Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Sure.

So, I mean, partnering with the Greater Cleveland RTA, you know, we had conversations to make sure that our residents were, were capped.

So, so daily passes are capped at $5.00. And so also for our senior community and disabled residents, it's capped at $2.50. Um, and so we, uh, uh, understand that that can still be a stretch for many of our residents.

And so having open dialogue with RTA, also being a part of their strategic planning process, is us also serving as a great partner in helping to also gather resident feedback.

So this is really about making it easier to build neighborhoods where people can live, work, and shop, and get around without having to jump in their cars for everything.

There are five major agencies, including Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, and RTA.

They're teaming up, uh, on an initiative called Cuyahoga TOD, which stands for Transit Oriented Development, and the problem they're trying to solve was identified in a 2021 study that found that just 5.5% of land along our bus and rail corridors is actually zoned for walkable mixed-use development.

So even when a developer wants to build apartments, shops, restaurants near public transit, local zoning rules can make that very difficult for them.

People, people aren't going to give up their cars if the bus only comes once an hour or doesn't get them where they need to go, but it's also hard to justify expanding transit service when there aren't enough riders.

This is, I think, [laughs] our, our problem here with public transportation.

The, the opportunity here might be to break that cycle by putting more people and jobs and businesses within walking distance of existing transit lines, but, but RTA has to provide service that I think is frequent and reliable and safe enough that ta- that makes taking the bus an attractive alternative.

So the, the two things have to be hand in hand.

You know, I went to Cleveland Central Catholic High School, and I could've went to East Tech, but my mom said, "I wanted you to get a better education." And so that means a lot of kids don't realize today that the, the hurdles and stuff that you have to go through in life if you really want something.

And, uh, so I went to Cleveland Central Catholic, and I had to catch, uh, RTA to go, you know, to go to school.

I had to catch the RT, RTA coming back from practice at night.

And there's a lot of dudes that-

So you basically went from one side of town to the other side of town?

I mean, what else can I say? I have a lot of thoughts that one day I may share.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is pushing to get an initiative on the ballot in May.

More from ONN's Christy Paul.

The board held a meeting on the proposed measure, which would increase revenue through a tax hike.