FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Clevelanders for Public Transit Hosting “Heal the HealthLine” Event Tonight
Ride-along with City Council, RTA Board to Discuss Bus Rapid Transit Issues
Tonight, at 5:00 PM Clevelanders for Public Transit will host a ride-along on RTA’s Healthline from Public Square, followed by discussion about the benefits and challenges of bus rapid transit (BRT) at ABC Uptown, 11434 Uptown Ave. The HealthLine will depart Public Square at 5:20 PM followed by HealthLine panel at 6:00 PM at ABC Uptown. Members of Cleveland City Council and the RTA Board will be in attendance.
Riders have raised concerns about the long travel times and challenges with signal-priority on the HealthLine since 2010. Delays have worsened after a 2017 Cleveland Municipal Court ruling that found RTA police enforcement practices were unconstitutional, ending proof-of-payment fare collection. As a result, ridership on the HealthLine has dropped over 25%. In fact, 2018 was the first year HealthLine ridership has dropped below 4 million. The delays also add significant operating costs to RTA, overall making the system less efficient.
“I used to take the Healthline to work daily and the change in fare collection has resulted in delays and a negative user experience,” says CPT member Julianne Roseman. “Riders board specially designed buses, generally on the left side, and now have to cram their way to the front to the driver to show proof of payment. Sometimes the bus waits until every person’s fare has been validated, but other times, the bus starts moving and passengers are at risk of falling while trying to navigate to a seat. It’s a mess.”
The HealthLine has been widely touted as a valuable infrastructure project, both for the economic development along Euclid Avenue as well as time savings over the previous bus route. The HealthLine is advertised as taking only 28 minutes between Public Square and Stokes Windermere Station due to improvements like transit signal priority, proof-of-payment and all-door boarding. With the removal of proof-of-payment and inadequate signal priority, HealthLine trips take up to 45 minutes, the same amount of time or longer than the previous bus route.
Clevelanders for Public Transit is hosting the Heal the HealthLine ride-along and discussion with the City of Cleveland and RTA to begin to work towards restoring equitable and constitutional proof-of-payment fare collection and improved signal priority on the HealthLine. The importance of public transit in Cuyahoga County and additional ways to improve it will also be discussed.
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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. For more information, visit clefortransit.org or find us on Facebook or Twitter.