As a department of the City of Rapid City, Rapid Transit System (RTS) offers fixed route bus service and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) complementary paratransit within city limits. Fixed-route service has been branded as Rapid Ride and paratransit as Dial-a-Ride. In 2019, Rapid Ride provided more than 400,000 passenger trips and Dial-a-Ride approximately 78,000 trips, using a fleet of 37 buses. Since the initiation of the Youth Ride Free Campaign in 2016, a substantial number of trips have served youth under 18 – amounting to more than 340,000 in total.
RTS and the Rapid City Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (RCAMPO) developed this Transit Development Plan (TDP) to provide strategic guidance for a sustainable transit system to serve the community. The TDP will also serve as the basis for the transit element of the regional transportation plan.