Reconnect Rochester

Is there an intersection or trouble spot in your daily travels where you don’t feel safe to walk or bike? Nominate it for our next Complete Streets Makeover project! Fill our our nomination form and we'll check it out! reconnectrochester.org/csm-nominati...

Our friends at Stantec will use community input to create conceptual design enhancements of an improved streetscape. We’ll then see these concepts transform into reality through a temporary on-street installation in May.

We’ll hold a Community Workshop in March to gain insight from the residents of the 19th Ward about the enhancements they would like in the intersection. No one understands what it’s like to use our streets better than those who walk, bike, roll, and ride along them everyday.

Plus, Rochester is planning a reconstruction of Genesee Park Blvd in 2032 which creates an opportunity to test safer street design on a temporary basis. Through data collection, we can evaluate what works for all road users and center community voice to help inform the permanent redesign.

This intersection also has extra road space to work with, and the layout presents strong potential for design improvements.

Genesee Park Blvd & Pioneer St sits just steps from the Empire State Trail and Genesee Riverway Trail, where people regularly walk, run, & bike. Its proximity to U of R off campus student housing and School #53 leads many students and families to rely on this intersection on a daily basis.

While pedestrian crashes have been less frequent than vehicle collisions, drivers failing to yield the right of way has led to residents feeling unsafe. Some report that they take a longer route to bike or walk to Genesee Valley Park because it feels safer than passing through this intersection.

Happy to announce the winner of our 2026 Complete Streets Makeover selection! Our steering committee chose Genesee Park Blvd & Pioneer St from a pool of 48 trouble spots that community members identified as places in your daily travels where you don’t feel comfortable walking or biking. 🧵

Amtrak’s new 125-mph Airo trains are on track to ride later this year — here’s a look inside Amtrak riders have something speedy to look forward to.

Comfort, speed, sustainability, panoramic views...what's not to love?! nypost.com/2026/03/03/l...

Opinion | Bikes make life freer. These laws could change that. Policymakers are making a basic form of transportation and a familiar element of childhood less accessible.

"In the name of reining in out-of-control e-bike riders flouting existing laws that are inadequately enforced, lawmakers are regulating 14-year-olds exploring towns on their own for the 1st time & grandparents who need help biking around their neighborhood."

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

It's also pretty easy (logistically) to significantly scale up a community's transit, walk-ability, and bike-ability.

Every improvement that makes your community more comfortable and convenient to get around outside of a car helps more people use less oil

Imagine having robust transit options where geopolitics don’t affect the cost of your commute.

a man in a sweater and tie is holding a yellow folder with an airplane pin on it ALT: a man in a sweater and tie is holding a yellow folder with an airplane pin on it

We hosted a community conversation with @carterlavin.bsky.social discussing his book If You Want to Win You've to Fight: A Guide to Effective Transportation Advocacy. It's now on our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAx-...

Warning: This video will make you do this a lot:

Rochester Transport Guide: Moving Around the City Easily Find out how to get around Rochester, New York with ease, from buses and bikes to scooters, rideshares, driving, walking and regional connections.

What a great rundown of all the mobility options in Rochester!

"The combination of an easy to understand bus network, a growing micromobility system, widespread rideshare coverage and a reasonably walkable core gives you genuine choices."

www.thetraveler.org/rochester-tr...

Activity number 3,082 you can do on RTS buses: picking up fish from a local pet store!

This great chart from Vancouver shows just how much land is needed for single family homes generally, yet Monroe County zoning restricts apartments, ADUs, and houses on small lots while allowing single family homes everywhere. We will need to address this if we want walkability.

The Era of the $20,000 New Car Is Over This is the first year no automaker is selling a new car for under $20,000 in the United States.

Car ownership continues to get more expensive... gizmodo.com/the-era-of-t...

The Era of the $20,000 New Car Is Over This is the first year no automaker is selling a new car for under $20,000 in the United States.

Car ownership continues to get more expensive... gizmodo.com/the-era-of-t...

Whether you use it or not, better public transit makes your commute better A surprisingly small drop in cars on the road can dramatically ease congestion, and public transit is one way to get there.

"A surprisingly small drop in cars on the road—just 5% to 10%—can dramatically ease congestion, and public transit is one of the most effective ways to get that drop."

www.fastcompany.com/91493803/whe...

Monroe County residents deserve fast and frequent buses that connect their daily destinations. Our economic vibrancy depends on RTS getting people to and from work, school and childcare. Facing down rising costs of car ownership, the bus is the affordable and climate smart choice.

Read the interviews in their entirety here: reconnectrochester.org/2026/02/2026...

Happy Transit Awareness Day from Albany! This is the year NY should fix upstate’s public transit funding inequity. Systems like RGRTA have shelf-ready plans to improve frequency, but are constrained by unpredictable operating funding and declining sources of revenue.

Man at a bus stop with a bike.

“I share a car and we don’t want a second car because of the financial burden. RTS allows us to make the most of our every day trips without having to use the car. the biggest thing I would want to change is frequency. That is the biggest barrier that prevents me from riding RTS more often.”
-Zach

Man holding a sign that says "I love riding RTS because it's fun and also allows for affordable and interesting means to go anywhere for any reason."

“All things considered they do a decent job of providing a service for what I need. Though I'd definitely like to see more crosstown routes. I would like to see transit signal priority as well, especially at the transit center, so the buses don’t have to wait so long to get out of there.”
-JP

Woman standing in front of a bus holding a book.

“I get to read on the bus which is great. You can do stuff on a bus. So I prefer a 20 minute bus ride and a 5 min walk to a 15 min car ride. But if its a 10 min car ride versus a 50 min bus ride with two transfers…then I get why people don’t want to choose the bus.”
-Madeleine

Woman holding a sign that says "I love riding RTS because my son loves to ride the bus."

“We need accessible public transit in our city...in our suburbs...all over. When you have single mothers, single dads, single grandparents without cars who don’t have money and they’re missing appointments or they can't take their kids to school when they miss the bus. They deserve better.”
-Chrissy

Man standing in front of a sign showing departing buses at the RTS Transit Center

"I ride RTS because I don’t want to drive. I own my car outright but I still pay $2,000 a year for maintenance & insurance. I don’t like parking. I would
get rid of my car if I could reliably commute to work in less than 45 minutes. I want to see higher frequencies and crosstown routes.”
-William

Woman holding a sign that says "I want to ride the bus to Red Creek and Pittsford but I can't because buses don't travel that far."

“I have friends who walk a mile to get to a job because the bus doesn’t take them all the way. That’s a lot to walk then work an eight hour job and then walk a mile back. We shouldn’t have to be stronger than our own transportation.”
-Esther

On #transitawarenessday hear more from RTS riders who use the bus every day from our 2026 Voices of Transit interviews! In this thread we'll share some of their thoughts on how RTS service impacts their lives.

Individual Transportation Challenges Survey Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey about your transportation needs. This survey is part of a collaborative effort to address transportation barriers faced by residents and employers...

Link to survey: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...