The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority has sold naming rights for its W. 25th Street bus route in Cleveland.
MetroHealth will pay about $4 million over the next 25 years for the route, which ties together all of its campuses, including the main campus on W. 25th. RTA spokeswoman Linda Krecic says the funds will go toward new signs and new 40-foot, clean diesel buses this fall. The money will also go toward more efficiencies in the future.
“We’ll be able to, hopefully, put in exclusive bus lanes during peak hours – during rush hour – and traffic signal prioritization, which will help speed up service on that busy corridor on W. 25th Street or Pearl Road or Broadview Road.
“So we’ll be upgrading the signage but certainly do more enhanced landscaping and more enhanced bus shelters and provide that money right back into the route.”
The MetroHealth deal is the third time RTA has sold naming rights for one of its routes, following the Cleveland Clinic-University Hospital HealthLine and the Cleveland State University line. Krecic says ridership grew 38 percent once Cleveland State re-branded its line in 2014.
