# Greene County Transit

Greene County Transit is a bus system in Greene County, New York. The system offers fixed bus routes throughout the county, plus a route connecting to Hudson in Columbia County and countywide dial-a-ride service. The system is managed, owned, and operated by the ARC of Ulster-Greene, with oversight by the Greene County Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Planning. The majority of the system's funding is from the Federal Transit Administration, but Greene County and New York State also contribute funding.

## History

The first bus service in Greene County began in 1915, when Mountain View Coach Lines began service from Coxsackie to Albany. This service lasted throughout the 1920s, and in 1927, bus service started between Catskill and New York City. County-operated bus service began sometime in the 1990s, and was operated by First Student and branded as the Rip Van Winkle Express until 2015. The system operated once-per-week routes serving various areas of the county, in addition a shuttle in the village of Catskill, all with extremely low ridership. In July of 2015, the Greene County Legislature announced that the Rip Van Winkle Express would be merged with the ARC of Ulster-Greene (a non-profit agency for children with disabilities), and using their combined resources, the bus system would transform. In June of 2016, this service was launched, with five routes fanning out across Greene County.
In 2017, expansions were planned to connect with Hudson Amtrak station, as well as Ulster County Area Transit in Saugerties. While no connection with UCAT exists, a bus route, the 711, from Catskill to Hudson was launched in August 2018, and continues to run as of February 2025.

## Routes

Greene County Transit operates 7 fixed routes. All routes operate as loops to and from Catskill.
| Route | Areas Served | Notes |
| 700/701 Blue Line | Catskill, New Baltimore, Coxsackie, Athens, Jefferson Heights, Leeds, Cairo | |
| 702 Orange Line | Catskill, Kiskatom, Cairo | |
| 706 Brown Line | Catskill, Earlton, Norton Hill, Oak Hill, East Durham, Acra, Cairo, Leeds | |
| 708 White Line | Catskill, Palenville, Haines Falls, Tannersville, Hunter, Jewett, Lexington, Prattsville, Ashland, Windham | Operates only on Wednesdays |
| 709 Red Line | Catskill, Leeds, Cairo, Acra, Windham, Ashland, Prattsville, Lexington, Jewett, Hunter | Operates only on Fridays |
| 710 Catskill Shuttle | Catskill, Jefferson Heights | |
| 711 Teal Line | Catskill, Greenport (Columbia-Greene Community College), Hudson | Operates 11 runs per day, connecting Greene and Columbia Counties |
| 705 Green Line Dial-a-Ride | Countywide Dial-A-Ride service | |

## Ridership

Total system ridership was 2,325 riders per year in 2009, before the takeover by the ARC of Ulster-Greene. After the system's reintroduction under the ARC, ridership jumped to 11,453 in 2017, and 15,989 in 2023. Despite this increase, the system's ridership remains significantly lower than other nearby systems—it is approximately half of Columbia County's yearly transit ridership.
In 2023, the system had a farebox recovery ratio of 3.6%.

## Fleet

The fleet is consists of 10 buses, all of which are minibuses, mostly (if not entirely) from the Ford E-450 family.