Civil and Municipal - Mar 2023

60 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 3 H With rapid transit routes to cover the region, METRO RTA keeps the community moving etro Regional Transit Authority, (known in the community as METRO RTA or METRO) transports millions of passengers annually to work, school, medical appointments, and “hot spots” in and around the city of Akron and Summit County. It has a long history of service to the community, from its founding in 1882 with a few mule-drawn carts to a fleet of roughly 200 passenger vehicles today, largely buses. In the century-plus in between, METRO used street cars and provided transportation using Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s bus fleet, which should come as no surprise since Akron has been known as the “rubber capital of the world.” In the 1070s, METRO became a forward-thinking leader in the regional transportation sector by providing service specifically for seniors and becoming the first transit group in the northern region of the U.S. to offer service designed to meet the needs of residents with disabilities, several years before the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “We were the first to have all of our vehicles be accessible to passengers,” says METRO CEO Dawn Distler. “We’ve always tried to be a leader in our sector and consider all of the needs of our passengers.” M