RTA staff are cleaning vehicles, and the agency is encouraging passengers to enter buses from the front doors and exit through the back, Birdsong said. RTA does not plan to pause fares, a spokeswoman said Monday. The group also asked RTA to consider suspending fare collections - something other transit agencies, including some in Ohio, have done to reduce contact between operators and passengers. The advocacy group Clevelanders for Public Transit has similarly called for increased transit funding during the crisis. The Red Line Greenway links the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail Lake Link to two RTA Red Line Rapid Transit stations, and provides a primary commuting. “And so I want to make sure we’re getting out ahead of the curve and have a really good plan to come out of this crisis well-positioned for the future.” “The region and the city can’t thrive without vibrant public transit, and we’re taking a huge financial hit,” Bibb said. Think of the benefits Clevelanders could see by morphing GCRTA’s low-ridership light-rail Waterfront Line from dead-ending in a windswept, out-of-the-way parking lot into a fully functional and convenient Downtown Loop that serves more of. RTA officials may be able to make projections in mid-to-late-April when the state releases data, he said.īoard member Justin Bibb asked for a “coordinated lobbying effort” at all levels of government to ensure public transit receives funding after the pandemic. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authoritys Flats East Bank Station in Downtown Cleveland (AAO). It’s too early to estimate how far sales tax revenues will fall, Gautam said. Sales tax collections account for 76 percent of RTA’s general operating dollars, and the coronavirus-related decline in ridership is financial blow to a transit system already facing money problems. “We also will be gearing up to pare down service on bus and rail as needed in the coming days.”įare collections were already down about 30 percent for March, according to Deputy General Manager Rajan Gautam.īut the bigger financial hit could come from a drop in sales tax revenue as the shutdowns squeeze commerce. “We continue to have business as usual as much as we can,” Birdsong said.
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RTA already cut Park-N-Ride and Downtown trolley service and additional service cuts could be coming, she said.
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While transit remains “the veins of Cleveland,” RTA CEO India Birdsong told board members, the agency is cutting back on services because of low demand during the stay-at-home order. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority ridership fell 50 percent last week, Chief Operating Officer Floun’say Caver told board members Tuesday. But otherwise the city's presence is mostly implied.
#CLEVELAND RTA PLUS#
Bus and train ridership have plunged in Greater Cleveland as workers stay home to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) operates eight (8) bus routes, plus the Euclid Avenue Health Line (bus rapid transit) and the Red Line. The Cleveland skyline makes two early appearances we love that skyline, don't we Cleveland and Ambar can twice be seen riding an RTA bus.