Regional Transit System’s bus routes will change Saturday due to the 2012 Gainesville Pride Parade.
The parade, which will start at noon, will go from Ayers Medical Building to Bo Diddley Community Plaza. Four of RTS’s transit routes will be affected. The routes will change from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Routes 27 and 6 will only make one trip during the course of that hour, but the routes will use different roads, which could make the ride 10 to 15 minutes longer.
Routes 15 and 5 will make six trips and will be about 15 minutes longer than usual.
All of the routes can be seen on the homepage of RTS’s website under the “Pride Parade Detours” section.
RTS tries to provide notices about any changes in information about a week before they occur, said Chip Skinner, RTS spokesman.
“We try to give enough of an advance notice so people can adjust their schedules,” he said.
Patrons can also check the RTS Facebook page, or use its online tracking application to see the changes.
About 55,000 people ride RTS buses per weekday, about 29,000 ride on Saturdays and 7,700 ride on Sundays, Skinner said. He said about 75 percent of riders are students.
Richard Israel, 19, takes the No. 5 from the Rosa Parks RTS Downtown Station to get to his job at Gator Corner Dining Center.
He said the rerouting would make getting to work harder, but he’d still be taking the bus on Saturday.
“It’s my only transportation, so I’m still going to take it,” he said. “I just have to walk a little farther.”
Contact Alex Catalano at acatalano@alligator.org.
Jaiden Kelly, 4, dances at the Rosa Parks RTS Downtown Station on Wednesday afternoon. Four bus routes will be rerouted on Saturday.
