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This study was completed in February 2024. Read the Final Report here.

Exploring Tomorrow’s Transit

Exploring Tomorrow’s Transit (ETT) is a public engagement effort by Centro and the SMTC to better understand our community’s diverse needs, and expectations around public transit. As transportation needs, especially commuting, continue to evolve – accelerated in part by the COVID-19 pandemic – Centro recognizes there may be options beyond the traditional fixed-route, “hub and spoke” bus service to best meet the needs of the community. ETT will explore future designs of the Centro system in Onondaga County, including options such as on-demand services and bus rapid transit, as well as changes in geographic coverage and frequency. The information gathered through this effort will be used by Centro in their long-term service planning.

Read Centro’s Press Release (December 2022).

Click here for more information about SMTC’s previous transit studies, including the SMART 1 (bus rapid transit) study.

GET INVOLVED!

Want to participate in Exploring Tomorrow’s Transit? We will have a variety of opportunities for public participation.

Sign up for the SMTC’s email list to receive updates direct to your inbox; and be sure to follow SMTC and Centro on Facebook.

ETT presentation (with English captions)

ETT presentation (con subtitulos en español)

The presentation describes:

  • the overall goals of Exploring Tomorrow’s Transit
  • information about commuting in our region
  • current transit ridership
  • what we’ve already learned from some previous studies and outreach efforts
  • how you can stay involved in Exploring Tomorrow’s Transit

SMTC staff has compiled existing data, results, and public input from prior studies with relevance to the current effort. This includes key findings from the SMTC/Centro 2018 Rider and Non-rider surveys, the 2017 Work Link study, and the 2018 SMART 1 study. For this project, ridership data from 2019 and 2021 were provided by Centro and analyzed by SMTC staff. Relevant regional commute and demographic data were also reviewed to provide context for future transit planning.

Below are links to the studies and figures mentioned in the above video.

Studies Figures

The first step in the ETT process was a community survey. THE SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED. This online survey was launched in late January 2023, and ran through May 19, 2023.

The survey results are included in the ETT Interim Summary Report.

SMTC and Centro held three drop-in Open House sessions in April and May 2023. These sessions provided information about the ETT process, and participants had the opportunity to provide their suggestions for bus routes, on-demand service areas, and bike/scooter share locations, as well as to take the community survey. Information gathered at the Open Houses will be summarized with the community survey results.

ETT Open House flyer

Open House display boards

SMTC and Centro held a series of five Community Discussions around the region in September 2023. These meetings allowed community members to:

  • Review what we learned from the ETT public survey conducted in spring 2023. (Read the ETT Interim Summary Report, including survey results summary.)
  • Engage in discussion with SMTC and Centro staff about the future design of the transit system including fixed-routes bus service, on-demand service, bus rapid transit (BRT), and bike/scooter share.

Missed the Community Discussion meetings? Watch the ETT Survey Results and Future Planning video, or view the display boards from the meetings.