More than 100 people gathered in Turlington Plaza Wednesday to protest UF cutting funds for the Regional Transit System.
Students chanted, held handmade signs and shared stories about how the route cuts have impacted them at the “Rally for RTS Buses,” hosted by the Save RTS Coalition.
UF originally proposed funding cuts to RTS in April 2024, and it officially announced changes in May, saying it would focus on its Campus Connector transportation service. Transportation and Parking Services representatives previously told The Alligator the change is meant to make transportation more effective.
RTS funding fell by 28%, and the route cuts were implemented June 30. Routes 16, 34, 35 and 711 were eliminated and route 126 reduced services as a result.
Bryan Garcia Ramos, a 21-year-old UF aerospace engineering senior and the director of the campaign, led the rally. He said the Young Democratic Socialists of America have been fighting the cuts all summer in collaboration with the Alachua County Labor Coalition through petitions and protests.
Ramos said students were led to believe in April the cuts would only last for the summer. Now that students are back in town and the routes are still cut, there is a “Fall-level demand” for buses with a “Summer-level capacity,” Ramos said.
The rally organizers supplied protestors with paper and markers to make signs. Some signs read “Save our buses” and “Save RTS now.” One student wrote “Full bus = Miss class.” The protesters also hung a large sign from the side of the building that asked UF to refund RTS.
Two student speakers shared their own stories and those of other students about issues stemming from the cuts.
Ana Ferreira, a 21-year-old UF sustainability studies and anthropology senior, was one of those speakers. She said the youth-led climate group she helps lead, Sunrise Movement GNV, has heard testimonies from people who have been passed by buses because they were too full for more students.
Sometimes students get tired of waiting and they have to walk far distances, she said. If they can’t walk, sometimes they need to get Ubers, Ferreira said.
“That’s more money out of their pockets just to get an education here,” Ferreira said.
Abigail Trachtenberg, a 19-year-old UF sustainability studies sophomore and the second speaker, said she knows students who have dropped classes because they can’t get to them without the cut bus routes.
Trachtenberg said bus routes were a big factor in the classes that she chose to take this semester.
“I think that shouldn’t be the case between education and transportation.” Trachtenberg said.
The rally began in Turlington Plaza, but the protestors marched to the Hub bus stop. Protestors booed Campus Connectors and cheered for RTS buses. Bus drivers were seen pumping their fists and honking at the protestors.
Emmaline Sheahan, a 27-year-old UF zoology doctoral student, said on top of buses being constantly full and over-crowded, almost all of the parking spaces around campus are consistently full because of the lack of transportation options.
“I’m hoping that UF will devote more resources to funding RTS,” Sheahan said.
Jennifer Perez, a 26-year-old UF material science and engineering doctoral student, said she hopes students continue to organize against the RTS funding cuts. She said she wants solidarity and community to be built.
“This is an issue that's going to take time, it's going to take a lot of voices, so we must get together and get organized,” Perez said.
Contact Madeline Herring at mherring@alligator.org. Follow her on X @m_herring06.
Madeline is a first-year journalism and environmental science double major and the Fall 2025 general assignment reporter. In her free time she enjoys reading, binging new television series, and browsing the isles of target with her friends.
