RTA’s award-winning ‘Proudly Serving’ fleet is complete

(DAYTON, OHIO)… The Greater Dayton RTA is celebrating the completion of its 21st and final “Proudly Serving” bus featuring the city of Huber Heights. The bus is part of the agency’s Proudly Serving Project, which pays tribute to the communities the agency serves. 

The Huber Heights bus made its debut during Rushmore Elementary School’s Career Day on May 3. The kids were able to get a first-hand look at the bus, which features Herbert C. Huber Community Park, Carriage Hill MetroPark, Wayne High School, the Rose Music Center at the Heights, and Thomas A. Cloud Memorial Park. 

“Huber Heights is grateful for the initiative and effort put into the new city bus by RTA. The bus expresses so many things about our community that anyone who sees it will know immediately it is the Huber Heights bus,” said Huber Heights Mayor Jeff Gore. “Public transportation is becoming more popular, and I know the residents of Huber Heights join me in being proud of the new bus and the statement it makes about our city. We appreciate the great partnership the city has had over the years with RTA and look forward to continuing that relationship, and the future of that collaboration begins with the new “Proudly Serving” Huber Heights bus.”

This project was the vision of RTA CEO Robert Ruzinsky. He wanted to honor the communities the agency serves and showcase how its buses can connect people to these places.

“From the moment the first two buses were released into service, I knew we had created something special. City leaders started reaching out and asking when their community would get a bus,” said Ruzinsky. “The 21 Proudly Serving community-themed buses have helped foster a sense of community pride throughout Montgomery County and in addition to running in daily service, are used for community events, parades, festivals, etc.” 

Each bus design was carefully crafted to emphasize points of interest in a specific community where the RTA takes riders. Communities featured include Kettering, Trotwood, Montgomery County, Dayton, West Carrollton, Vandalia, Harrison Township, Moraine, Englewood, Jefferson Township, Washington Township, Riverside, Miami Township, Centerville, Huber Heights, Oakwood, Butler Township and Miamisburg. To capture these locations, RTA collaborated with a professional photographer to collect high-resolution photos of about 130 public locations around Montgomery County. The buses also feature a fun fact, estimated population and the year the city or township was founded. 

The RTA won a first-place 2023 Ad Wheel award for its “Proudly Serving” project. The awards go to American Public Transportation Association (APTA) member systems and business members for outstanding marketing, communications and customer experience efforts that contributed to strategic organizational goals. 

To learn more about the project, visit www.iriderta.org. 

MEDIA CONTACT:  Kristi Newton (937) 425-8379, Communications and Community Relations Manager