{"id":205027,"date":"2026-04-24T22:21:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T03:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=205027"},"modified":"2026-04-25T08:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T13:47:23","slug":"rta-service-in-van-wert-county-seems-to-be-catching-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/04\/24\/rta-service-in-van-wert-county-seems-to-be-catching-on\/","title":{"rendered":"RTA service in Van Wert County seems to be catching on"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Allen County Regional Transit Authority Executive Director-Operations Brian Wildermuth spoke at least week’s Lunch and Learn event in Van Wert. Scott Truxell\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been approximately three months since a new transit service officially began operations in Van Wert County and, by all accounts, it appears to be going well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lima-based Allen County Regional Transit Authority (ACRTA) officially began transportation services in Van Wert County on January 19, a month after releasing information about the state\u2019s investment in new transportation opportunities called the New Ohio Workforce Mobility Partnership. Late last year, ACRTA was awarded more than $600,000 for a one-year pilot program in Van Wert County, which was used to purchase two vehicles and help subsidize ride costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a \u201cLunch and Learn\u201d event held last week at First United Methodist Church in Van Wert, Allen County Regional Transit Authority Executive Director of Operations Brian Wildermuth spoke about the service and answered various questions from those in attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would say it\u2019s going a little better than we expected,\u201d Wildermuth said. \u201cIt took off faster than we thought. We had 46 trips in our first month but, in fairness, we started mid-month and we had (inclement) weather, then we were up to 273 in February and 278 trips in March.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn average we have one bus here at all times then on an as-needed basis we\u2019ll have a second driver come over when we\u2019re getting logjammed,\u201d he continued. \u201cI think the way the numbers are going, I can see there being two buses here during all the \u2018hot\u2019 times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All rides are on small handicap-accessible buses that look similar to large vans, and are offered to the public with door-to-door service in two ways: microtransit and demand-response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMicrotransit is a door-to-door service in certain areas,\u201d Wildermuth explained. \u201cDemand-response takes a person wherever they\u2019re scheduling themselves to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Microtransit rides start at $3 each way and are operating within two zones in Van Wert County. One zone is within the city limits of Van Wert, and the other is on the northeast side of the county. Demand response rides run between $6-$12 each way and provide door-to-door service anywhere in the county. Ride prices are slightly more when crossing service zones or traveling farther distances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both ride options run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. There is no service on Saturdays, Sundays, or major holidays \u2013 New Year\u2019s Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Rides must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To schedule a ride, call 419.222.2RTA, visit acrta.com<\/a>, or download the free app: Allen County RTA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor It\u2019s been approximately three months since a new transit service officially began operations in Van Wert County and, by all accounts, it appears to be going well. Lima-based Allen County Regional Transit Authority (ACRTA) officially began transportation services in Van Wert County on January 19, a month after releasing information about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 08:54:49","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205027"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":205237,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205027\/revisions\/205237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}