Dayton-area voters can ride for free on Election Day: the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority will provide free rides systemwide on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to help residents reach polling locations for the general election, the RTA announced in its official release.
The free rides will be available on both RTA’s fixed-route buses and its paratransit services, the agency said, so riders who need door-to-door accessible service are covered the same way as regular bus riders.
The RTA said reliable transportation matters in helping residents exercise their right to vote, and that its Election Day program removes transportation cost as a barrier to reaching the polls. The agency has offered free rides for elections since 2018, according to the release.
Riders are encouraged to plan with the Transit app, the RTA’s official real-time information and trip-planning application for Android and Apple devices, to find the bus stop nearest their polling location. Riders without a smartphone can use the real-time information at iriderta.org, the agency said.
Montgomery County residents can find their assigned polling location through the Montgomery County Board of Elections’ lookup tool before they plan the trip — a useful step, because Election Day voting happens at assigned neighborhood locations, not at the board office.
What happens next: the free rides run all day Tuesday, November 3, while polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The RTA’s media contact for the program is Communications Manager Michael Everman at (937) 425-8374, according to the release.
The offer is systemwide rather than limited to routes serving polling places, the RTA said — any trip on a fixed-route bus on Tuesday is free, which also helps residents who work Election Day reach jobs, medical appointments and other destinations while the polls are open.
Free-fare election programs have become a pattern among Ohio transit agencies in recent cycles, and Dayton’s version is one of the longest-running: the RTA dates its election free rides to 2018, meaning Tuesday’s program continues a practice riders have been able to count on through several general elections, according to the agency.
Riders with questions can reach the RTA through its website and the Transit app for real-time departures on the day.
Photo: davidwilson1949, CC BY