Central New York Regional Transportation Authority

Founded	1970 (1970)
Headquarters	200 Cortland Avenue,Syracuse, NY, 13205-0820[1]
Locale	Syracuse and surrounding areas
Service type	Bus transit
Fleet	238[2]
Daily ridership	Approximately 42,000 (weekdays)[2]
Fuel type	Diesel,CNG,Diesel-electric hybrid
Chief executive	Christopher Tuff
Website	centro.org

TheCentral New York Regional Transportation Authority (CNYRTA), commonly referred to asCentro, is aNew York State public benefit corporation and the operator ofmass transit inOnondaga,Oswego,Cayuga,Oneida, andCortland counties inNew York state.^[3] The CNYRTA was formed on August 1, 1970, along with similar agencies inRochester,Albany, andBuffalo.

Centro won theAmerican Public Transportation Association's 2006 "Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award" for bus companies serving 4 million to 30 million riders a year.

Centro has a 9-member board of directors, including one non-voting member.^[4] Its CEO is Christopher Tuff.^[5] In 2017, Centro had operating expenses of $93.34 million, no outstanding debt, and a level of staffing of 738 people.^[6]

The Central New York Regional Transportation Authority is authorized by the State ofNew York to operate transit services inCayuga,Cortland,Jefferson,Madison,Oneida,Onondaga, andOswego counties.^[7] The below subsidiaries operate transit services in the counties that have opted-in to the transportation district.

The biggest service subsidiary, CNY Centro, operates service in the city of Syracuse and suburbanOnondaga County. Centro took over the assets and operations of theSyracuse Transit Corporation on January 17, 1972, and those of the suburban Syracuse & Eastern Transit Corp. in 1974. CNY Centro staff provide support and administrative functions; including marketing, procurement, route planning, human resources, training and safety for all sister subsidiaries.

Local, express, and commuter routes connect the area withDowntown Syracuse andSyracuse University.

Routes are based in the City ofOswego. Service began on August 28, 1972. Centro assumed operation of the Oswego-Fulton-Syracuse intercity bus service from S&O Coach on June 21, 1993.

Routes generally travel east and west through the city, with connections to routes that travel toFulton andSyracuse made in Downtown Oswego. Centro operates two student shuttle routes on theSUNY Oswego campus.

The neighboring communities of Fulton andMexico are also provided with fixed route service.

Routes are based in the City ofAuburn. Service began on April 2, 1973. Centro assumed operation of Auburn-Syracuse intercity bus service from Onondaga Coach on August 30, 1993.

Local bus routes are interlined in a continuous loop that makes a one-seat ride throughout the entire system and city possible.

Centro of Oneida began operation on April 1, 2005 with the acquisition of the financially troubled Utica Transit Authority based inUtica. The UTA was a local agency that did not have the same ability to raise revenues as a public benefit corporation such as the CNYRTA. Merging the local county bus operations into the Centro system brought greater financial stability through savings in personnel and administrative costs. On October 1, 2005, Centro of Oneida assumed the operations of the VIP Transportation bus system inRome. This merger of services has allowed for improved transit for citizens ofOneida County.

Even though, Oneida County public transit operations have been consolidated into one system, routes do not connect the cities of Rome and Utica. They also do not connect those cities to Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oswego Counties. Service between Utica, Rome and Syracuse is provided byBirnie Bus Service.

Centro's Call-A-Bus service provides paratransit service under the criteria set forth under theADA. Members of the riding public, with disabilities that makes travel by transit buses difficult, are able to request pre-planned travel through the Call-A-Bus program. Service is offered in all areas that have regular route service.

Centro Parking, Inc. is a subsidiary that leases land from the State ofNew York inDowntown Syracuse to sell monthly parking.^[8] Centro Parking, Inc., has in the past, offered management of parking garages for local institutions likeSUNY Upstate. Revenue that is generated from the parking lots contributes to the operational budget for transit services.

Centro operates thirty-six bus routes in Syracuse, eight bus routes in Oswego County, seven bus routes in Auburn, six bus routes in Rome, and eleven bus routes in Utica.^[9] In 2018, Centro had a ridership of 10.3 million trips, down from a 2008 high of 12.1 million trips.^[10]

In Syracuse and Utica, bus routes are numbered with a two digit base number. Short turn and variations of the base route are prefixed with an additional number to denote a different travel pattern. Bus routes in Oswego and Fulton use an alpha-numeric numbering scheme that suffixes the base route with a letter to denote a different travel pattern.

In each service area, routes operate in a spoke-hub model; focused on the downtown areas of cities served with routes extending to outlying neighborhoods and communities. This focus on downtown areas is the origin for the common name of Centro; the Spanish word for downtown. Buses arrive at the various hubs at fixed times throughout the day to allow for streamlined transfers. CNY Centro and Centro of Oswego operate campus shuttle routes forSyracuse University andSUNY Oswego, respectively.

CNY Centro operates various Community Extra routes, open to the public, that directly serve public, charter, and parochial high schools attended by students who reside within theSyracuse City School District.^[11] High school students, that live 1.5 or more miles from their school, are provided with free travel to and from school on school days.

Special event service is operated by CNY Centro for sporting events at theCarrier Dome andLakeview Amphitheater concerts.^[12][13][14] CNY Centro, Centro of Cayuga, and Centro of Oswego all operate extensive shuttle service to and from theNew York State Fair.^[15] In recent years, with increased attendance at the State Fair, otherUpstate New York transit agencies have provided buses and drivers to meet demand for parking lot shuttles.^[16]

Several Park-N-Rides are located throughout suburban Onondaga County that are served by CNY Centro bus routes.^[17]

Cortland County service started on March 31, 2025. This added seven routes into the network.^[18]

The Centro Transit Hub in Syracuse, located at 599 S. Salina St, replaced the original Common Center transfer location at the intersection of S. Salina and E. Fayette Streets.

The old Common Center utilized the four corners of the intersection to "line up" buses, leaving passengers unprotected from inclement weather and with limited seating. Centro riders often had to cross the busy intersection twice to reach their next bus. The congestion caused by having dozens of full-sized buses and hundreds of people transferring buses at regular intervals throughout the day had been blamed for the lack of development in the 300 block of South Salina St.^[19]

Centro chose the current site of the Hub in 2006 and plans were approved by theFederal Transit Administration in November 2008. The design team included Centro, QPK Design, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Robson Woese Inc., and Fisher Associates. Construction began in 2011 and the facility opened on September 4, 2012. The facility offers twenty-two covered bus bays, covered outdoor seating, and an indoor lobby with seating, public restrooms, information booth and ticket vending machines.^[20]

TheWilliam F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center is the long-distance ground travel (rail and bus) terminal serving the Syracuse area, located at 1 Walsh Circle. The RTC is operated by Centro subsidiary Intermodal Transportation Center, Inc.^[8] The transportation center is served by many local bus routes and provides connections toAmtrak,Greyhound,Megabus andTrailways of New York.

The Centro Transit Hub in Utica, located at 15 Elizabeth St, replaced the original Busy Corner transfer location located at the intersection of Genesee, Bleecker and Lafayette Streets.^[21]

The transfer point was moved one block east to Charlotte Street between Bleecker and Elizabeth Streets. This portion of Charlotte Street was closed and converted to a center island platform with nine bus bays and seating. A lobby with an enclosed waiting area, information booth, ticket vending machines and public restrooms was also constructed. The facility opened for service on February 4, 2013.

The Centro Transit Hub in Rome, located at 207 W Liberty St, replaced the original transfer location located at the Liberty-George parking garage.^[22] It is owned by the city of Rome and leased to Centro of Oneida.^[23] The Liberty-George parking structure was deemed structurally unsound and demolished in 2019,^[24] with Centro pre-emptively moving to a temporary location in 2018. The new, permanent facility offers an enclosed waiting area and information booth and opened on November 2, 2020.^[8]

• Capital District Transportation Authority -Capital District, New York
• Metropolitan Transportation Authority -New York Metropolitan Area
• New York State Thruway Authority
• Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority -Buffalo, New York
• Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority -Rochester, New York
• List of bus routes in Onondaga County, New York
• Port of Oswego Authority

Wikimedia Commons has media related toCentral New York Regional Transportation Authority.

• Official CENTRO website
• BusTalk Surface Transportation Galleries - Centro bus photos
• "Centro will use $2.65M from feds to help buy buses from Whitestown",Rome Sentinel, March 6, 2009. Retrieved on 3 October 2009.
• New York Streets Webcams

• Bus transportation in New York (state)
• Transportation in Syracuse, New York
• Railroads in Syracuse, New York
• Public benefit corporations in New York (state)
• Government agencies established in 1970
• Central New York
• Companies based in Syracuse, New York
• 1970 establishments in New York (state)
• Transportation in Rome, New York

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from December 2017
• Commons category link from Wikidata