Bigger buses beckon while GRTC invites community support to keep fares free

More people have a reason to get on the bus now that the Greater Richmond Transit Authority has launched new articulated buses on the 7-mile Pulse routes that reach into Henrico County.

Four new 60-foot GRTC accordion buses can accommodate 122 passengers apiece.

At a ribbon cutting event Tuesday at the Main Street train station in Richmond, Henrico County Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson, who is chair of the GRTC Board of Directors, addressed the crowd with one of the articulated buses as a backdrop, along with Richmond city elected officials.

Two buses were funded through a grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation. The other two were funded by federal, state and local dollars. Though they were acquired in the spring, GRTC has been training drivers on how to maneuver the elongated vehicles.

The articulated buses are built to carry passengers on the busy Pulse line, which saw nearly 1.7 million riders last year. With three doors for faster boarding, they’re designed to reduce crowding and support continued growth, according to the GRTC.

With food trucks and giveaways from transit-oriented organizations, the ribbon cutting also celebrated “TAP into Transit Day,” enticing the public to rally behind “a zero-fare future across Central Virginia.”

The event also acknowledged that there is a significant cost to running a regional transit service. At the event, GRTC touted the Transit Access Partnership, through which any person or entity can donate to RideFinders – a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit division of GRTC that funds the regional transportation system. The free rides are currently funded by state grants and city support.

Zero fares began on GRTC in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a safety measure to reduce contact between bus operators and passengers. Now GRTC sees the free rides as a vital service for the community to help residents and visitors get around the region, acknowledging the steep cost of car ownership and riders' needs.

Another way the GRTC is raising funds to maintain the zero-fare status is through charging for advertising on buses.

“We're getting ready to expand the Pulse bus into Henrico up to Parham Road,” said GRTC Communications Director Ashley Potter. “So it'll be about 12 miles. We're also getting ready to create a new North-South rapid transit [Pulse expansion] bus line that will extend into Henrico [to Virginia Center Commons] that will complement this current one and create a full network of rapid transit here in the Richmond area.”

GRTC is eyeing 2030 for the Parham extension with a bus transfer station and the North Pulse completion.

Last month, the organization announced that it was expanding the Sandston LINK zone, which offers free on-demand door-to-door service similar to Uber or Lyft.