By JAY MILLER (from Crain's Cleveland Business)
1:16 pm, July 18, 2008
Fares will rise and transit service in Cuyahoga County will be cut sharply under a proposal released by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
Without the cuts and fare boost, RTA says it could face a $20 million deficit in 2009, largely because of the rising cost of diesel fuel.
The plan suggests tacking a fuel surcharge of between 25 cents and 50 cents onto fares.
It also eliminates 12 bus lines and 12 neighborhood circulators, and it cuts service on 21 bus routes. RTA also intends to discontinue service on the Waterfront rapid transit line except for rush hours and special events such as Cleveland Browns football games.
Before making a final decision on the cuts, RTA will hold five public meetings during the week of Aug. 4 to hear public comments about the changes. RTA hopes to be able to implement the changes in October.
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5 comments:
Bummed about this...but not surprised.
I moved nearly exclusively to public transportation to and from work (from Lakewood to Beachwood) in mid-May.
I will still save money by continuing to ride RTA...but at a time when biz is up for them, the fare hike is really ill-advised.
There are still no stops on the West Bank of the Flats even though there are more than 1,000 people living here.
Most of the people would probably embrace mass transit.
It's not just RTA's fault - public transit is poorly funded in Ohio. If you are going to be seriously affected by these (and potential future) service cuts and rate hikes, write to your state legislators and ask them to increase state funding for public transit:
Ohio House of Representatives
Ohio Senate
http://www.jointheride.com/
Gas goes up, state funding goes down, this is what happens. Read the info on the link - also can be found via RTA's homepage - www.riderta.com
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