MEDIA ADVISORY: Fare Enforcement by RTA Transit Police Ruled Unconstitutional. Virtual Town Hall will focus on alternatives to over-policing of transit riders.

MEDIA ADVISORY

In October, 2017, fare enforcement by transit police was ruled unconstitutional. This has caused delays and ridership to plunge on RTA’s HealthLine, once viewed as the best Bus Rapid Transit system in the nation.

On Thursday, October 29 at 6 p.m. Clevelanders for Public Transit and Black Spring CLE will host an online event commemorating the ruling and what needs to be done to “Heal the HealthLine.”

WHO: Clevelanders for Public Transit and Black Spring CLE
WHAT: Virtual Town Hall
WHEN: Thursday, October 29 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Online via Zoom – Register here

Three years ago, Cleveland Municipal Judge Groves ruled onboard fare enforcement by armed GCRTA police officers unconstitutional. She ordered GCRTA to cease using armed transit police to check fares without reasonable suspicion of fare evasion and offered the transit agency a better solution: non-law enforcement civilian transit ambassadors to act as a buffer between passengers and police. Clevelanders for Public Transit began calling for transit ambassadors as of the February 2018 publication of CPT’s Fair Fares Platform.

Over the past 15 years, fares have doubled while RTA service has been cut over 25%. During this same time the transit police budget has doubled, ballooning to $14 million per year. Following Judge Groves’ ruling, RTA transit police stopped checking fares onboard buses and trains, resulting in fare evasion citations dropping from over 3,300 cases in 2012 to 259 cases in 2018. And yet, GCRTA’s budget for transit police has continued to grow.

Clevelanders for Public Transit and Black Spring CLE will be discussing the history of transit police in Cleveland and how to make transit better by utilizing transit ambassadors, decriminalizing fare evasion, and reallocating funds towards increased service and more affordable fares. Riders will share their own stories about encounters with transit police. CPT and BSC also invite GCRTA staff and board members to attend.

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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

Black Spring CLE is a Black led abolitionist organization seeking to re-imagine the definition of public health and safety in Cleveland. For more information, visit blackspringcle.com