With the Nov. 5 election quickly approaching, transit agencies in Northeast Ohio are working to make voting a little easier through free rides to the polls on election day.
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority announced it’s partnering with Cleveland VOTES and the Cleveland Foundation to offer fare-free rides all day on election day on all Greater Cleveland RTA vehicles.
“It helps in the democratic process of allowing people to get access to where they need to vote and provides them that opportunity,” said Greater Cleveland RTA spokesperson Robert Fleig said. “It’s the duty of every citizen of the United States to go vote and here’s an opportunity to help you make that happen.”
Fleig said that Greater Cleveland RTA will offer free rides on all buses, trains and paratransit from 3 a.m. on November 5 and that it’ll continue till 3 a.m. the following day. This is the second presidential election that the agency has offered this program.
“You just need to get on the bus or the train and ride it that day to hopefully go out and vote,” Fleig said.
Akron METRO RTA has offered free bus rides for elections for the past six years. Spokesperson Grace Doyle said METRO does this so that everyone’s voice is heard during this election.
“We don’t want transportation to be a barrier to be able to go and vote,” Doyle said. “It’s a great way to get everyone to the polls.”
According to Doyle, anyone who uses ADA rides will have to call and schedule ahead to be able to use these services. But if a person uses the METRO Direct Service, all they would have to do is get on and go vote.
Transit systems like Laketran are offering a ‘Ride and Vote’ program for all residents of Lake and Geauga Counties, according to Laketran CEO Ben Capelle.
“We have done free rides to voting since 2017,” Capelle said. “We don’t want transportation to be a reason why someone doesn’t vote. Regardless of how they want to cast their vote, transportation shouldn’t be something that prevents a person from doing it.”
Capelle said that all riders have to do is tell the bus driver that they are going to vote, and they can ride free.
“If you have to choose between my trip to the grocery story versus my trip to vote… We don’t want people to be making that type of decision,” Capelle said.