By: Maria- Paula
The Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) has announced service changes and frequency improvements from Sunday, January 14, 2024. The GRTC changes include frequency improvements on GRTC Pulse and Routes 5, 19, 20, and 91.
Route 1A will be extended further into Chesterfield County via Midlothian Turnpike to Walmart Way.
Route 19 will be extended via Wilkes Ridge Parkway to serve Sheltering Arms Institute in Goochland County.
Select routes will have bay changes at the Downtown Transfer Station while route 93 will be discontinued.
All GRTC routes that will experience service or frequency changes on Jan. 14 include:
• GRTC Pulse – Weekday daytime frequency will improve to every 10 minutes until 7 p.m. Frequency on Sunday will improve to every 15 minutes until 11:30 p.m.
• 1 (Chamberlayne/Downtown) – Schedule changes on weekdays and Sundays, and serves Transfer Station Bay G.
• 1A (Hull/Midlothian via Southside Plaza) – Weekday, Saturday and Sunday schedule change. A new 8-mile extension via Midlothian Turnpike in Chesterfield County between Kroger Stonebridge and Walmart Way. Frequency improves to every 40 minutes on Sunday. Serves Transfer Station Bay H.
• 1B (Hull/Warwick via Southside Plaza) – Serves Transfer Station Bay G.
• 1C (Hull/Elhardt via Southside Plaza) – Serves Transfer Station Bay H.
• 2A (North Ave/Forest Hill) – Weekday schedule change.
• 3A/B (Highland Park/U.S. 1) – Long-term northbound detour via Chamberlayne Parkway and Charity Street concludes. Buses return to their regular route via 3rd/4th Street bridge.
• 3C (Highland Park/Harwood/U.S. 1) – Long-term northbound detour via Chamberlayne Parkway and Charity Street ends. Buses return to their regular route via 3rd/4th Street bridge. Serves Transfer Station Bay B.
• 4A (Oakwood/Montrose) – Long-term, westbound-only detour via Nicholson and East Main Streets due to railroad crossing work on Williamsburg Avenue until about Nov. 2024.
• 5 (Cary/Main/Whitcomb) – Weekday, Saturday and Sunday schedule change. Frequency on Saturday improves to every 15 minutes until 7 p.m.
• 7A (Nine Mile/Airport) – Serves Transfer Station Bay K.
• 7B (Nine Mile/Laburnum/Airport) – Saturday and Sunday schedule change and serves Transfer Station Bay K.
• 12 (Church Hill) – Serves Transfer Station Bay J.
• 19 (West Broad Street) – Weekday, Saturday and Sunday schedule change. Extension via Wilkes Ridge Parkway to Sheltering Arms Institute. Frequency improves to every 15 minutes all day Monday through Saturday between Willow Lawn and West Broad Marketplace. Alternating trips serving Sheltering Arms Institute will arrive every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday, and every 60 minutes on Sunday.
• 20 (Orbital) – Weekday schedule change. Frequency improves weekdays to every 30 minutes all day.
• 29x (Gaskins Express) – Afternoon schedule change. One eastbound and westbound afternoon trip was added to meet ridership demand. Select trips adjusted between five and 20 minutes later.
• 56 (South Laburnum) – Serves Transfer Station Bay B.
• 78 (Cary/Maymont) – Serves Transfer Station Bay C.
• 87 ( Bellemeade/Hopkins) – Serves Transfer Station Bay C.
• 91 (Laburnum Connector) – Weekday schedule change. Frequency on weekdays improves to every 30 minutes during peak hours — 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
• 93 (Azalea Connector) – Fixed route discontinued and replaced with LINK microtransit service. LINK offers more hours of operation continuously Monday through Friday from 5:00 am to 8:00 pm instead of peak-only service. All points served by Route 93 are accessible in the Azalea Zone.
GRTC announced continued on-demand service daily for early mornings between 4:00am and 6:00 am and late nights between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am.
Customer Service will also adjust its weekend hours of operation from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
According to GRTC, bus rides, CARE and LINK services will remain fare-free until further notice. This excludes CARE on-demand services with customers allowed to request two rides per day from one GRTC bus stop to another.
For information about LINK replacement service in the Azalea Zone, visit ridegrtc.com/link.
Visit Trip Planner to easily plan your next trip and download the GRTC Mobile App or Transit App for real-time bus arrival information.
Changes to routes will display online beginning Sunday, January 14, 2024.