Cleveland's rail ridership dropped in 2014

Although the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) posted its fourth-consecutive year of combined ridership growth for all services in 2014, the agency's rail ridership fell 3.6 percent.

Construction interruptions kept usage low on the Red, Blue, Green and Waterfront rail lines during much of last summer, as work continued on the Little Italy-University Circle and Cedar-University stations, GCRTA officials said in a press release.

But the agency overcame "horrible winter conditions" in first-quarter 2014 to finish the year with more than 49 million riders for its combined service. In December, total ridership rose 8 percent, the largest monthly increase in four years, agency officials said.

GCRTA has set a ridership goal this year of 51.25 million trips, which would represent a 2.5 percent increase over 2014.