River Valley Transit

The River Valley Transit Authority (formerly the Williamsport Bureau of Transportation, and later River Valley Transit) is the public transit operator serving Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and surrounding Lycoming County.

History
In 1969, the City of Williamsport acquired the privately-owned Williamsport Bus Company, using grant funding from the Urban Mass Transit Administration and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. The resulting agency, the Williamsport Bureau of Transportation, began operations on August 8, 1969. The system served Williamsport alongside the surrounding communities of South Williamsport, Montoursville, Duboistown, Loyalsock, and Old Lycoming Township, which formed a partnership to contribute funding to the system.

In 1980, the system rebranded its services as "City Bus," while the organization retained the name Williamsport Bureau of Transportation. City Bus began services to Muncy and Lycoming Mall in 1988, and began trolley service two years later.

November 1999 saw the opening of the Joseph M. McDade Trade & Transit Centre, the system's main hub, built on the site of the former L.L. Stearns department store in downtown Williamsport. The building has bus stop facilities on the ground floor, and also includes commercial offices and a performing arts center. A second building, dubbed Trade & Transit Centre II, opened next door in 2016.

In 2005, the system was rebranded again as River Valley Transit.

In 2011, RVT took over management of the Endless Mountains Transportation Authority, now known as BeST Transit, which operates in Bradford, Tioga, and Sullivan counties.

On February 18, 2022, the Williamsport City Council voted to separate River Valley Transit from the city government, transferring it to a new, independent River Valley Transit Authority. The original RVT ceased operations on June 30, and the RVTA commenced operations the next day, July 1, 2022.

Audits and grant funding investigation
In 2021, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced an investigation of RVT and the City of Williamsport, alleging misuse of state and federal grant funds from 2009 to 2019. The investigation found that grant funding was used improperly to subsidize river cruise operator Hiawatha, Inc., among other misuses; the city was then sent a cease-and-desist letter by PennDOT. The Federal Transit Administration opened a similar investigation into RVTA in November 2022.

Also in 2021, Mayor Derek Slaughter's office hired accounting firm RKL to audit RVT's finances. Their audit, presented to the City Council's finance committee in October 2021, found a number of financial inconsistencies and evidence of evasive recordkeeping. The results were forwarded to Shapiro's office.

Fixed-route buses
RVTA operates twenty fixed bus routes, all of which originate at the Trade & Transit Centre in downtown Williamsport. Relative to Williamsport and the main bus station, the service area includes the boroughs of South Williamsport and Duboistown to the south; Woodward and Piatt Townships and the borough of Jersey Shore to the west; Old Lycoming Township, including Garden View and Grimesville, to the north; and Loyalsock Township, and the boroughs of Montoursville, Muncy, and Hughesville to the east, with Montgomery to the southeast.

Daytime bus service officially begins at 5:30 a.m., and continues until 7:00 p.m. After 7:00 p.m., the two Nightline buses provide service hourly as far east as the Lycoming Mall and as far west as the Reach Road industrial park. The 'late' bus provides outbound only service going west, and offers transportation to employees at the Reach Road Industrial Park at 11 p.m. Saturday services deviate from the weekday schedules on select routes. Fixed routes do not run on Sundays, except during the Little League World Series.

Routes

 * Newberry via Fourth Street
 * Montoursville
 * Park Avenue - Garden View
 * Loyalsock
 * South Side - Duboistown
 * South Side - Route 15
 * East End - ManorCare
 * East End - Eldred Street
 * West Third Street - Industrial Park
 * West Third Street - Newberry Estates
 * Tri-Town Connector via Hughesville
 * Tri-Town Connector via Montgomery
 * Williamsport Regional Airport
 * Vallamont
 * Lycoming Mall
 * Downtown Connector
 * Jersey Shore Connector
 * Valley View Connector
 * Lysock View Express
 * Super Nightline East
 * Super Nightline West
 * Penn College Shuttle

Paratransit
RVTA also offers a paratransit service, River Valley Transit Plus. Service is offered to eligible passengers across a service area extending 3/4 of a mile from a fixed route.

Fares
Current as of September 2008

On the bus:
 * $2.00 - 1-ride
 * $2.50 - 2-ride OR 1-day

Passes purchased at the Trade & Transit Center:
 * $2.00 - 1-day
 * $10.00 - 7-day
 * $35.00 - 31-day
 * $10.00 - 10-ride
 * $18.00 - 20-ride
 * 4 for $5.00 - 1-ride tokens

Others:
 * Transfers - FREE
 * valid for (1) hour
 * Children age 5 or less - FREE
 * Youth age 17 or less - $1.00
 * Seniors age 65+ with ID
 * FREE
 * Disabled (with ID) - $1.00
 * Student (with ID) - $0.75 (school days only)
 * Full-time Lycoming College and Pennsylvania College of Technology students ride for free at all times by showing valid college-issued ID.

Current fleet
As of March 2023.