Route numbers were assigned during the late 1930's. Numbers 1 through 27 were streetcar routes, grouped by car house, and sweeping clockwise from east to south to west. Numbers in the 30's or 40's were existing bus routes on the east side, while numbers in the 70's or 80's were existing bus routes on the west side. Although after World War II, route changes, the replacement of streetcars with buses, and the acquisition of suburban routes broke the numbering pattern.
Not included are letters following certain route numbers, indicating variations in routes or express service. Parentheses indicate discontinued bus routes.
Route numbers 66 and 67 are assigned to the rail lines.
Route Route Streetcars Buses Introduced Number Name Introduced Streetcars Discontinued Notes 1 St. Clair 1800's 11/ 3/51 Trolleybus 11/ 4/51- 5/ 5/62 2 E. 55th 1800's 3/ 7/53 2 E. 79th 10/ 4/15 11/16/40 3 Superior 1800's 3/20/53 Trolleybus 3/21/53- 4/13/63 (4) Wade Park (disc. 2010) 1800's 4/15/39 Trolleybus 12/17/45- 4/13/63 5 Chagrin Blvd. NEW GCRTA BUS (6) Euclid (to 28) 7 Monticello NEW BUS 11/21/49 8 Cedar 1800's 6/16/46 Trolleybus 6/16/46- 4/13/63 8 E 116th NEW GCRTA BUS 9 Mayfield Express NEW BUS Was Redifer Bus System 10 E. 105th 1800's 1/31/48 Trolleybus 2/ 1/48- 6/15/63 11 Quincy 1800's 5/ 7/46 Was Scovil car 11 Buckeye 1800's 7/ 1/48 Trolleybus 9/ 9/48-10/20/62 (12) Woodland (disc. 2010) 1800's 3/15/48 Trolleybus 2/17/49-10/20/62 (13) Buckeye (to 11) 14 Kinsman 1800's 3/26/50 Trolleybus 9/ 7/50-10/20/62 15 Union-Harvard 1800's 9/ 3/47 Trolleybus 5/ 2/48- 6/15/63 16 E. 55th 1800's 8/ 1/48 (17) E. 30th 1800's 11/16/40 Discontinued by GCRTA (17) E. 49th (disc. 2010) NEW BUS Was Brecksville Road Transit (18) W. 11th (disc. 2010) 6/29/22 7/ 2/50 Was 20 Broadview route (18) W. 65th 7/25/10 3/ 7/48 Discontinued by GCRTA 19 Broadway-Miles 1800's 8/16/47 Trolleybus 12/ 2/47- 6/15/63 (20) W. 25th (to 51) (20) State (to 51A) 22 Lorain 1800's 6/14/52 Trolleybus 6/15/52-11/15/58 (23) Clark (to 45) (24) Tri-C (disc. 2010) NEW BUS 9/23/25 Previously combined with 14 Kinsman 25 Madison 1800's 1/23/54 25 Detroit-Wagar NEW GCRTA BUS 26 Detroit 1800's 8/24/51 Trolleybus 8/26/51-11/15/58 28 East 276 1800's 4/16/48 28 Euclid 1800's 4/27/52 30 E. 140th-Hayden 1800's 8/16/49 Was branch of Euclid car 32 Cedar NEW BUS 11/ 7/25 Was Carnegie/Clifton bus route (33) Central (disc. 2010) 1800's 6/15/38 34 E. 200th-Green NEW GCRTA BUS (35) Broadview (to 51B/C) (36) Eddy (disc. 2000's) NEW BUS 1926 Discontinued by GCRTA 37 E. 185th St. NEW BUS 9/11/25 Was 41 Nottingham bus 37 Waterloo 1800's 4/ 8/51 Was branch of St. Clair car 37 Taylor NEW BUS 9/11/25 38 Payne-Hough 1800's 10/31/35 Trolleybus 3/ 2/36- 4/13/63 39 Lake Shore Express NEW BUS 1926 40 Lakeview-Lee NEW BUS 10/ 5/25 41 Warrensville NEW BUS 4/ 1/25 (43) Lake-Wolf NEW GCRTA BUS Discontinued 8/14/2016 45 Clark 1800's 8/15/53 Was 23 Clark route 45 W. 73rd 5/15/20 6/19/26 Was 23 Clark route 45 Ridge Was 81 Scranton bus 48 E. 131st NEW BUS 10/ 5/25 49 Center Ridge NEW GCRTA BUS 49 Westgate-West Park NEW BUS Was 52 North Olmstead Bus (50) E. 116th (disc. 2010) NEW BUS 1/ 5/50 (50) Harvard (disc. 2010) 1800's 3/ 7/48 (50) W. 117th (to 78) 51 W. 25th 12/ 4/15 8/15/53 Was 20 W. 25th bus 51 Pearl 8/ 1/17 8/ 1/47 51A State 12/ 4/15 8/15/53 Was 20 State bus 51B Broadview NEW BUS 3/ /50 Was Broadview Bus Co. to CTS 35 51C Broadview/Rockside NEW BUS 3/ /50 Was Broadview Bus Co. to CTS 35 (52) Westgate (to 49) 53F Broadview/Royalton NEW GCRTA BUS 54 Brookpark NEW GCRTA BUS 55 Clifton 1800's 11/15/47 Trolleybus 7/ 6/49-11/15/58 (58) E 116th (to 8) (65) Hilliard NEW BUS 6/ /37 Was Lakewood Rapid Transit Co. 66 RED LINE Rapid 3/15/55 67 GREEN LINE Shaker 8/16/20 67 BLUE LINE Van Aken 4/11/20 (68) Bagley (to 86) (70) W. 150th (disc. 2010) NEW BUS (74) Fairfield 1800's 4/ 3/35 Discontinued by CTS 75 North Olmsted NEW BUS North Olmstead Municipal Bus Lines 76 Broadway-Turney NEW BUS 7/ 1/47 Was Garfield Heights Coach Lines 77F Brecksville Express NEW BUS Was Brecksville Road Transit 78 W. 106th/Bellaire 5/ 1/13 4/19/23 78 W. 98th/Puritas 1800's 4/ 6/28 Was Clev. SW & Columbus Ry. 78 W. 117th NEW BUS 3/18/26 Was 50 117th St. bus 79 Fulton 1800's 4/30/48 Trolleybus 1/23/50-11/15/58 79 Brookpark NEW BUS 6/ 5/50 Was 98 Brookpark bus 81 Tremont-Storer 1800's 4/ 1/29 Was Scranton car 83 W. 130th NEW BUS 3/ 8/26 (84) W. 14th 1800's 7/16/37 Discontinued by GCRTA 86 Warren/Rocky River NEW BUS 9/16/25 86 Berea NEW BUS 1919 Was Berea Bus Co. 86 Bagley NEW BUS North Olmstead Municipal Bus Lines (88) Northfd. (disc. 2010) NEW GCRTA BUS 90F Broadway-Libby NEW BUS 1935 Was Maple Heights Transit 94 Fairmount 1800's 7/31/48 Discontinued by GCRTA 94 Richmond NEW GCRTA BUSSUBURBAN TRANSIT ROUTES
Several transit routes evolved from services provided by independent operators in various suburbs.