GCRTA stations: lots of opportunity

Here are just four of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s 21 rail
stations that have park-n-ride lots. All station parking lots are largely devoid of
cars since the pandemic. Even before that, most station lots weren’t as full as
they used to be. With downtown employment and commuting way down and
interest in transit-oriented development up, these large parking lots can be
developed with new uses to support regional goals like adding affordable
housing, improving access to jobs and reduced emissions (Google).
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A COMMENTARY

In recent months, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) has served notice that its rail system isn’t going anywhere. That could be interpreted in one of two ways. In one way, GCRTA plans to invest $540 million by the end of this decade to rebuild its 34-mile rail system including a new, standardized light-rail fleet plus rebuilt tracks and stations on the Red, Blue and Green lines. Greater Cleveland’s “Rapid” is sticking around for decades to come. But taking it another way, there are no expansion plans while ridership on GCRTA buses and trains fell nearly 60 percent from 2013 to 2021 “led” by its rail system which fell even farther, from 9.3 million boardings in 2013 to 2.9 million in 2021.

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