Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is the largest transit agency in Ohio, with a ridership of 19,104,900, or about 70,900 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
A Red Line train at Airport station | |
| Founded | December 30, 1974 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 1240 West 6th Street, Downtown, Cleveland, Ohio |
| Locale | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Service type | Bus and Rapid Transit |
| Routes | Bus: 37, Rail: 4, Trolley: 1, BRT: 3 |
| Fleet | Bus: 391, Rail: 92, Trolley: 12, BRT: 40 |
| Daily ridership | 70,900 (weekdays, Q3 2023) |
| Annual ridership | 19,104,900 (2022) |
| Chief executive | India Birdsong Terry |
| Website | riderta |
RTA owns and operates the RTA Rapid Transit rail system (called "The Rapid" by area residents), which consists of one heavy rail line (the Red Line) and three light rail lines (Blue, Green, Waterfront). The bulk of RTA's service consists of buses, including regular routes, express or flyer buses, loop and paratransit buses. In December 2004, RTA adopted a revised master plan, Transit 2025, in which several rail extensions, bus line improvements and transit oriented developments are discussed.
RTA's major predecessor, the Cleveland Transit System, was the first transit system in the western hemisphere to provide direct rapid transit service from a city's downtown to its major airport.
In 2007, RTA was named the best public transit system in North America by the American Public Transportation Association, for "demonstrating achievement in efficiency and effectiveness."