海角破解版

Cuyahoga County鈥檚 public transit agency plans to put off some of the service cuts and layoffs that had been looming this year. 

The transit authority鈥檚 CEO, Joe Calabrese, is asking the RTA board to cut 40 staff positions, furlough some workers and reduce capital spending by $5 million. That鈥檚 in addition to already passed reductions in route frequency that take effect Sunday.

鈥淎nd it buys time,鈥� said Calabrese at Tuesday's board meeting. 鈥淚t buys time for advocacy. It buys time for us to look at some additional ways to cut our cost. Again, it鈥檚 a combination of cost and revenue that鈥檚 going to lead us forward.鈥� 

Under the proposed budget, the agency鈥檚 $34 million surplus would last through 2020.

Calabrese says a new governor in Columbus after November鈥檚 election may support increased funding for public transit.

The board is also considering ways to generate revenue locally, though there have been no open discussions of what those sources might be.

The RTA is mostly funded by a 1 percent countyide sales tax. There have been calls to put an increase on the ballot, as the agency has dealt with low levels of state funding.

So far there are no plans to move ahead with any tax increases for RTA.

The budget, a revision of one passed in December, goes to the full board for approval on March 27. 

Changes to fifteen RTA routes will still take effect starting Sunday.

The changes were announced in January, and include reduced frequency on 15 lines, along with altered routes to serve employment sites including an Amazon fulfillment center in North Randall.

There鈥檚 one planned change that won鈥檛 be moving forward 鈥� an increase in fares.

Calabrese told the board he realizes now that the negative effects of a fare hike outweigh the positives.

And he said the RTA needs public support.

鈥淎nd we鈥檙e going to get more support if we don鈥檛 cut service and don鈥檛 raise fares to the public,鈥� said Calabarese. 鈥淎nd so I think it鈥檚 a new narrative. I think we need as many people as we can get on buses and trains because if we do go to the ballot box, those are going to be the first people to vote yes.鈥�