Niagara County bus service rebranding to take place in May

Rob Creenan, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

Mar. 3—Niagara County residents who use the Rural Niagara Transportation bus service should expect to see a lot of changes go into effect this year.

The Niagara County Legislature passed a resolution at its February meeting rebranding Rural Niagara Transportation Service into Connect Niagara, with plenty of other changes coming to the public service.

"We're looking to reenergize our bus system," said Daniel Quinn, the confidential assistant to the director of Public Works, with the county shooting for May 1 for the rebranding to take effect. Other changes include new bus graphics, a new webpage for the service, new brochures and modified bus routes.

The Department of Public Works, which operates the bus service, intended to address issues like declining ridership, poor coverage, and low brand visibility, as had been previously reported.

The Rural Niagara Transportation bus system currently has four routes, all of which go on circular routes starting and ending at Niagara County Community College. The routes reach many of the populated areas of Niagara County, from Niagara Falls and the settlements on the Niagara River in the west to Middleport in the east.

As part of rebranding process, the bus routes will be altered so that they have more stops in areas they previously did not serve, including Lockport Town Hall, the Village of Barker within the Town of Somerset, and Center Street in the Village of Lewiston. Quinn said the buses will still stop at other destinations like NCCC, Fashion Outlets Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Ransomville and Wilson.

"These will have different starting points and end points," Quinn explained, with these changes also planning to add more frequency to routes to where people can get back on the same bus within two to three hours instead of waiting four to five hours.

The same buses will be used on the routes, with the outside detailing planned to change from its simple white exterior with "Rural Niagara Transportation" in black lettering and "Open to the Public" to something with more color and graphics.

Fares for the bus service are currently at $2 for on-route stops and $4 for off-route stops. Quinn said those fares will remain the same, and that all the other changes implemented will have no additional change for taxpayers.

The rebranding process has been in the works since two public hearings took place this past July and August in Lockport and Niagara Falls. Quinn said the public reception from those hearings was positive.

Quinn added Niagara Country Rural Transportation is working with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority to allow transfers between the different bus services without paying extra fees.

Along with Niagara County, Niagara County Rural Transportation is also sponsored by the State of New York and the Federal Highway Administration.