CPT Supports RTA’s Recommendation to Provide Fare Relief;
Fare Relief Must Go Further to Bring Back Riders.
Cleveland, OH, August 25, 2020
Today, members of Clevelanders for Public Transit will provide testimony at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s Board of Trustees 9:00 AM online board meeting in support of lowering the cost of all-day passes to $5 and calling on the GCRTA Board to take stronger, more decisive measures to improve fare equity.
In the past 15 years, RTA has cut service by over 25% while fares have doubled. In early 2018, CPT responded with our Fair Fares platform, calling on RTA for fare relief, including reducing the price of all-day passes to $5. The interim results of the Fare Equity Study presented to the RTA Board nearly a year ago validated what riders already knew: many riders overpay for fares — especially riders who transfer.
Key issues identified in RTA’s Fare Equity Study include the high cost of transferring between routes and a high percentage of frequent riders who were paying more by buying individual fares or all-passes because of the upfront $95 cost of monthly passes.
CPT supports RTA’s efforts to provide fare relief to riders, but the proposal in its current form does not go far enough. CPT is calling for fare relief that will reverse the current death spiral that has led to record low ridership, even before COVID-19. Cleveland is one of the most expensive mid-sized cities in the nation for transit. Those that can afford monthly passes spend nearly 6% of their income on transit, while many low income riders spend an even higher percentage of their income on transit.
Over 15 years ago RTA instituted a fare structure that penalizes riders by eliminating transfers on one-way cash fares. Fares have doubled since then, including the 2016 fare increase which raised the cost of all-day passes to $5.50.
Although the proposal being presented by RTA staff to the Board of Trustees would roll back all-day passes to $5, it would also pre-approve an increase to many fares in October of 2021, including raising all-day passes back to $5.50, and paratransit all-day passes to $7.50 in 2021 and to $8 in 2022.
RTA riders have endured high fares with declining service for years, and deserve more than one year of fare relief. CPT is also calling on the Board of Trustees to reduce all fares across the board so as to align them with the level and quality of service RTA provides, restore ridership and generate public support for the agency.
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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.