Press Release: Mobility-Focused Organizations Announce Policy Priorities & Recommendations for Cuyahoga County

A coalition of mobility-focused organizations in Cleveland released a set of policy recommendations for the new administration in Cuyahoga County (below & attached). Bike Cleveland, Clevelanders for Public Transit (CPT), ADA Cleveland, Maximum Accessible Housing (MAHO), Youth Challenge, and Northern Ohioans for Budget Legislation Equality (NOBLE) submitted their priorities and recommendations to the new administration on Thursday, January 5th. The recommendations include policies related to land use, public space, funding for alternative transportation, and administrative changes.

“High-quality, safe, accessible, and connected transportation keeps our county running whether it’s a CMSD student walking to school, a downtown retail employee taking the Healthline to get to their job, or a wheelchair user riding paratransit to get to a doctor’s appointment. Mobility is critical to a healthy Cuyahoga and we look forward to working with the new administration to get it right,” says Jenna Thomas, Advocacy & Policy Manager at Bike Cleveland.

In a county where 12% of residents do not have access to a private vehicle, and even more households are sharing one car, other modes of transportation must be affordable, reliable, and safe.

“As we enter a #NewCuyahoga, we know that public transit has been neglected for too long. Cuyahoga County residents have lost more than 30% of bus and train service in the last twenty years while fares have doubled. Clevelanders for Public Transit is hopeful that County Executive Ronayne fulfills his campaign promise to prioritize the needs of transit riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and anyone not traveling in a single-occupancy vehicle.” says Chris Martin, Chair of Clevelanders for Public Transit.

The coalition looks forward to working with the new county executive and his leadership team to advance these important mobility and transportation priorities.

PEDESTRIAN, BICYCLIST, AND TRANSIT RIDER POLICY PLATFORM OBJECTIVES

• Collaborate meaningfully with municipalities to improve street safety, prioritize complete streets, and connect our county.

• Collaborate meaningfully with municipalities to reduce the impact of building and street construction on pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access.

• Prioritize multi-modal transportation options in an effort to broaden access to the places where people live, work, and play.

• Streamline county departments, transportation, planning, and economic/community development functions in order to both improve internal coordination and decision-making on transportation investments, and optimize benefits to health, equity, economic, and climate justice.

• Working with GCRTA and other regional transit authorities, institute a program to distribute discounted or free EZfare passes for low- and no-income county residents.

• Embed equity, access, carbon reductions, safety, health, and connectivity in planning related to active transportation and transit to ensure economic opportunity.

• Working with GCRTA, support county residents with physical disabilities by increasing frequent public transit service, thus reducing time spent waiting at stops, and adding more accessible seating to transit vehicles.

• Working with GCRTA and local disability advocates to improve paratransit responsiveness, coverage, & customer service; and reduce the reliance on third party contractors to provide rides to disabled residents.

• Encourage local municipalities to improve bus stop accessibility, so those with mobility aids can travel easily. Stops separated from the street by tree lawns, or without a curb ramp, should be prioritized to be moved. Shelters not large enough to accommodate mobility aids should be prioritized to be replaced.

• Create a work environment for county employees that incentivizes biking, walking, and taking transit to work.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Administrative

• Create a Department of Mobility to ensure that all transportation options are incorporated into future plans and roadway designs and to improve design outcomes across the county.

• Appoint public transit riders to the GCRTA Board of Trustees.

• Working with GCRTA, ensure that Paratransit has an ADA-compliant website and app to make it easier for users to schedule rides. Reinstate the ability to schedule rides up to a week in advance, rather than the current three-day window.

• Conduct health impact assessments of publicly-funded infrastructure projects, prior to finalizing, so the community and developers can fully understand the implications of economic and community development efforts and ensure any negative impacts from proposed projects are addressed, mitigated and/or creatively resolved.

• Support the City of Cleveland in its goals to eliminate traffic deaths by 2032 through its Vision Zero commitment and encourage other municipalities to incorporate similar safe systems approaches to street safety.

Funding

• Use federal dollars including ARPA & Infrastructure dollars to create an active transportation fund and continue to implement projects identified in the Cuyahoga Greenways Plan.

• Identify new, permanent funding to expand public transit service throughout Cuyahoga County, which could include a special tax on parking lots.

• Require roadway projects using county funds to incorporate complete streets elements when appropriate and offer educational opportunities for municipalities on the benefits of complete streets.

• Working with state and local transportation advocates, educate Cuyahoga County’s delegation to the Ohio Statehouse and US Congress to advocate for more funding for public transit and active transportation networks in the State Transportation Budget, as well as federal appropriations.

Land Use & Public Space

• Require roadway and building construction projects using county funds to avoid sidewalk, bike lane, and transit stop closures to ensure continued access. When closures are unavoidable, work with municipalities to improve alternate routes for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users.

• Work with municipalities to install complete streets on county and local roads. This includes ongoing educational opportunities for municipalities on the benefits of complete streets.

• Work with the City of Cleveland, GCRTA, and other municipalities to implement the zoning and land-use recommendations that come out of the Transit Oriented Development Zoning Study

• Coordinating with GCRTA and local municipalities, invest in improving bus stops countywide with heated shelters, real-time signage, maps, trash cans, and public bathrooms.

• Continue to support the expansion of a shared mobility program and parking hubs to encourage active transportation and an expanded countywide bike, scooter/micromobility program.