We celebrate you, today, K-9 Officer Kubo! In your three short years on the Transit Police force, you have accomplished so much. As the department’s only dual-purpose K-9, you were trained in the areas of explosive detection, patrol, tracking and aggression and building and area search. Greater Cleveland and the RTA were kept a little safer due to your diligence doing sweeps at local events such as parades and races, and larger events like the recent MLB All Star Game and festivities and the Cleveland National Air Show.
GCRTA has many heroes working each day. We would like to recognize some of them for their work during the COVID-19 crisis.
Part-time hostlers Gary Featherstone and Deonte Lykes volunteered to come from their home districts to Paratransit to assist during a critical shortage of hostlers. Because of their dedication, Paratransit was able to meet the cleaning protocols GCRTA set up during the pandemic. We thank them for their hard work and dedication to GCRTA and providing safe, reliable, clean and courteous public transportation!
RTA is installing clear vinyl curtains on all buses and paratransit vehicles to provide a protective barrier between operators and customers.
The barriers are made of clear, marine grade vinyl and are custom cut to provide a secure enclosure that extends from the back of the bus operator’s seat to the front windshield and from the ceiling to the floor, between the seat and the fare box. Double-sided Velcro is being used to position the vinyl in place.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Cleveland RTA has continually looked for ways to keep our customers and employees safe. Additional safety measures have been taken and enhanced cleaning protocols have been developed in order to disinfect and sanitize high traffic areas and all touchable surfaces.
If you've looked at our online schedules since the announcement of our temporary service reduction (taking effect April 12), you may have noticed a small difference in how they look. No, I'm not talking about the overall reduction in the number of trips available -- that's obvious.
We would like to take a moment to share with you the awesome work of our Material Handlers at our Central Maintenance Bus Facility (CBMF). In just one day, yes one day, they assembled 1,100 Personal Protective Equipment Kits (PPE) for our Operators and Frontline employees! Each kit contains: • 1 pair of Safety Glasses/Goggles • 3 pairs of disposable gloves • 2 KN95 masks • 2 packs of Clorox to-go wipes • 1 personal sized spray bottle to refill with hand sanitizer or spray disinfectant
Have you noticed some new buses rolling around town? Our new MCI fleet is now in service! Equipped with a new communication and radio system for more accurate real time information access, free passenger Wi-Fi and USB charging ports at each seat, we are now able to offer a more premium service to our Park-n-Ride riders.
The second week of February is always Ohio Loves Transit week, which means we here at RTA get to celebrate our riders by surprising them with small tokens of our appreciation for taking transit. This year, we decided it would be fun to pop up at stations and stops around the county sharing small goodie bags with Valentine's Day candy and a 2-trip pass to those waiting for the bus or train. This was also a great opportunity to encourage people to join the GOhio Commute challenge for the month of February for which riders are able to win additional prizes.
RTA’s Safe Place program is not just for youths in crisis. Earlier this month, an 87 year old woman was lost and confused when she boarded a bus in the Mayfield/Warrensville area. She was unable to explain where she was or wanted to go, and our staff went above and beyond to make her feel comfortable. Operator Primetta, Service Quality Coordinator D’Von, and Service Quality Supervisor Sharon were the epitome of customer service in this situation. RTA staff were able to learn the woman’s address, contact her daughter and get her home safely.
