RTA Decision on the Lakewood Circulator

I remember a few years back, RTA management came to a Lakewood City Council meeting and gave the city an award in recognition of how frequently our Community Circulator was being utilized by our residents.

Apparently, times have changed.

Last year, RTA proposed the elimination of various routes, including all of the Community Circulator routes. More than any other suburb, Lakewood residents rallied in protest of this decision. Some of you may have attended the town hall meeting we had here at Lakewood City Hall, or the meeting held at Rocky River City Hall. We collected hundreds of signatures and spoke out loud and clear. And, although service was curtailed, the Lakewood Circulator was preserved.

It looks like we're going to have to do it all over again.

Late last week, RTA called an emergency board meeting to consider more drastic budget cuts. Once again, the proposal was to eliminate all the Circulator routes. We immediately protested the decision, sent out mass emails, and started lobbying board members. Fortunately, the decision was postponed until August 25th.

Now that we've been given a reprieve, we need to use this time to organize. In the next few days, we're going to start circulating petitions to object to this proposed cut. We're going to let everyone know the facts- for instance, that the Lakewood Circulator is unique in the RTA system, and is used far more than any other Community Circulator.

I'm also working with Cleveland Councilman Jay Westbrook to hold a major rally in a couple weeks to help get the message out.

I'll post more as soon as additional details are available. Whether or not you use RTA, I hope you will join us in fighting for a service that is of real benefit to Lakewood.