RTA statement regarding recent grant award from ODOT

Oct 29, 2019

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) received a $15.3 million grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) yesterday that will be used in part for RTA’s rail car replacement program, to replace buses and to help buy property near the Red Line’s E. 79th Street station.

Here is a breakdown of the funding allocation:

From the Urban Transit Program (UTP) grant:

  • $ 3.67 million to purchase three MCI’s for the Park-N-Rides and five 40’ Gillig buses, which are used on regular routes.

From the Ohio Transit Preservation Partnership Program (OTP3) grant:

  • $6 million for preventative maintenance for buses and trains. These funds will allow RTA to flex federal funds that will be used to rehab tracks on the light rail line
  • $660,000 to buy property along the Red Line’s E. 79th Street station
  • $5 million toward the rail car replacement program

With this recent $5 million from ODOT, RTA now has a total of $57.2 million committed from a mix of local grants, reserve funds and expected future federal grants for rail car funding. Additionally, to date RTA has been awarded $60.8 million from various sources, bringing RTA closer to the $240 million needed to purchase new rail cars.

"RTA is grateful for ODOT's investment in public transit. We'll make use of every dollar, and we look forward to investing in the improvements needed to achieve a state of good repair. With this ODOT grant, we're one step closer to ensuring continuous improvement in RTA's infrastructure and services," said RTA's CEO and General Manager India Birdsong.

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