An overlooked campus resource: The RTS bus system

Many students know of the campus bus which can take you into town to places like Walmart and Wegmans, but did you know that the bus can do so much more than just cart around town?

Every Geneseo student eventually learns the hard way that although the campus may be small, it is certainly not flat. While the walk from dorms to dining halls may be short and sweet, the walk from virtually every dorm to the academic buildings will have you breaking a sweat, especially if you are in a hurry.

If you are not a big fan of hills or walking across campus in general, the campus bus is for you. Our campus bus is an RTS (Regional Transit Service) bus and is hard to miss with its bright blue and green exterior. The bus is free to all Geneseo students as long as you have your Geneseo ID card to show the bus driver. The bus runs the same routes on a weekly schedule, meaning the bus schedule is different on Saturday and Sunday than it is Monday through Friday. 

The bus schedule is very easy to locate on the Geneseo website. Additionally, if you  simply google the RTS Geneseo bus schedule, you should see a PDF that contains the entire bus schedule. Reading the bus schedule can seem overwhelming, but if it is broken down into sections it becomes much easier to manage. 

For any weekday bus that is during the morning or afternoon, simply look at the top left corner of the schedule labeled “Local Service Monday-Friday.” This section lists a variety of places on campus where it stops throughout the day, but there are even more stops that are not listed on the PDF schedule. 

 Anywhere you see a sign labeled “RTS Bus Stop” is a location where the bus will stop along its route. For example, it is not listed on the schedule, but the bus will stop outside of Erie Hall in between the H lot stop and the Milne Library stop. The bus will only stop if someone is waiting outside, so make sure you get there a minute or two early! 

Many students living in halls such as Seneca, Allegany, and Erie utilize the bus to avoid the large hill separating the dorms from the academic buildings. Multiple buses are running at all times throughout the day, so the chances are, right before you have a class, there is probably a bus that can take you there. 

For those living on Southside this year, there is a bus stop conveniently located directly next to Wayne Hall. The stop even has a bus shelter to protect you from whatever weather elements may be occurring while you wait. This stop is one of the listed few on the bus schedule and even has an electronic sign outside that displays when the next bus is coming.

For those who do not mind walking or facing a little snow or rain, the bus may be helpful to you at night. While the campus has many safety precautions and a large University Police presence, walking alone at night can be scary. The bus has a late-night schedule which runs on the weekends and Fridays and it goes all over the place: main streets, off-campus streets, on-campus routes, and especially H lot near Orchard Street.  

Next time you find yourself feeling a little under the weather or just a little lazy, consider taking a free ride on our lovely campus bus.

Thumbnail Photo of RTS Bus courtesy of Knight’s Life Editor Regan Russell