Service cuts are likely coming to mass transit in Cleveland. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is considering which buses, trains and trolleys will be affected by efforts to secure $11.2 million in cost-savings for its 2026 budget.
The budget, presented to the GCRTA Committee of the Whole Wednesday, proposes reducing 56 vacant positions, reducing overtime, restructuring business functions across GCRTA departments, implementing a hiring freeze and service cuts.
The transit authority attributes the budget constraints to rising healthcare costs, along with increases in contractual wages, service contracts, and maintenance contracts, according to the budget proposal.
GCRTA announced a termination of Wi-Fi services on trains, buses and trolleys Tuesday to assist in cost reduction efforts.
Wi-Fi service will be discontinued on December 19, but Wi-Fi connectivity will remain at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center along with the Cedar University, Tower City, East 55th Street, Louis Stokes/Windermere and East 79th Street stations.
But concerns remain for transit advocates over the impact of possible service cuts. Rather than risking a disruption of mobility in the region, Chris Martin with Clevelanders for Public Transit said GCRTA should be working to restore service.
"Folks rely on transit to get to work, to get to school, to get to the doctor's office, to buy groceries, to just see family and friends," Martin said. "So, any reduction in service, any reduction in the ability for people to go about living their lives is devastating."
To avoid reducing service, the agency should consider bringing a tax levy to the table to generate revenue, Martin said, or work with other municipal and county resources to offset costs.
Staff is working to identify where cuts will be necessary, GCRTA CEO India Birdsong Terry said, but the transit authority doesn't yet have specifics on routes and locations.
"Decisions made on service cuts...we are not there yet," Birdsong Terry said at a committee meeting Tuesday. "We're doing the background work now. We would be approaching, probably, summer somewhere between June and August of '26 to be able to realize those cuts."
Birdsong Terry previously said they would bring a service cut plan to the public for input after review by the board.
The board votes on its proposed budget December 16.
