CPT December Update: Fare Equity and East Cleveland This Saturday.

Posted on by clefortransit@gmail.com

Join us SATURDAY in East Cleveland.

Join CPT for our December Membership meeting at the East Cleveland Public Library Auditorium, 14101 Euclid Ave. Just a short walk from the Red Line, HeathLine, and many bus routes that serve Windermere.
Set-up and grab coffee and bagels from 10:00-10:30 am.
Meeting starts at 10:30 am.
Did you know you become a voting member of Clevelanders for Public Transit free just by attending our membership meetings?

We need you to join us to win better transit!

See you there!

 

System Redesign Findings to be Present at RTA Board Meeting 12/17 at 9am. Can you make it?

The final findings of the RTA’s Transit System Redesign will be presented next Tuesday, 12/17 at 9am at RTA HQ, 1240 West 6th Street. Public comment is welcome. If you support the system redesign please plan to attend this meeting.

RTA conducted 3 rounds of online surveys and meetings over the last year. The last round of surveys showed what RTA service could look like with a network focused slightly more on ridership (running high ridership routes more often) without losing a lot of coverage (area with access to RTA).

Currently the system redesign is just a study. RTA should adapt the redesign in 2020, to increase ridership and start to reverse the transit death spiral.

More information on the redesign on our website here.

 

Fare Equity Study Results Released.
Many Recommendations In Line with CPT’s Fair Fares Platform.

In February 2018, CPT released our Fair Fares Platform. Since that time, RTA agreed to conduct a fare equity study and surveys over the past year. Unlike the system redesign, surveys were done with riders directly and online.

In response to initial findings, this summer CPT released a statement calling on RTA to move to a new fare system and implement fare capping.

Now the study has been completed and continues to echo our Fair Fares platform, recommending reducing the price of all-day passes and fare-capping as part of a next-gen fare collection system.

Findings include:
-Over half of trips taken by low-income riders are over paying due to lack of monthly or weekly pass.
-The Park & Ride surcharges adds complexity to fares without raising significant revenue
-Most transit agencies charge the maximum allowable for Paratransit (twice the base fare) and do not provide passes
-Aging fare equipment will be increasingly expensive to maintain and does not meet the needs of GCRTA’s future
Recommendations include:
-Reducing the cost of an all-day pass to $5
-Implement reduced price transfers with smartcard stored value
-Fare Capping (i.e. once you pay for a weekly or monthly)

-Raise Park and Ride Surcharge
-Adjust Paratransit Fares
-Regional Multi‐modal Accounts

Link the the full presentation here.

 

What is fare capping? Fares would be capped at weekly and monthly levels, ensuring that riders always get the best value regardless of ability to pay upfront.

Fare-capping automatically provides a pass after riders buy enough trips to make a pass the best value. For example, a rider may pay $2.50 for their initial ride and $2.50 for the next ride. Instead of being charged $2.50 for the third ride, fare-capping would cap the cost of the third ride at the cost of an all-day pass.
Fares would also be capped at weekly and monthly levels, ensuring that riders always get the best value regardless of ability to pay upfront.

Help us make system redesign and fare capping a reality. Join CPT this Saturday and attend the RTA board meeting next week!