RTA Ridership Bouncing Back, But Still 33% Below Pre-Pandemic Numbers

Ridership and fare revenues are at their highest since 2020

By Maria Elena Scott on Wed, Nov 1, 2023 at 12:10 pm

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The GCRTA reportedly transports between 150,000 and 200,000 riders daily.

Following a historic drop in ridership and fare revenue during the pandemic, public transportation in Cleveland is bouncing back, though it still has a ways to go to return to pre-Covid normal.

“Reviewing the ridership for the last several years, we are still about 33 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels, as far as ridership is concerned. September 2023 ridership was 11.4 percent higher when compared to September 2022 levels,” RTA deputy general manager of finance Raj Gautam said at Tuesday’s board meeting.

From January to September in 2019, ridership totaled roughly 21 million. During the pandemic, those numbers saw a drastic decline, with just 10 million rides between January and September 2021. Last year, numbers began picking up, and the latest YTD ridership is more than 14 million, RTA reported.

GCRTA Ridership
Infogram

Fare revenue has followed similar trends, according to RTA data. In 2019, year-to-date fare revenue was nearly $29 million, but subsequent years saw drops following declines in ridership. At this point in 2021, fare revenue was roughly $16 million–but it’s been on the uptick since then. So far in 2023, fare revenue is up to roughly $20 million.

On Tuesday, RTA also announced increases to its hourly pay rates for bus, rail and paratransit operators and decreases in the number of years required to reach top hourly rates. Under the new policy, bus and rail operators can make $33.93 per hour in their fourth year of employment while paratransit operators can make $30.54 in their fourth year.

"This increase in salary is designed to maintain and attract potential new Operators to GCRTA," said GCRTA chief operating officer Dr. Floun’say Caver in a statement. "What once took six years to achieve the top Operator pay rate can now be accomplished in four. This new pay progression scale demonstrates our commitment to ensure employees are compensated competitively throughout their GCRTA career."

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