Founded | 1975 |
---|---|
Headquarters | 2000 Summit Rd. Kent, Ohio |
Service area | Portage County, Ohio |
Service type | Bus service, dial-a-bus |
Routes | 6 county, 12 campus |
Stations | Kent Central Gateway, C-Midway, Student Center |
Fleet | 70 buses |
Annual ridership | 903,300 (2023)[1] |
Fuel type | Diesel, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) |
Website | partaonline.org |
The Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority, commonly referred to as PARTA, is a transit agency serving Portage County, Ohio. It is headquartered in Franklin Township just outside the Kent city limits. PARTA was formed in 1975 from an agreement between the city of Kent and Franklin Township[2] and has since expanded to include routes over much of Portage County. It operates several local routes including circulator and suburban routes in Kent, and an interurban route connecting Ravenna, Kent, and Stow. PARTA also offers express routes including services into downtown Cleveland, Akron as well as weekday service to the rural Portage County communities of Windham, Garrettsville and Hiram.[3] In addition, PARTA includes Kent State University's Campus Bus Service, which it acquired in 2004, and a dial-a-ride service. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 903,300.
PARTA operates a fleet of Orion VII, ENC Axess, and Gillig Advantage low-floor buses. Many of the Advantages, though not all, were acquired second-hand from Canton, Ohio's SARTA and most have had their fare-boxes removed. Due to the lack of fare-boxes, some of the Advantages are restricted to the Kent State Campus Bus Service, though the others retaining their boxes also make appearances on routes 35 and 40. The Orions and Axesses are used for all other routes in addition to the Campus Bus Services.
PARTA also operates the Kent Central Gateway. Finished in July 2013, it is the only parking garage in downtown Kent. This garage houses the city's downtown transit facility (off-campus), along with storefronts and offices for rent.[4][5][6]