RTA warns of major service cuts without tax increase

Driving the news: RTA board members are weighing whether to ask Cuyahoga County voters for the first sales tax increase in the agency's history.

• The current 1% countywide tax was approved in 1975 and still provides the lion's share of RTA's funding.

By the numbers: Without new revenue, RTA says it must reduce expenses by $30 million from 2027-2029.

• That will mean cutting about 10 of its 41 active bus routes and reducing frequency on more than two dozen others while shrinking paratransit coverage.
• More than 800,000 residents would live within half a mile of the proposed reductions.

Zoom in: Potential December cuts could include frequency reductions on a number of routes and the loss of one or two.

What's next: RTA is scheduled to continue discussing its fiscal strategy this month before deciding whether to go to the ballot in November.