President Sofie Ameloot welcomed everyone to the Centerville Rotary Club and led reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. PDG Sivaji Subramaniam provided the prayer
Quote of the day provided by Don Overly: "Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill
Today’s Announcements:
- Thanks to Brad Thorp for greeting today.
- Welcome to our guests: Ben Lawson, Interact Advisor, Ben Edwards, Interact President, and Nate Borgerding, Interact Vice President; Carol Kennard’s granddaughter, Kaycee who is on fall break and thinks of herself as an honorary Rotarian.
Ben, Ben & Nate - 2024 Interact Club
- Thanks to Lisa for hosting Rotary Woman Connect and sharing ghost stories.
- The first meeting of the Rotary Coffee Club will take place on Tuesday, November 12, 8-9 am, at ContempoRoast, 967 South Main Street. We will meet the first Tuesday of the month afterwards.
- Adam Manning was complimentary of the hard work by the Pancake committee. If not yet signed up to work, the sheet is still available.
- Lisa Goris May announced we will be ordering 636 coats thanks to the generosity of the club and a district grant. She will plan a day to deliver them to Hannah’s Treasure Chest and take pictures.
- This morning, several Rotarians volunteers at the Artemis Fundraising Breakfast, which was a lovely event for an important cause.
- The Bottom Line Ribbon Cutting is this afternoon.
- The next Adopt a Highway is November 2, 8 am-12 noon, and kicks off our Service Week. Stay tuned for more service opportunities that week.
- Our next Rotary Social is scheduled at The Famous restaurant on Tuesday, October 29, 5:30-7 pm. Rotary will provide appetizers and soft drinks as we celebrate the success of our Pancake Day.
- Rotary Family Social is planned at Hidden Valley Orchard on November 17, 3-5 pm. Plan to bring your kids/grandkids for a fun afternoon!
- The next Rotary Board Meeting is next Monday at Woodbourne Library.
Pat Beckel was our Sergeant at Arms with assistance by Brian Hayes.
Pat shared Lee Hieronymus’s Scooter Buck - he ate food and had to scoot before the meeting started.
Happy Bucks were generously given for:
- Kristin H announced Alexander’s 2nd birthday is Sunday.
- Boyd P said is was great to have Kaycee here.
- Carol K for granddaughter Kaycee being here and Boyd arranging to have a BIG piece of cake delivered to her at the table!
- Chuck K noted he saw Boyd sitting on the floor earlier and is glad he was able to get up!
- Ron H was gone the last couple of weeks, in Delaware, visit from his niece, and then Helene knocked a large branch on his house.
- Adam M flew out to the west coast with the Huffmans, and although they didn’t get the Buckeye outcome they wanted, the folks in Oregon were fun.
- Raj G for the wonderful day and sunshine.
- Pat T shared his three daughters are in college, and he noticed his daughter who attends Sinclair seemed sad, and when he asked why, she said it we because she hasn’t able to talk to her sisters in awhile :-(
- Rand O was happy to be in Ohio, and was excited for the Interact Club representatives here today, and said to let us know how we can help.
- Dale B was happy to attend the Artemis Fundraiser, where the Keynote speaker was Belinda Kenley.
- Brad H noted Oregon is a beautiful state, game day and tailgates were great, and they ended up next to Lorenzo Stiles (former OSU player) and his son who is a current player. Not the game results they wanted but had a good time.
- Harvey S announced Elda is having a birthday on Sunday
- Elda GG was just happy she’s still alive :-)
- Kelly M started the day with Rotarians at the Artemis Fundraiser, with Rotarians now for lunch and will end his busy day with a Board meeting tonight.
- Sofie A for today’s guests and a big thanks to Ben and the Interact Club.
- Ray M for a visit from his oldest grandson and wife, noting his grandson is doing post doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin in particle physics.
- Jeff S recently turned 70, celebrated his 45th wedding anniversary and 7th grandchild!
- Jim H was glad to see Interact students here and shared information about the Rotary scholarship opportunity.
- Lisa GG gave a welcome to Interact, and noted we appreciate their involvement.
- Gina S gave a welcome to guests and thanks to Don O’s delivery service to the Artemis fundraiser this morning.
- Jackie D enjoyed a vacation where there were no hurricanes with 20 family members in the house, celebrating their 41st wedding anniversary.
- Sivaji S was happy to be sitting next to Don S.
- Don S announced Rotary has a Bowling League on Monday nights. It is open to all Rotarians and you can bowl any time you are available, held at Capris Lanes on Dixie Drive.
Our speaker today was Bob Ruzinsky, CEO of the Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA).
Kelly McDonald introduced our speaker, Bob Ruzinsky, and noted RTA was started in 1972, the same year as Centerville Rotary. Bob is also a Rotarian with the Dayton Club.
Bob share he has been with the RTA since 1988. It is the public transit agency that serves Montgomery County. Buses make 6.5 million trips./year, which was close to 10 million before COVID. There was a big shift when people started working from home. Prior to COVID, 65% of the riders were office workers but now it’s mostly those who don’t have their own transportation. They changed routes to adjust. Most rides are now to medical appointments, grocery stores, or recreational events.
For every decision he makes, he considers how it will impact Riders, Employees, and Funders.
Riders
RTA has 19 fixed routes, with a main hub downtown, and five transit hubs, and 2500 bus stops.
Paratransit service offers connect services - small white buses take riders from their door to another door for doctor visits, or to visit a friend (like a taxi service). They average 25,000 rides per month. This service provides a lifeline for many people who aren’t able to ride a big bus on their own and may not have family local.
5310 Program provides rides for ages 65+ to grocery store or medical appointments, and is only $5 per trip. They also started a Bring A Friend for free promotion.
RTA was the first system in the country to go cashless. Use card or smartphone to pay now. Can buy cards at drugstores, convenience stores or the downtown transit hub.
Centerville is served by 3 routes. It does not have a high ridership but has steady customers. The connect ridership is higher in this community.
Employees
625 Employees (250 CDL bus drivers, 95 Connect bus drivers, 115 mechanics & techs, 165 support staff)
Don’t need CDL for Connect service drivers
Over 300 buses
$80 million budget
Funders
RTA developed the bus wraps as a way to thank funders. Kettering and Trotwood were the first communities represented, and now there are 23 on the road. Some communities didn’t want the big green buses on their streets, but then started asking when they got a bus wrap for their community.
RTA does a lot of outreach with the Community buses from touch a truck, school career days, parades, and providing cooling stations.
If there is a major fire, RTA provides buses for relief of first responders - a warm or cooled space to provide relief.
They are in the process of developing an Interactive Children’s Transit Learning Center. The program will pick kids up at school in a bus, have them design their own bus, visit the Center, and then take back to school. It will be open next year hopefully and includes a mural of history of buses, a cutout bus front for picture taking, and another full size bus with the side cut out for group photos.
Their main source of funding is a 1/2 cent sales tax in Montgomery County. Funds from the Federal and State governments provide the 2nd main source of revenue. They also get competitive grants for buses or facility improvements. The grants are based on operating statistics from the year before.
Each bus lasts about 12 years, and they were all replaced leading up to COVID, which is good since the supply chain is poor now.
By law, all buses have to travel the whole county, so you don’t put crappy buses in certain neighborhoods.
During a snow emergency, they keep running but might be a little late.
The buses run 365 days/year.
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