Greater Cleveland RTA Redesigned Routes Launch Later This Month

After years of consulting, public input, and planning, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is launching new bus and train routes, later this month. 

The system redesign is dubbed "Next Gen RTA" and has the difficult task of servicing the most people through increased frequency, on high traffic bus routes, all the while maintaing an expansive coverage network, and ensuring that folks in the inner and outer ring suburbs can utilize services into downtown Cleveland. 

The size of the task is why the process began back in late 2018, and why it included periods of public input where Northeast Ohio citizens could weigh in with their ideas for the redesign. 

RTA also managed this undertaking during the coronavirus pandemic, a period where ridership hit new lows, fare revenue suffered - but where federal relief dollars aided the organization. 

So what exactly does the system hold for public transit users in the region? 
Can everyone be happy with the redesign? If not, who wins, who doesn't?

We'll dig into that on The Sound of Ideas, with RTA's Director of Service Management Joel Freilich.

Later in the hour, we'll talk about a massive grant being awarded to the Woodhill Homes complex. $35 million from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development is heading to the CMHA facility for much needed renovations. 

-Joel Freilich, Director of Service Management, Greater Cleveland RTA

-Justin Glanville, Reporter, ideastream
-Jeffery K. Patterson, CEO, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority 
-Jeff Beam, Regional Vice President for Real Estate Development, The Community Builders
-Marilyn Burns, Resident & Ambassador