Rochester City Council approves five-year Transit Development Plan

(ABC 6 News) – Rochester City Council had a busy night Monday. One big item on the agenda was the 2023-2027 Transit Development Plan.

The council approved the five-year plan after hearing from the public. Many Rochester residents voiced their concerns over there not being a bus route that takes people to the History Center of Olmsted County. This is something some residents have been wanting for years.

The council made an amendment for the city to do a trial with buses stopping at both the History Center and Quarry Hill Nature Center.

City bus drivers were also at the meeting, representing Local ATU 1005. The Union members were pushing to bring the public transit employees in-house.

“And we don’t want to be left behind. We want to be brought in and we want to be included in. It’ll save the taxpayers money and keep the money here in Rochester rather than sending it to for-profit companies,” Adam Buzbee, Union Steward for Local ATU 1005, said.

The bus drivers hope the city brings them in to make them Rochester Public Transit (RPT) employees instead of being employed by the contracted company First Transit in hopes to keep the money local and to be more fiscally responsible.