GREATER CLEVELAND RTA MUST MAKE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS TO NEW TRANSIT LINES
Riders call for major upgrades to future bus rapid transit projects at community open house tonight
Cleveland, OH
Today, June 27th, at 5:30pm at the PIVOT Center, 2937 W. 25th St, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) will host a Community Open House for a new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line to improve transit service on West 25th Street.
Clevelanders for Public Transit (CPT) is calling on GCRTA to make significant improvements for future BRT lines, not just on West 25th, but throughout Cuyahoga County. Riders are encouraged to attend and speak out about the importance of high-quality BRT transit service.
The West 25th line is the first in a series of plans to improve bus service for thousands of riders that rely on GCRTA daily to get to work, school, healthcare, and other important destinations throughout the community.
Other corridors that have secured funds for planning include Broadway and Lorain Avenues. GCRTA designated a total of 16 corridors as “priority” corridors in their 2020 strategic plan, and those routes could see improvements in the future (see map linked or below).
“Too often, transit projects are watered down and do not result in major changes that actually improve service and grow ridership” says rider and transit advocate Jenna Thomas.
Instead, CPT is calling on GCRTA to ‘go for the gold’ and implement major improvements that achieve a “gold” rating from the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) BRT scorecard, a rating system used worldwide.
According to the ITDP BRT scorecard, all BRT lines (not just gold) should include off-board fare collection to speed up service and platform-level boarding.
Infrequent service, slow speeds, overcrowding, lack of enforcement of the right-of-way for bus priority, and long signal cycles are penalized under the BRT standard.
CPT calls on GCRTA to make fast, frequent service standards for all BRT projects, including West 25th Street.
More information about the BRT Standard and a link to the full 2024 BRT Scorecard are available from ITDP’s site: https://itdp.org/publication/the-brt-standard/
“Picture taking the Red Line train or a subway. Large vehicles are used, multiple doors open, everyone gets on, doors close and the vehicle moves quickly and arrives frequently. This is what BRT in Cleveland should be” said Thomas.
Of note, off-board fare collection has been removed from the HealthLine on Euclid Avenue after a 2017 court decision found that fare enforcement by transit police was unconstitutional. CPT has called on GCRTA to ‘heal the HealthLine’ and restore off-board fare payment to speed up service by using civilian transit ambassadors, which is in line with the court decision.
At a CPT event in 2019, current Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb pledged to ‘heal the HealthLine’ stating that “a more efficient fare enforcement policy that doesn’t undermine the rider experience” was needed, but little action has been taken since that time.
In the past 20 years, fares have doubled while GCRTA service has been reduced by 30%. Riders are tired of waiting years for transit improvements. There is no better time than now to reduce the transit death spiral by ‘going for the gold’ with major BRT improvements throughout Cuyahoga County to improve service and grow ridership.
[Video for media use: CPT member Adam Bresnahan speaks on the importance of meaningful Bus Rapid Transit improvements at the GCRTA board meeting on Tuesday, June 25th. Comment starts 32 minutes in:]
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Clevelanders for Public Transit is a riders organization that builds power for affordable, accessible and equitable public transit in Northeast Ohio. CPT’s policy platform, Ending the Transit Death Spiral, was released in 2021. For more information, visit clefortransit.org.