The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority turns 40 years old today. It began Cleveland Transit merged with a half dozen suburban bus or rail lines.
Federal money helped it happen but the RTA is again facing a money crunch. Ideastream’s Mark Urycki reports
In 1968 Cleveland was the first city in the Western Hemisphere to offer rapid transit to its airport. But in order to stabilize its public transportation funding it formed a regional system supported by the county sales tax.
Norm Krumholz was director of the Cleveland Planning Commission when RTA opened for business in 1975. The now college professor says funding is tight again because state and federal subsidies are too low – especially at a time when there’s greater demand from young people.
"Like 1/3 of all the people in the city of Cleveland don’t have access to an automobile. They depend on public transportation for their whole mobility around the metropolitan area. So cities absolutely desperately need public transit."
Today officials at the RTA say they need $150 million dollars to repair aging tracks and rail cars. RTA survives on fares and the county sales tax, serving about 200 thousand riders each weekday.
This summer, ODOT released a report saying Ohio needs to double the amount it spends on public transit so the state can “retain and attract young people.”
mark.urycki@ideastream.org