We are so fortunate to have service of this caliber in a small city like Ithaca/Tompkins. You can essentially get anywhere in Tompkins County by bus. Service is very impressively on-time. (Complainers: You can use real time tracking to find out where your bus is, btw.) Drivers are kind, safety-trained, and professional, including being kind in the face of verbal abuse. Rides are stunningly inexpensive, in spite of rising gas prices. (That's why I ride.) Fare hasn't changed in at least 15 years. Many options for paying, including cash, credit card and phone. My favorite aspect, though, is the TCAT organization is exceedingly social justice-minded. If someone doesn't have their fare, drivers let them go. TCAT is very concerned with allowing underserved and marginalized (carless) residents to have the dignity of transportation which allows them to live a decent life. They base routes on ridership data and community needs. I ride the bus daily to way outside the city, so I see the community of friendship on these buses. *TCAT deserves huge props for service that's difficult, thankless, and costly to provide.* read more

One of the absolute WORST bus services I have EVER had to deal with in my ENTIRE life. The drivers are nice, but by god the schedules are NEVER adhered to, with most busses being at LEAST 10 mins late nearly every time, and many times just straight up not coming at all. Absolutely fucking pitiful. read more

Replace rt 15 drivers with people who actually r on time I had to miss a day of work cuz rt 15 choose to be not only an hour late but and hour and 41 minutes late. Thxz for nothing rt 15. If they ain't gonna be on time get rid of it! I hate being late and I hate wasting my money on rides for this! So not worth bus passes read more

The rt 43 is horrible always late the when u call dispatch they listen to what u say but nothing gets done. I don't give a start because the problem never fixed I have had the bus pull up to green with different rt number on and leave so had to waite for next 43 to get home......after a hard day at work tcat needs to get it together alot of people use tcat to get to and from work because they have no car read more

Hands down one of the worst public transportation systems I have ever had to use. People who live anywhere outside of the downtown area need to pack it home early, especially on Sundays. For example, no buses run out to my area in Lansing after 6 pm, even though it's literally a five minute drive from downtown. This makes it difficult for people who have to work. It seems geared only towards college kids, not servicing the people who actually live here. Yes, the buses are clean and safe, but that should be expected for a system operating in such a small area. This isn't NYC, after all. But the schedules at the best of times are just ok, and it seems as though they change their schedules on a whim. If you have to depend on using the bus, this is not going to make you happy. read more

Do these bus drivers even know how to smile? I sometimes take the 10 route in the mornings from University/Stewart and get this old white-haired guy with a chip on his shoulder. Even when I say good morning and thank you, this guy is stone cold and gives attitude if your ID card doesn't swipe right. One time he didn't let me on because the bus was full, even though the back was spread out and the biggest girl on campus had just gotten off at the stop. It's sad that he's not the only disgruntled driver, though the younger ones seem friendlier. In addition to learning some proper manners, TCRAP could beef up their technology a bit. They have a decent website, but who gives a crap? How about adding something useful, like GPS to the buses with a mobile app that tells you when the next bus comes? I bet in three years this still won't happen here. I think they know that when it's sub-zero outside you're probably gonna take the bus regardless of friendliness. read more

TCAT - Public Transportation Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I would like to express my gratitude to the driver of route 32. On March 8th, I took Route 32 at around 23:00 from College@Mitchell to Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport. After got onto the bus, the driver said although I was on the right bus, it was not going to the airport at that time. However, he could take me there. I asked him a few more questions and he also answered very patiently and friendly. After everyone else got out of the bus, the driver still drove me to the entrance of the airport and cordially instructed me of where to get in. I took the TCAT bus every day to school and a​lways enjoy the enthusiastic service of the drivers. This late night trip to the airport was a memorable experience and I truly appreciate it. I would definitely recommend TCAT over other transportation to my friends for the outstanding and exceptional service! read more

I love TCAT! It gets me to where I need in Ithaca, and also has reliable vehicles on my commuter. I don't use TCAT on weekends though, because they limit service so much. On the weekdays, I take route 40, but on Weekends, I take the 74, and it just gets me to Ithaca Mall, which means I need to take a 70 down to downtown Ithaca. I feel like they should improve their weekend service quite a bit. I also feel that some routes are not necessary, like the 8:30 route 13 trip to stewart park, and the 5:10 40 leaving from Ithaca should use a mini bus because it isn't popular. Other than that, they have great service. TCAT overall is great, but they do have some room for improvement. read more

TCAT - Public Transportation Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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Clean and reliable, always on time, except for the first week of each semester. Their service is really better than a lot of big cities! read more

I feel TCAT is a very good bus system. The buses are safe, clean, and generally on-time, which covers most of the important basics. It would seem the majority of the drivers are courteous and skillful, however it can be a little hit-or-miss. EG: If riders are being thrown around the back of the bus or having to brace themselves frequently from short-stopping, the driver is doing it wrong. And the reality for TCAT as a company is that driving a bus is also a customer service position. Sadly, however, getting a helpful driver is sometimes a roll of the dice, and that tells me this aspect of the job may be lacking in the training. When a passenger is travelling to a new destination, they may need help understanding the route, and while some drivers are helpful, others will act as though you are bothering them by asking questions, even if the bus is stopped at the curb. Who else does TCAT think travellers are going to ask? Presumably the driver should know something about the route they are driving down. I recently had one driver give me patently false information. When I asked if he was going to go down the street I needed to travel to, he said no. When I double-checked somewhat dubiously, he still said no. And as soon as I got off the bus, he proceeded to turn down the very street that I had just asked him about by name. I was amazed, and shaking my head, as I was forced to walk an unnecessary half mile added onto my already long day. The take-away is, if you're unfamiliar with a route, you cannot depend on the driver to help you. Do as much homework as you can ahead of time, and always thank the drivers, no matter what. PS: I will second another Yelper's comments that in this day and age, it would be fantastic to have a TCAT app that used GPS to show on a map the current location of your bus and an estimated time of arrival at a specific stop. I'd pay extra for such a convenience! read more

On March 10th at 5:10pm, I was at the Risley stop. The bus #30 (driver claimed his number as 417) coming from downtown was already 15 minutes late. The bus came, two people got down but the driver refused to let me in claiming shortage of space. It was raining so I was forced to rely on the bus to go home. The bus #32 came behind. I took the bus to get into the triphammer and hanshaw road intersection. I told the driver of 32 to tell 30's driver to stop, which was just in the other side of the street. We shouted, showed signs but he refused to stop as well. I waited for another 15 minutes for the next #30. I reported this to the Mayor as well. TCAT - Please stop treating passengers like animals. We are not riding for free. We are paying the fare. read more

While I usually have a pleasant experience on the TCAT, tonight I experienced disappointing service. They offer students free rides after 6PM, but when I boarded the bus, I was was rejected the free fare. I do not have a loaded card so I had to get off of the bus. read more

Pretty good most of the time. Most of the drivers are awesome but a few are surly and some are just jerks. Some of the drivers seem conflicted. In Cornell parking lots most drivers will stop and pick you up or wait for you if they see you running for the bus when they are about to leave the bus shelter, or if they have already started moving but are still in the parking lot. A few of the nasty ones will actually hurry up and leave before you get a chance to get to the bus shelter - unless you're one of the passengers they like to chat with while ignoring the road. TCAT will tell you that for safety reasons it's their policy to only stop at bus shelters on the Cornell campus, so I guess they think that gives them the right to be discriminatory. But come on, we're talking about a parking lot - not merging into traffic. This is not a safety issue and most of the drivers understand that and will stop and pick you up. It's not like we're in some big metropolis where there's a ton of traffic and a small delay will throw off the schedule. The buses that service the big Cornell parking lots have a 3 minute delay built in (they wait for at least 3 minutes at the parking lot when running on time - often they are there 5 minutes early), so it's not like the extra 15 seconds it takes to pick you up will make a difference. If TCAT could sideline some of the bad drivers and have a fixed policy of leniency in the parking lot (which is not a safety situation) they would get 5 stars. ----- 2/20/15 - downgrading to two stars because TCAT will not be bothered to answer concerns presented to them via email. read more

I depend upon the TCAT bus system when I am in Ithaca for work. The drivers are friendly, the buses are clean and 99% of the time the buses are on time. The Tcard is great and hope that other regional bus systems take a hint from TCAT on how to properly run a bus line. read more

Consistently late. Sometimes buses never come. The online TCAT ride trip planner is never accurate and a bus ride that was supposed to take ten minutes took twice that time. read more

TCAT is a decent bus system given the size of Ithaca, however, there are some improvements that could be made. The rural weekend routes make no sense whatsoever, and they are near impossible to use. I sometimes take the Route 74, which seems to be rerouted every other week-- sometimes the driver goes one way through the Sapsucker Woods neighborhood, the next time he goes the other way. It's impossible to figure out which side of the street to pick it up, and the online schedule is screwed up due to a summer detour, so one never knows when to be at the bus stop. In addition, the buses only run 3 times a day, at extremely inconvenient times, so if you miss the bus, you either have to forget Saturday's plans or call a cab. Note to Ithaca Newbies: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER use the trip planner. It doesn't give you half the viable options that exist to get to where you need to go since it is built to avoid transferring at the expense of quicker trips. Learn which routes go where, and then use the smartphone app instead. It is much more reliable. Some of the old buses in the 100-200 series are a real bear to ride, and I caution everyone to bring headache pills on their trip in case they get stuck riding the replica streetcar. All in all, however, this is a great system that has been amassing crazy levels of ridership for a town Ithaca's size-- the majority of the drivers are pretty nice and there are some really useful lines (30,13,31,37,10). As long as you don't live in a rural area, and aren't trying to get home after 7:00, you'll be fine no matter what. If you're a Cornell Student, your options are pretty much unlimited as far as where you can go. read more

Pretty decent bus system. Several crazy drivers, but many of them are quite friendly. The buses are very clean, and there are some very useful lines (30, 10). read more

Last Thursday, April 25, I got on the # 13 to go to Lake St. near Boynton. I was carrying heavy groceries (having shopped after working late) and an inflamed tendon was causing me a lot of pain. I hadn't known that the # 13 that leaves at 7:00 pm goes only as far as Aldi's. There was also another person on that bus who was a bit compromised. He also did not know that the 7:00 pm bus had a shorter route. In any case, when the driver, Jacob (Jake) learned that neither one of us had known about the shorter route of the 7:00 pm # 13, he nevertheless took both of us all the way to the stops that we needed. This was exceptionally kind and gracious of him, and I hope he is valued by the TCAT management. His behavior is the sort of thing one hopes for in a small town but does not always see. read more

The TCAT makes it easy to get around Ithaca without a car! Since I am a Cornell Freshman, I have a free bus pass, and I am enjoying it! I am a frequent rider on the 30, 70, and 15. The buses are not always on time, and I have waited in the freezing cold for at least 20-30 minutes with no buses passing on several occasions, but that is all part of the experience, haha. The bus drivers are friendly overall, and some are so nice that they let you pack in like sardines on the weekend when every Cornell kid goes to the mall because there is nothing else to do in Ithaca, so you don't have to wait for the next bus for 30 minutes! Initially, being from the SFV of Los Angeles, I was surprised at the crazy driving of bus drivers and the routes that loop through residential areas. Then, I considered that Ithaca is rural and most of the streets are residential, and there are few main streets. So that makes sense. Still can't understand the crazy drivers, but I have gotten to my destination safely every time =) read more