CPT needs your (digital) voice!

The RTA board meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14 at 9 a.m., and while we can’t show up in person for public comment, we’re finding other ways to make sure our concerns are brought to their attention.

As the COVID-19 pandemic develops each day, it’s crucial that RTA does everything in its power to protect drivers. There’s no time to waste and it’s truly a matter of life or death.

We need YOU to help us emphasize the importance of protecting RTA drivers. Below is an email template that you can copy & paste or use to help write your on public comment. Please include any personal experiences or other concerns you have about transit in the time of COVID-19.

Thank you for being an advocate for transit even as you’re following the stay-at-home orders. To those of you supporting essential duties—medical workers, grocery clerks, delivery drivers—we see you and we thank you!

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EXAMPLE PUBLIC COMMENT :

Dear RTA Board,

Each day the COVID-19 pandemic continues, transit workers risk their health providing crucial transportation to workplaces, medical facilities, grocery stores, and other essential services. While RTA has taken some action to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus on its vehicles, RTA must do everything in its power to protect drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot allow our Cleveland transit workers to be exposed unnecessarily to the virus, as has happened in other cities. Multiple transit worker deaths from COVID-19 have been reported, including Jason Hargrove in Detroit and more than 50 MTA workers in New York City. We must also ensure that essential workers can still get to their jobs on thefrontline of this crisis.

I’m asking RTA to implement the following:

• Allow rear-door boarding and exiting as recommended by both the Centers for Disease Control and the Ohio Department of Health so as to enable social distancing (6+ feet) between operators and riders.

• Suspend fare collection until plexiglass protective barriers can be installed on all buses. Fare collection/validation without a barrier between passengers and operators makes social distancing physically impossible onboard.

• Set a limit for the number of passengers who can ride a vehicle at one time to prevent onboard crowding. This is especially important as RTA decreases service by 15% — less frequent service means more riders per vehicle.

• Provide clear signage and regularly updated communication on all vehicles, at transit stops, and on RTA’s website and social media about how RTA is protecting operators and what passengers can do to protect themselves and others, as outlined by the Ohio Department of Health.

RTA lists safety as the first element of the agency's mission and the safety of employees and passengers as the agency's primary value. Ohioans are “flattening the curve” by taking the necessary precautions as directed by the Ohio Department of Health, but the pandemic is far from over.

During this unprecedented time we must minimize the health risk to operators and riders and continue providing transportation for essential workers and essential services.

Sincerely,

[Full Name]

[Address]