A new survey will allow Gainesville bus riders to make suggestions to the Regional Transit System.
Starting today, RTS will ask riders to complete a survey designed to find out what customers would like to see changed.
The 25,000 surveys will be distributed by 25 monitors, who will ride selected routes. The survey comes as part of RTS's 10-year Transit Development Plan, which aims to keep the system adaptable and useful.
"We're trying to get an overall picture of what customers want," said Linda Kubitz, RTS marketing and communications specialist.
She said the survey will cover everything from what routes need benches and shelters to the usefulness of the RTS Web site.
A similar survey was conducted about four years ago, but was not as in-depth, Kubitz said.
Leah Chapman, a 19-year-old UF sophomore who has been riding RTS buses for two years, said she was glad they were doing a survey.
"There are some problems with late drivers at the Park-N-Ride stops. But other than that it's great," she said.
The survey will also help determine where the new buses, which cost about $360,000 each, would be most useful. Kubitz said the new buses will be cheaper than keeping older buses running.
"We're spending money to save money," she said. "Replacing buses is our No. 1 priority."
The Gainesville RTS fleet has 50 buses eligible for retirement, which means they are more than 12 years old and have more than 500,000 miles.
The survey is scheduled to run Tuesday through Thursday of this week and next week.
