2013
Posted in Events + Meetings, News, Things You Can Do To Help | 2 Comments »

A year and half ago I managed to convince RGRTA to try something new. I said, “let me give away free bus rides for one day.” I imagined most people would say “no thanks, the bus isn’t for me.” But I also knew my mom was right when she said, “try it, you might like it.” That year I think maybe 200 people participated and left their cars at home for the day.
What began as a fun little experiment, has turned into ROC Transit Day – a full blown Rochester holiday from our cars. This year ROC Transit Day will be on Thursday, June 20.
In this, its second year, the volunteers at Reconnect Rochester are giving away 1,000 special edition RTS fare cards – designed by yours truly. And we’re asking Rochester’s business community to get involved too…
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Tags: A Step Apart, bus, Chartreuse Studios, Joe Bean Coffee Roasters, mass transit, mass transportation, public transit, Reconnect Rochester, Regional Transit Service (RTS), ROC Transit Day, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), Small World Food Posted in Events + Meetings, News, Things You Can Do To Help | 2 Comments »
May 10th, 2013
Posted in News | 3 Comments »

The village of Poynton in the U.K. was a community in decline, divided by decades of anti-social traffic engineering. Where the intersection of two busy highways once dominated the town center, a bit of creative street design has revitalized local businesses, made life a little easier for the townspeople, and pleasantly surprised motorists and skeptics as well. The concept has been dubbed “shared space” and we want to know if it could work here in Rochester, NY. Watch this video, and give us your thoughts…
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Tags: movie, Poynton UK, roundabouts, shared roadways, shared space, traffic calming, video Posted in News | 3 Comments »
January 19th, 2013
Posted in Background Stories, Things You Can Do To Help | 2 Comments »
Posted by: Mike Governale
![Mike Governale at TEDxRochester. Mike is a designer, blogger, and founder of a local public transit advocacy group, Reconnect Rochester. [PHOTO: Jeffrey Hamson]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/TEDx-Rochester-2.jpg)
Greetings. I’m Mike Governale, founder of Reconnect Rochester. I’m a graphic designer, originally from the NYC area and I now live in Rochester, NY. I have a deep fascination and love of cities – how they are formed over time and the way they continue to evolve.
Dense urban places have proven themselves, over tens of thousands of years, to be arguably the most sustainable form of human habitation. But over the past 70 years many cities—especially those in the U.S.—have lost this edge.
I write a blog, RochesterSubway.com , that explores Rochester, “America’s first boom-town,” and how it suburbanized itself to near extinction. The site looks at the amazing physical and social history of this place. And what it needs to do before it can become urban, sustainable, and relevant, once again.
Last November I gave a talk at TEDxRochester. The talk focuses on how our transportation choices impact land use, and ultimately the health and sustainability of our community. I think the presentation serves as a good introduction to who I am and why Reconnect Rochester is so important to me…
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Tags: Amanda Doherty, downtown Rochester, Gary Jacobs, history of Rochester, Jen Indovina, mass transit, mass transportation, Michael Governale, public transportation, Reconnect Rochester, Rochester, Rochester history, Rochester NY, suburban sprawl, TED Talks, TEDxRochester, Tony Karakashian, transit, transportation, transportation alternatives, urban revitalization Posted in Background Stories, Things You Can Do To Help | 2 Comments »
December 12th, 2012
Posted in News | No Comments »
Posted by: Bob Williams

RGRTA recently unveiled the latest and most visually interactive tool to their ‘Where’s My Bus?’ technology suite . The SmartTraveler Plus platform by ACS allows the transit rider to track RTS bus locations (in real-time) along their route of interest.
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Tags: bus, mass transit, public transit, real-time bus tracking, Regional Transit Service (RTS), Rochester, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), SmartTraveler Plus, transit tools, Where's My Bus (WMB) Posted in News | No Comments »
December 10th, 2012
Posted in Events + Meetings, News | 10 Comments »
Notes by: Howard Decker

Where: AMTRAK Station
When: 10:30am, 12.10.12
Who: Congresswoman Lousie Slaughter, NYSDOT Commissioner Joan McDonald, AMTRAK representative Bill Hollister, Mayor Richards, Councilman Miller
What:
Bill Hollister, Principal Officer Policy & Development at Amtrak:
AMTRAK will be owner, operator, and maintainer of the new station. This is a bit of a deviation from our policies nationally, but we have been convinced this is the correct course of action in Rochester.
National annual ridership is currently at 31.2 million, 11.5 million (one third of all national traffic) in NYS, 1.8 million on the Empire line, and 145,00 passengers per year in Rochester, up from 76,000 five years ago. This represents a very substantial increase.
Funding is in place. AMTRAK is ready to move forward.
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Tags: Amtrak, Bill Hollister, Joan McDonald, Louise Slaughter, Mayor Thomas Richards, Rochester Amtrak Station Posted in Events + Meetings, News | 10 Comments »
November 12th, 2012
Posted in Events + Meetings | No Comments »
![A shrink-wrapped bus advertisement on Main Street, Rochester. We asked RTS about these advertisements on behalf of one of our Facebook followers. [PHOTO: Google Maps]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-rts-wrapped-bus.jpg)
RGRTA holds bi-monthly Town Hall meetings to answer customer questions and comments and to keep the public updated the latest Rochester Transit Service news. Reconnect Rochester tries to send at least one representative to every meeting to take notes and to bring questions from those who can’t make the meeting. Below are the notes from last week’s meeting and answers to two questions raised on our Facebook page, about solutions to overcrowding and shrink-wrapped buses… Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bill Carpenter, Regional Transit Service (RTS), Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), RTS Town Hall Meeting Posted in Events + Meetings | No Comments »
October 9th, 2012
Posted in Events + Meetings | No Comments »

Reconnect Rochester will be hosting an informal happy hour event with the Rochester Improvement Society .
Come hang out with us on Wednesday, October 24th from 5:30 to 7:30 at Abilene Bar & Lounge (153 Liberty Pole Way ). If you get there early enough, the first round will be on us!
Reconnect Rochester supports the expansion of transit services including pedestrian, bike, bus and rail facilities, into a truly multimodal transportation network. Our volunteers work hard to support Rochester’s existing public transit system, shape regional policies to enhance it, and reconnect our community in ways that improve personal mobility, urban vitality, environmental sustainability, and economic development.
If you’ve been following us over the past two years and like what we do, come out, meet us for a drink, and hear what we’ve been up to.
Please RSVP on Facebook 
PS: After the happy hour, at 8pm Sammy Naquin and Big Easy Zydeco will be playing at Abeline ($8 cover). And how can anyone not like zydeco?
Tags: Abilene Bar & Lounge, happy hour, Reconnect Rochester, Rochester Improvement Society Posted in Events + Meetings | No Comments »
September 15th, 2012
Posted in Things You Can Do To Help | 11 Comments »
Posted by: DeWain Feller

Rochester’s new Intermodal Transportation Center is on the drafting table but that does not mean this much needed project is a done deal. [Learn more about the project ] The station and site costs are estimated to be $27.3 million, and track and signal upgrades are approximately $10.4 million, bringing the estimated project cost to $37.7 million. A portion of the funding has been identified, but not all.
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Tags: Amtrak, Greentopia Festival, Greyhound, Rochester, Rochester Intermodal Transportation Center, Rochester NY, Trailways Posted in Things You Can Do To Help | 11 Comments »
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Reconnect Rochester
wishes to thank the following
individuals and organizations
for their generous support:
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