BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Thousands of Western New Yorkers rely on public transit, to get to and from work, get their groceries or run errands. We asked riders, what is it actually like?
"Saturdays and Sundays it'd be nice to have two or three more routes," said Miss Pat, a regular on route 32, which takes her to and from church on the weekends.
About 30% of people in Buffalo do not have access to a car. Riders tell 7 News buses don't come often enough.
"Transportation is very poor...I had to catch the 7am bus, the next one was gonna be in 40 minutes where I come from. It makes it hard. I had to get here a little bit early, because the next bus would've made me late," said Douglas Funke, a transit advocate.
Funke has been calling for change for years, but says now is the time for a transit revolution.
So 7 News sat down with Helen Tederous, Director of Public Affairs with the NFTA to talk about the future.
"It's a different world that we're living in now and we have to change and adapt to that world," said Tederous.
First step, an updated way to pay
Starting in 2023, the NFTA is introducing the MetGo card. It's gonna be an account based system where you'll be able to tap and go, similar to a Metro Card in New York City.
The next goal is to bring ridership back up to normal
With people working and going to school remotely, there's no telling when or if riders will return. During the pandemic, ridership was 30% of its normal level. Right now, it's at about 60%, according to the NFTA.
The goal is to get more people on public transit, to improve our environment and clear up our roads.
"If you've visited other areas or even read about, 'Oh I was in London and I didn't need a car,' that is like pie in the sky, but we would love to bring that to Buffalo," said Tederous.
What has to be done to get more frequent bus routes?
When you look at cities like Syracuse and Rochester, they both have routes that come every 15 to 30 minutes in their busiest areas. Rochester has an app that lets riders track and pay for their rides.
The NFTA would like to eventually have a route that consistently runs through one of the busiest transit areas, Bailey Avenue. In order to get more frequency, they need more drivers.
People are applying, but drivers are retiring at the same rate, making it difficult to add more routes.
If you're interested in driving and NFTA bus or becoming a mechanic, click here.
What's next with the light rail expansion?
That's the thing that sets WNY's transit system apart, but it's only a few miles long.
"The light rail is a very good system and that's every ten minutes. The kind of system we really need in Buffalo is the have the light rail system extended out as originally planned," said Funke.
It's been a plan for decades, but a lack of funding stood in the way.
"We believe now is the time. On a federal level, state level, local level, we believe that's possible," said Tederous.
Construction is planned to start in 2026 and the goal is to have it up and running by 2030. For more info, click here.
