CLEVELAND — Greater Cleveland RTA is pausing planned service cuts after riders turned out in force at public meetings to share how much they depend on the transit system.
CEO India Birdsong Terry said dozens of people attended public meetings in August to push back against a second round of proposed cuts, and their stories changed the system's approach to closing its budget gap.
"We heard from mothers who take the system to take their kids to daycare," she said. "I have two little ones myself; I understand that. It's, it's a tough road when you don't have the transportation there. We had folks that depend on getting to their jobs. In this economy, no one can afford to lose work."
The second round of cuts would have reduced service frequency on 5 routes and eliminated Route 35 entirely.
RTA had already made service cuts earlier this year. In April, the transit system announced cuts to several bus routes and suspended the Waterfront Line route. The Downtown B-Line Trolley was discontinued in August.
After hearing from riders, Birdsong Terry said RTA turned its focus inward and found ways to cut costs at the administrative level. Those measures included freezing some positions, leaving others unfilled, reducing paper use in the office and cutting employees' healthcare benefits.
Birdsong Terry said those reductions, combined with an increase in revenue from RTA's sales tax, should keep the budget steady for the next several months.
"The last thing we want to do is disenfranchise our customers," she said. So, I did make the decision to accept the staff's recommendation as long as we can absorb that impact for the next 8, 9, 10 months."
That timeline leads up to when Greater Cleveland RTA plans to ask voters to approve a sales tax increase for the transit service. According to RTA, the system is currently funded by a 1% sales tax established in 1975. Birdsong Terry said a successful increase would bring back some previously cut routes and increase the frequency of others. RTA is still determining the size of the increase it will seek, which could range between a quarter and half of a percent.
Jenna Thomas with Clevelanders for Public Transit said her group supports both the pause on cuts and the proposed sales tax increase.
"I also think it's important to understand that RTA has not gone to the voters for over 50 years asking for funding," she said. "Given the financial climate of the state not providing funding for operations and a lack of federal funds, there aren't many options here for how we fund public transit."
