Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

Joseph A. Calabrese

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, abbreviated as RTA, is the construction and operating company for public transport in Cleveland and the surrounding towns and communities of Cuyahoga County in the U.S. state of Ohio. It operates more than 90 bus routes, two light rail lines, rapid transit, and various disability and consolidation services.

The RTA is a public institution of the State of Ohio pursuant to Article 306 of the Ohio Revised Code. The ten -member board is made up of politicians, advisers and similar persons from Cleveland, the surrounding communities and the County.

The RTA was established on December 30, 1974 by the merger of the municipal public transport company Cleveland Transit System (CTS ) with a number of other municipal transport companies from the surrounding area. To spite of growing deficits continue to offer attractive transport, a sales tax of 1% was introduced at the same time. This occurred instead of the otherwise often customary grants of cities, municipalities, state and federal government and today ( 2007), about two-thirds of all revenue. Thus, the RTA a higher level of service to provide as many other U.S. cities, especially compared to the economically depressed Rust Belt.