Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

For other uses, see RTA.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, with a ridership of 22,431,500, or about 79,000 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.

Regional Transit Authority

A Red Line train at Airport station
Founded	December 30, 1974
Headquarters	1240 West 6th Street, Downtown, Cleveland, Ohio
Locale	Cleveland, Ohio
Service type	Bus and Rapid Transit
Routes	Bus: 37, Rail: 4, Trolley: 1, BRT: 3
Fleet	Bus: 391, Rail: 92, Trolley: 12, BRT: 40
Daily ridership	79,000 (weekdays, Q2 2024)
Annual ridership	22,431,500 (2023)
Chief executive	India Birdsong Terry
Website	riderta.com

RTA owns and operates the RTA Rapid Transit rail system (called "The Rapid" by area residents), which consists of one heavy rail line (the Red Line) and three light rail lines (Blue, Green, Waterfront). The bulk of RTA's service consists of buses, including regular routes, express or flyer buses, loop and paratransit buses. In December 2004, RTA adopted a revised master plan, Transit 2025, in which several rail extensions, bus line improvements and transit oriented developments are discussed.

RTA's major predecessor, the Cleveland Transit System, was the first transit system in the western hemisphere to provide direct rapid transit service from a city's downtown to its major airport.

In 2007, RTA was named the best public transit system in North America by the American Public Transportation Association, for "demonstrating achievement in efficiency and effectiveness."

History

See also: RTA Rapid Transit

The GCRTA was established on December 30, 1974, and on September 5, 1975 assumed control of the Cleveland Transit System, which operated the heavy rail line from Windermere to Cleveland Hopkins Airport and the local bus systems, and Shaker Heights Rapid Transit (the descendant of a separate streetcar system formed by the Van Sweringen brothers to serve their Shaker Heights development), which operated the two interurban light rail lines from downtown to Shaker Heights. CTS had been formed when the city of Cleveland took over the old Cleveland Railway Company. However, with Cleveland's dwindling population over the previous two decades, its revenue dwindled significantly. The problem really manifested itself with a 17-day strike in July 1970. City and county leaders concluded that a regional approach was the only way to save it.

A month after its formation, RTA assumed control over the suburban bus systems operated by Maple Heights, North Olmsted, Brecksville, Garfield Heights and Euclid.

The RTA had to undertake a number of renovations to the rail system, as the Shaker Heights lines (renamed the Blue and Green lines) had not been significantly renovated since their creation in 1920. They were largely rebuilt by 1981 and the downtown station at Cleveland Union Terminal, later renamed Tower City Center, was heavily rebuilt by 1987. In 1994, a walkway and skyway was added from the Tower City station to the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex and the Blue and Green lines were extended to the North Coast Harbor area by 1996.

Seventy-five Cleveland Transit System PCC streetcars were sold in 1952 to Toronto to be used by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The last of the Cleveland PCC models operated for 30 years in Toronto, until 1982. Cleveland Transit also sold eight Marmon-Herrington TC44 trolleybuses in 1963 to the TTC.

A HealthLine rapid transit bus, a New Flyer DE60LFA, at Public Square

In 2005, RTA began building a bus rapid transit line along Euclid Avenue from Public Square to University Circle and then to East Cleveland. This was originally to be a subway line running under Euclid Avenue, but the high cost of such a project caused it to be reduced in scope, resulting in the current bus rapid transit project. Vehicles operate in an exclusive center median busway from Public Square to Stokes Blvd. and transition to curbside running through University Circle to the Windermere Rapid Transit Station in East Cleveland. The vehicles are low-floor, articulated 63 feet (19 m) buses.

Naming rights for the line were purchased by the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals for twenty-five years. The BRT route, originally named the "Silver Line", which serves the two major health industry employers in Cleveland, is named the HealthLine.

As sections were completed, they were opened to traffic; the entire stretch within the project area was open by October 24, 2008 as part of its grand opening October 24–26, 2008.

In January 2023, the GCRTA announced the acquisition of sixty Siemens S200 light rail vehicles to replace the system's entire existing rail fleet. Twenty-four such cars will replace the Tokyu heavy rail trains used on the Red Line, with an option to acquire 36 additional units to replace the Breda light rail vehicles used on the Blue, Green, and Waterfront lines. GCRTA's S200s will include steps at the front right door for boarding at street-level stations on the Blue, Green, and Waterfront. Once the acquisition is approved by the GCRTA's board, S200s are expected to begin service in Cleveland in 2026.

Active Bus Fleet

Year	Manufacturer	Model	Fleet Numbers	Engine	Transmission	Notes
2020	MCI	D4500CT	1901-1909	Cummins X12	Allison B500-6	Only use for the 251
2014	New Flyer	XD60	3201-3216, 3251-3257	Cummins ISL9	Allison B500R-6	3201-3216 are use for the Cleveland State Line BRT 55/55B/55C and 3251-3257 are use for the 22
2014-2015	Gillig	BRT Plus CNG 40'	3301-3390	Cummins Westport ISL-G	Allison B400R-6	3301 is a 2014 Model. 3301-3367 belong to Hayden Garage & 3368-3390 belong to Triskett Garage.
2016-2017	Gillig	BRT Plus CNG 40'	3401-3416	Cummins Westport ISL-G	Allison B400R-6
2017	Gillig	BRT Plus Diesel 40'	3501-3520, 3551-3559	Cummins L9	Allison B400R-6
2018	Gillig	BRT Plus CNG 40'	3601-3633	Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B400R-6
2015	Gillig	Low Floor Trolley Replica 40'	3701-3703	Cummins ISL9	Allison B400R-6
2016	Gillig	Low Floor Trolley Replica 40'	3704-3712	Cummins ISL9	Allison B400R-6
2020	Gillig	BRT Plus CNG 40'	3801-3806, 3851-3869	Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B3400xFE
2021-2022	Gillig	BRT Plus CNG 40'	3901-3920	Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B3400xFE
2022	Gillig	BRT Plus Diesel 40'	4001-4020	Cummins L9	Allison B3400xFE	Use for the Metro Health Line BRT 51/51A and 53/53A
2023	Gillig	BRT Plus CNG 40'	4101-4120	Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B3400xFE
2021	New Flyer	XN60 CNG	6001-6016	Cummins Westport L9N	Allison B3400xFE	Use for the Health Line BRT

List of bus routes

In 2023, the GCRTA bus system had a ridership of 17,707,700, or about 63,500 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.

Route Name	Terminal 1	Terminal 2	via	Length	notes
1 St. Clair	Downtown Superior Avenue and West 6th Street	South Collinwood East 153rd Street Loop	Saint Clair Avenue	7.7 miles (12.4 km)	24-hour service
2 East 79	Glenville Maud Loop	Tremont Steelyard Commons	Harvard Avenue, East 79th Street	12.2 miles (19.6 km)	Weekdays only
3 Superior	Downtown Superior Avenue & West 6th Street	East Cleveland Stokes-Windermere Station	Superior Avenue (US-6)	7.2 miles (11.6 km)	24-hour service
HealthLine	Downtown South Roadway and Ontario Street		Euclid Avenue (US-20)	6.7 miles (10.8 km)	24-hour service
7 Monticello	East Cleveland Stokes-Windermere Station	Richmond Heights Richmond Park Drive North	Monticello Boulevard	7.4 miles (11.9 km)
7A Monticello		Mayfield Heights SOM Center Road and Mayfield Road	Monticello Boulevard/Wilson Mills Road	10.0 miles (16.1 km)	Weekdays only
8 Cedar-Buckeye	Downtown East 6th Street and Lakeside Avenue	Buckeye-Shaker Shaker Square	Cedar Avenue, Buckeye Road	8.1 miles (13.0 km)
9 Mayfield-Hough	Downtown West Prospect Avenue and West 3rd Street	Mayfield Heights SOM Center Road and Mayfield Road	Payne Avenue, Hough Avenue, Mayfield Road, Severance Town Center	16.0 miles (25.7 km)
10 East 105-Lakeshore	South Broadway Turney-Ella Loop	Willowick Shoregate Town Center	East 93rd Street, East 105th Street, Lake Shore Boulevard	18.3 miles (29.5 km)
		Euclid Euclid Hospital (East 189th Street)		13.5 miles (21.7 km)	Overnight and alternate weekday trips
11 Quincy-Cedar	Downtown West Prospect Avenue and West 3rd Street	Beachwood Montifiore Hospital	Community College Avenue (Quincy Avenue), Cedar Road	13.1 miles (21.1 km)
14 Kinsman	Downtown West 6th Street and West Prospect Avenue	Pepper Pike Lander Circle	Chagrin Boulevard/Kinsman Road	17.3 miles (27.8 km)
		Shaker Heights Warrensville-Van Aken station		10.7 miles (17.2 km)	Overnight trips
14A Kinsman		Warrensville Heights Country Lane	Emery Road, Chagrin Boulevard/Kinsman Road	15.7 miles (25.3 km)
15 Union-Harvard		Highland Hills Tri-C Eastern Campus	Broadway, Union Avenue, Harvard Avenue	14.4 miles (23.2 km)
16 East 55	Tremont Steelyard Commons	Saint Clair-Superior Horizon Science Academy Cleveland	East 55th Street	10.9 miles (17.5 km)	Weekdays only
18 West 98-Garfield	Edgewater West Boulevard-Cudell station	Garfield Heights Marymount Hospital	Garfield Boulevard, Harvard Avenue, West 98th Street	17.0 miles (27.4 km)
19 Broadway	Downtown East 6th Street and Lakeside Avenue	Highland Hills Tri-C Eastern Campus	All trips: Broadway Avenue, then: 19, 19B: Miles Road 19A: Turney Road	15.7 miles (25.3 km)
		Corlett Caine-East 131st Loop		7.8 miles (12.6 km)	Overnight trips
19A Broadway		Maple Heights Southgate Transit Center (19A)		15.4 miles (24.8 km)
19B Broadway		Bedford Heights Fargo Avenue (19B)		14.8 miles (23.8 km)	Rush hour trips
22 Lorain	Downtown Rockwell Avenue and East 3rd Street	Fairview Park Westgate Transit Center	Lorain Avenue	11.8 miles (19.0 km)	24-hour service
25 Madison-Clark			Clark Avenue, Madison Avenue	16.6 miles (26.7 km)	Serves Lakeview Terrace weekday daytime
		Edgewater West 117th-Madison station		11.1 miles (17.9 km)	Overnight trips
26 Detroit		Fairview Park Westgate Transit Center	Detroit Avenue	10.1 miles (16.3 km)	Overnight trips
		Westlake Crocker Park	Detroit Avenue, Center Ridge Road	17.2 miles (27.7 km)	Weekend and other weekday trips
		Westlake Tri-C Westshore Campus		19.4 miles (31.2 km)	Every 3rd weekday trip
26A Detroit			Detroit Avenue, Detroit Road	19.1 miles (30.7 km)	Weekday trips
		Westlake Crocker Park		17.1 mi (27.5 km)	Weekend and late weekday evening trips
28 Euclid	East Cleveland Stokes-Windermere Station	Euclid Tungsten	Euclid Avenue	7.1 miles (11.4 km)	24-hour service
28A Euclid		Euclid Shore Center Plaza	Euclid Avenue, East 222nd Street	7.5 miles (12.1 km)
31 St. Clair-Babbitt			Hayden Avenue, Saint Clair Avenue, Babbitt Road	9.2 miles (14.8 km)	Limited trips serve Euclid Amazon Center
34 East 200-Green	Euclid Shore Center Plaza	Highland Hills Tri-C Eastern Campus	East 200th Street, Green Road, Richmond Road	14.2 miles (22.9 km)	Weekdays only Parallels and shares both termini with Route 94
35 Lee Blvd-East 123	East Cleveland East 129th Street Loop	Cleveland Heights Severance Town Center	East 123rd Street, Euclid Avenue, Lee Boulevard, Mayfield Road	6.2 miles (10.0 km)	Weekdays only
37 Hayden-East 185	East Cleveland Stokes-Windermere Station	Euclid Shore Center Plaza	Hayden Avenue, East 152nd Street, East 185th Street, Lake Shore Boulevard	8.4 miles (13.5 km)
39 Lakeshore	Downtown West Prospect Avenue and West 3rd Street	Willowick Shoregate Town Center	Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, Lake Shore Boulevard	16.8 miles (27.0 km)	Rush hour trips
40 Lakeview-Lee	Forest Hills Taft Avenue and Eddy Road	Maple Heights Southgate Transit Center	Lakeview Road, Superior Road, Lee Road	14.0 miles (22.5 km)
41 Warrensville	East Cleveland Stokes-Windermere Station		Noble Road/Warrensville Center Road	11.3 miles (18.2 km)	Overnight trips
		Glenwillow Diamond Parkway	Noble Road/Warrensville Center Road, Columbus Road, Aurora Road, Cochran Road	23.2 miles (37.3 km)
41F Warrensville			Noble Road/Warrensville Center Road, Harvard Road, US-422, Cochran Road	19.3 miles (31.1 km)	Reverse rush hour peak direction trips
45 Ridge-Fulton	Downtown Rockwell Avenue and East 3rd Street	Parma Parma Transit Center	Fulton Road, Ridge Road	10.7 miles (17.2 km)
48 East 131	University Circle East 93rd Street and Chester Avenue	Garfield Heights Marymount Hospital	East 131st Street	9.3 miles (15.0 km)	24-hour service
50 East 116		Lee-Miles East 177th Street and South Miles Road	East 116th Street	10.5 miles (16.9 km)
51 MetroHealth Line-West 25th	Downtown Rockwell Avenue and East 3rd Street	Parma Parma Transit Center	West 25th Street, Pearl Road	16.2 miles (26.1 km)	Weekday daytime trips serve Tri-C Western Campus
51A MetroHealth Line-West 25th			West 25th Street, State Road	12.7 miles (20.4 km)
		Old Brooklyn West 33rd Loop		6.5 miles (10.5 km)	Overnight trips
53 MetroHealth Line-Broadview	Downtown West Roadway and Superior Avenue	Brecksville Brecksville MetroHealth Center	I-90/71 , Broadview Road, Royalton Road	16.0 miles (25.7 km)
53A MetroHealth Line-Broadview		North Royalton North Royalton Loop		17.8 miles (28.6 km)	Weekday rush hour trips
54 Brookpark-Rockside	Garfield Heights Garfield Commons	Brook Park Brookpark Station	Rockside Road, Brookpark Road	13.3 miles (21.4 km)
55 Cleveland State Line	Downtown Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center	North Olmsted Industrial Parkway Loop	All trips: Clifton Boulevard, Cleveland Memorial Shoreway, then: 55: Lorain Road 55B: Lake Road 55C: Detroit Road	22.6 miles (36.4 km)	Weekday trips bypass Edgewater Park
55B Cleveland State Line		Bay Village Cahoon Park		21.6 miles (34.8 km)	Weekday rush hour peak direction trips
55C Cleveland State Line		Westlake Crocker Park		18.4 miles (29.6 km)	Weekday rush hour peak direction trips
71 Pearl-Tiedeman	Downtown East 3rd Street and Rockwell Avenue	Strongsville Howe Road and Drake Road	West 65th Street, Tiedeman Road, Pearl Road	20.9 miles (33.6 km)
77 Brecksville	Downtown West 3rd Street and Frankfort Avenue	Brecksville Katherine Boulevard	Willow Freeway (I-77), Brecksville Road	19.7 miles (31.7 km)
78 West 117-Puritas	Gold Coast Winton Place	Brook Park Brookpark Station	Grayton Road, Puritas Avenue (Bellaire Road), West 117th Street	11.3 miles (18.2 km)
83 Warren-West 130	Lakewood Lakewood Park	Parma Parma Transit Center	Warren Road, West 140th Street, West 130th Street	16.0 miles (25.7 km)
86 Rocky River Dr-Bagley	Jefferson West Park station	Parma Tri-C Western Campus	Lorain Avenue, Rocky River Drive, Bagley Road	15.7 miles (25.3 km)
90 Broadway-Libby	Downtown West 3rd Street and Frankfort Avenue	Oakwood Summit County Line Loop	Willow Freeway (I-77), Granger Road (Libby Road), Northfield Road, Broadway Avenue	21.3 miles (34.3 km)	Alternate reverse rush hour peak direction trips run via Alexander Road
94 East 260-Richmond	Euclid Shore Center Plaza	Highland Hills Tri-C Eastern Campus	East 260th Street, Green Road, Richmond Road	17.2 miles (27.7 km)	Parallels and shares both termini with Route 34
251 Strongsville Park-n-Ride	Downtown Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center	Strongsville Strongsville Park-n-Ride	Medina Freeway (I-71), Pearl Road	18.7 miles (30.1 km)	Weekday rush hour peak direction trips
		Brunswick Laurel Square Shopping Center		27.0 miles (43.5 km)	Select weekday rush hour peak direction trips
• 66R Red Line (during Red Line train shutdowns) • 67R Blue/Green Line (during Blue and Green Line train shutdowns)

Cleveland State Line

A typical station along Clifton Boulevard on The Cleveland State Line Bus rapid transit

In December 2014, RTA opened a second bus rapid transit to serve the western suburbs of Cleveland as well as a larger portion of downtown, including Cleveland State University. Cleveland State purchased naming rights to the route. The line carries a "55" designation, the same bus route number used by the BRT's predecessor.

All passengers must pay or swipe/dip their farecards on board the bus.

Only a portion of the line along Clifton Boulevard–from the western terminus of Cleveland Memorial Shoreway to Webb Road in Lakewood– includes a dedicated bus-only lane. However, the bus-only designation only applies during rush hours: with the eastbound bus-only lane active during the morning rush, and with the westbound bus-only lane active during the evening rush.

All outbound trips originate from the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center near Cleveland State and travel through downtown to Public Square before entering the west shoreway. Shortly after reaching the Lakewood border, the line divides into three sub-routes:

• 55: Travels down Clifton and continues to follow U.S. Route 20 to Detroit Road until reaching Wagar Road where it travels south to Lorain Rd in Fairview Park, continues to North Olmsted via Great Northern Mall before terminating near the Lorain County line. Rush hour trips travel into the North Olmsted park-n-ride.
• 55B: Travels down Clifton and continues to follow Lake Road into Bay Village where it follows Wolf, West Oviatt, and Osborn Roads west to Bradley Road before returning to Lake Road to travel east to its terminus at Wolf and Cahoon Roads.
• 55C: Travels down Clifton and continues to follow U.S. Route 20 to Detroit Road until reaching Crocker Road in Westlake where it terminates at Crocker Park.

The 55 base route runs 7 days a week from early A.M. though the evening. The 55B and 55C routes run Monday through Friday during the morning and evening rush hours only. B and C also travel to the Westlake Park-n-Ride.

MetroHealth Line

On September 21, 2017, RTA announced a partnership with MetroHealth to sponsor routes 51, 51A, 53 and 53A under the brand MetroHealth Line. On December 3, 2017, the rebranded MetroHealth Line began service with 20 new vehicles, fully branded with the MetroHealth logo. More than 400 bus-stop signs and 37 shelters also display the new logo along the routes. Unlike the other named lines, it features no BRT features.

Bicycles

RTA has equipped all of its mainline buses with bicycle carriers. Each bus can carry two to three bicycles. Bicycles are also allowed on rapid transit trains (with a maximum limit of two per car) at all times, although operators have discretion to refuse bicycles if a train is overcrowded. Bicycles are not allowed access to/from the Public Square/Tower City Station through the shopping areas of Tower City Center. However, an elevator connection is permitted between the station lobby and street level, at Prospect Avenue via the south-side doors. Bicycles are also allowed to transfer between trains at Tower City Station. There is no additional charge for taking bicycles on RTA.

Funding

When RTA was formed, Cuyahoga County voters approved a 1% county-wide sales tax, which constitutes about 70% of its operating revenue. This funding source has helped RTA maintain a higher level of service than other transit agencies in comparable cities and it also helps RTA retain some degree of political autonomy. However, it also makes RTA unusually susceptible to economic downturns.

In recent years, RTA has undertaken great efforts to improve efficiency and eliminate unnecessary costs. These efforts have included mergers with the two remaining autonomous transit agencies in Cuyahoga County, the North Olmsted Municipal Bus Line and Maple Heights Transit, and the redesigning of its routes in the suburban areas southeast, west, and south of Cuyahoga County.

A Shaker Rapid car at the Warrensville Center Road Loop in 1936

CTS fleet

• 1946 Pullman PCC A11 (50) and 1946 St. Louis Car Company A12 (25) – all sold to Toronto in 1952 and all retired by TTC.
• Marmon-Herrington TC48-T5 and TC44-T7 trolleybus – ordered 49 in 1951 and 1952 and retired in 1960s (sold to Mexico City's Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos and since retired)

See also

• Cleveland railroad history
• Great American Streetcar Scandal
• Laketran (Lake County)
• Lorain County Transit
• Akron, Bedford and Cleveland Railroad

External links

• Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
• Euclid Corridor Transportation Project Archived 2017-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
• RTA HealthLine website