archer04

Interesting. I did a quick and dirty calculation. In 2000 RTA buses had ~1,606 route miles and carried ~51 million rides. RTA trains had 34 route miles and ~9 million rides. Rides per route mile on bus: ~31,755. Rides per route mile on rail: ~264,706. So per route mile, RTA rail is over 8X more productive than bus. Rail productivity in terms of passengers carried per vehicle mile and vehicle hour would probably be much higher too. But the most telling statistic is number of passengers carried per operator paid hour. RTA doesn't keep those stats any more but again, rail will be higher because more folks can fit on a rapid train than a bus. E.g. how many buses would it take to carry even 10% of a Browns home game crowd, each requiring an operator. Contrast that with 2 or three car trains that each only need 2-person crews. BAH!!

There's presently no politician or political body promoting commuter rail. If Metro succeeds in getting the dinner train operational, this decision at minimum will increase public awareness of alternative uses for underused freight tracks. At best it will stir ideas among the public for doing more with passenger trains on freight tracks, including intercity rail in Ohio.

Reader's Digest ranks Cleveland above NY, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, LA. It's a cleanest city contest and Portland beats 'em all. http://www.rd.com/content/openContent.do?contentId=15115

BWI's transformation is not the result of one guy, though. The State of Maryland has sunk incredible sums of money into that airport over the past few years. What a fantastic airport--you can fly direct to Manchester, NH or Ghana, and everywhere in between, not to mention the rail connection to the entire Northeast Corridor. True, the business climate in this region drives a lot of the investment (what other region has three solid airports?), but on the other side of the coin, I think Cleveland's complacency and reluctance to invest in itself have helped drive Hopkins in the other direction. All these factors are tightly intertwined. BWI also lies within the NE Corridor and is served by Maryland commuter rail trains plus Amtrak. This makes it really easy to reach from metro areas, thereby further increasing BWI's market. That's why I just LUVVV KJPs CLE intercity passenger rail station proposal!

BTW, the hundreds of millions of dollars spent to expand Cleveland Hopkins runways and upgrade terminals was not predicated on anticipated travel or population growth. (Both Newark and LaGuardia airports each have less runway capacity than CLE but handle 3x the traffic). The Cleveland business community decided it was important to do to RETAIN jobs. I contend that investing in Lorain Cleveland regional rail (and later add Aurora, Akron & Ashtabula as per NOACA Neorail plan) should be similarly justified. It's needed to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of the region's existing residents and to retain those residents. A future Northcoast Railway Express regional rail network will absolutely help attract new residents from places like Portland and Denver where world class public transportation already exists or is being established. The airport investment wasn't about accomodating new growth, it was about making NE Ohio a better place for us to live and do business in. Use this same argument for regional rail. Besides, plans to downgrade the Shoreway and a decade of Innerbelt work make this a very smart call. (And unlike the airport expansion, regional rail will directly benefit far more residents.)

KJP - thanks for all your extra efforts re: the subject. It's the most interesting transit proposal since the RTA/ODOT/Laketran 1985 Cleveland-Euclid-Mentor Railbus Demonstration and I'm very encouraged to hear about the 7/19 meeting! You and other readers here might find the following news item interesting. It suggests several things for the Lorain-Cleveland project, including: 1) Transit capital improvement projects, both maintenance and expansion, mean JOBS. This is too often downplayed or forgotten. This article highlights the economic benefits of Denver's transit investment very, very well. 2) A very modest sales tax increase can fund a lot of transportation improvements (not just rail!). The Denver tax is miniscule & painless compared to gas price increases. Thinking long-term (50+ years and more) the resultant reduced gasoline and automobile dependency will make that region even more economically competitive. 3) In addition to providing jobs, rail transit projects improve regional mobility. Job access for people of all income groups will be greatly improved, especially the transit dependent who either can't reach outlying jobs or must commute by bus 2 and 3 hours each way. BTW, I don't need to tell you that express buses confined to highways are very poor at linking residents with jobs compared with trains operating on rail lines that have coexisted nicely with neighborhoods (e.g. the westshore's former Nickel Plate line) and are less subject to weather and not subject to traffic tie ups. 4) Development in and around NE Ohio will continue to happen no matter what decisions are made on this or any transit project. ODOT predicts general and freight traffic will increase by 47%+, far outpacing highway capacity additions. Thus, vehicle miles traveled, gas consumption, highway wrecks and air pollution will continue to grow while mobility and access is unchanged or gets worse. We can either expand this transit system to truly serve the region as in Denver and elsewhere or we can continue pretending that rail transit doesn't make a difference. Regional Transportation District 1600 Blake Street Denver, Colorado 80202-1399 303/628-9000 NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Exclusively for Passenger Transport Wednesday, May 17, 2006 CONTACT: SCOTT REED (303) 299-2137 (Office) (303) 461-2015 (Pager) Denver: Economy Alive and Thriving with T-REX Project By Georgann Fisher and Allison Hodge, Regional Transportation District Denver, Colorado –The Regional Transportation District (RTD), in partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), will soon complete the largest multi-modal, design-build project in the United States. On November 17, 2006, the metro Denver area will celebrate the grand opening of the Southeast Light Rail and seventeen miles of major highway improvements. Construction for the Transportation Expansion (T-REX) Project began in 2001. The Southeast Light Rail will add an additional 19 miles of double track light rail and will connect with the existing light rail lines The light rail will connect the two largest business districts of the entire metro Denver area. Thirteen new stations are being constructed as part of the T-REX Project. Twelve stations have parking facilities, while one is a neighborhood station with no additional parking. Thirty-four new light rail vehicles will have been added to RTD’s existing fleet with the completion of the Southeast Light Rail. With more light rail cars means more maintenance, therefore the innovative and awardwinning Elati Light Rail Maintenance facility was constructed as part of the T-REX Project. In addition to light rail, 17 miles of highway improvements are being made as part of the project. These improvements include additional lanes on I-25 and I-225, replacement or major improvements to area bridges and interchanges, inside and outside shoulder improvements, and drainage. The partnership between the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), RTD and CDOT is unprecedented. Together these four agencies agreed to work together in a similar manner that embodies the “One DOT” approach. RTD, CDOT and the federal management team coordinated all efforts on T-REX. All four agencies agreed to the project goals which are: minimize inconvenience to the public, provide for a quality project, meet or beat the total program budget, and meet or beat the schedule to be fully operational by June 30, 2008. Indeed the project is well on its way to achieving each of these goals. The project remains within budget and will be complete twenty months earlier than originally anticipated. Construction is scheduled to be complete September 1 and the new Southeast Light Rail will open November 17. It is the first time a project combining highway and light rail elements into one single project in the same corridor has been accomplished in the United States. The total project budget is $1.67 billion with approximately $879 million dedicated to the light rail component and $795 million for the highway. No increases to existing or new taxes were implemented due to T-REX. Forty percent of the light rail is funded by RTD and local match funds from various municipalities and jurisdictions. The rest of the light rail is funded through a FTA $525 million Full Funding Grant Agreement. The highway elements are funded through bonding future federal gas tax allocations. The T-REX Project has already been greatly beneficial to the metro Denver economy and will continue to foster its growth and vitality for decades to come. Once complete, the T-REX corridor will connect two of Denver’s largest employment centers. The light rail will provide passengers with an affordable transportation option, making it easier for businesses to recruit and retain employees. The T-REX design-build contractor, Southeast Corridor Constructors (SECC), is a major employer in Denver. During T-REX, SECC, along with RTD and CDOT, has provided employment to over 1,300 project employees including jobs in construction, engineering, planning, and community relations. More than 70 percent of these employees were hired locally. T-REX has contributed approximately $980 million to the Denver economy. Through April 2006, $182 million has been paid in SECC wages, $288 million has been spent on services and supplies, and $565 million has been spent on subcontractors. Currently, SECC is conducting business with over 250 companies, 79% of which are with established Colorado offices. Once the project is complete, RTD will recruit for additional jobs for continued operations including bus and light rail operators, service and cleaning crews, fare inspectors, and maintenance staff. Several Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) are in progress or being planned for the Southeast region. TODs are compact, mixed-use developments situated at or around transit stops that are planned in conjunction with local municipalities. Comprised of housing, office, neighborhood retail, and civic uses, these transit villages are jointly developed with the private sector and are carefully designed to be pedestrian-friendly, human-scale communities. This type of development is planned in many areas along the T-REX corridor and will contribute even further to the economy by creating more jobs, increasing property values, and increasing tax revenues for local municipalities and governments. Transit has a very bright future in Colorado. In November 2004, Denver metro voters passed four-tenths of a percent sales tax increase to fund a massive transit build-out through a ballot initiative called FasTracks. FasTracks is a 12-year plan to dramatically expand RTD’s high quality transit system and facilities in the region. The plan calls for 137 additional miles of rapid transit, 57 additional transit stations, 21,213 additional parking spaces at transit park-n-Rides, and enhanced bus service throughout the region. It will contribute to economic growth through business and job attraction and expansion. Denver continues to receive recognition for being one of the most livable cities in America. With the population expected to increase by nearly one million in the next twenty years, it is important to provide a transit system that contributes positively to a growing area and thriving economy. RTD is playing an important role by providing an efficient system that carries people where they need to go, encourages business expansion and relocation, contributes to greater wealth by attracting new business enterprises, increases tax revenues, and creates new employment opportunities for people of the Denver metro region # # # Here's a link to the Fastracks graphic, an 8mb file. Very detailed, it even provides where the funds are proposed to come from to pay for the plan. http://www.rtd-denver.com/Projects/Fact_Sheets/FastracksFacts.pdf This Denver-area commuter rail study (366k file) illustrates how citizens participating in a study process are planning to focus future development around rail transit and combat sprawl. http://www.rtd-denver.com/Projects/LongmontStudy/pdfDocs/Final_Report_Executive_Summary.pdf Hope to see many of you at the July 19 meeting.

The Buffalo numbers are actually quite remarkable. Their single rail line is just 6.4 miles long. Metro Rail is free above ground in the downtown area. Proof of payment is needed to travel underground, fare is $1.50. Proof-of-payment can be a valid: Metro Rail Ticket, Metro Pass, Transfer from a connector bus. BTW, the numbers quoted above are a bit off. The latest report from NFTA says Buffalo's light rail line on its 21st anniversary (May 18, 1985 opening) is carrying 23,000 riders each weekday. That compares with RTA's 9,900 Blue/Green/Waterfront line average weekday riders reported for May 2006. Also of interest to transit geeks like me is that Buffalo is studying returning cars to the downtown Main Street right-of-way that for the past 21 years has been exclusively for the light rail cars. http://www.buffaloplace.com/aboutus/planning/returnoftraffic.html Anyways, free ridership areas in places like Buffalo and Portland certainly help boost ridership. Best local evidence is RTA's downtown Trolleys, although it's hard to tell what ridership effect the new vehicles, more practical routing, and better service frequencies had relative to the free ride. I know eliminating the farebox has made operations a lot zippier.

http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/resources/more/vuchic_letter/ Open letter to USDOT Secretary Mineta from Univ. Penn. engineering professor Vukan Vuchic. Dr. Vuchic is a highly-regarded transportation expert. He slaps Norm's face pretty well with his remarks. There are lessons from this for Ohio Hub too.

As you may know other cities have passenger railcars with two boarding height options, i.e. low and high platform. RTA can go this route someday. I'm told the refurbed Breda cars won't last as long as people think. Even still, it wouldn't be that difficult or costly to modify them to board at Red Line platforms. RTA has already tested running them to the Airport and the car fits.

There's something else at play here. The one dude called it his "Zen" time. For some family types, working late and spending all those hours in the car seeks to avoid the customary relationship problems many of us experience. And yes, the automobile "cocoon" is a great insulator from the people you find on public transit, whether it be airlines or the city bus. My 12 year-old son and I recently experienced a Greyhound bus trip to Philly. As a private pilot (not instrument rated - yet), my initial desire to fly - about 3 hours each way - to Wings Field just outside Philly. But forecast rains on the day of return quashed that idea. Amtrak and its crazy schedules were totally out of the question. That left driving, commercial airlines or not going. I was in no mood to drive and wasn't going to shell out big $$s for last min. airline tickets. So we went Greyhound and left the driving to them. Other than a very long (3 hr) layover in Pgh. the trip was uneventful. Well, except for the bus breaking down en route to Cleveland. Fortunately, it happened at the Harrisburg bus terminal, where we easily switched buses. In Pgh. I shared that story and the station attendant said, "that's nothin'!" She and two other drivers experienced breakdowns of the same coach three days in one week, with it stopping in front of the same lady's rural area house EACH TIME. The lady was understandably upset and phoned GH to complain, saying her street was not a parking lot for brokedown buses. My son and I still enjoyed the sights and somehow managed the fitful sleep, even when boarding a crowded through bus to our destination prevented us from sitting next to one another. After our Pgh. layovers I told my son we wouldn't be riding Greyhound again. And let me tell you, Cleveland's GH station is the Ritz Carlton compared with Philly's, Harrisburg's and Pittsburgh's! Those are awful places compared with our beautiful art deco station that is still kept to very clean standards years after its renovation. I wonder what the Chicago Megabus is like. Anyone tried it yet?

I think KJP would make an outstanding pro writer! peabody99, as KJP indicated those were not apparitions! RTA agreed to store 9 trolleys from the Trolleyville collection. 2 were already on the property stemming from a trolley weekend during 2003. People came from all over the U.S. to ride and photograph cars 36 and 303 that used to run over Chicagoland interurban lines some 50+ years ago. For the event RTA allowed them to run over its Waterfront Line for the public. A shakedown run for pols and the media had the cars going out on the Blue and Green lines. That was a gas! Lots more info at http://www.lsery.org/ And if able, please donate to their cause. Greater Cleveland has the chance to become THE premier venue for scenic railroad and trolleycar operations. Toss in regional/commuter rail someday and this place will really jump. Speaking of educating the public and elected officials, did anyone see these survey results? http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=638 Speaking of regional/commuter rail there's this bit of important news. http://www.apta.com/passenger_transport/thisweek/060501_1.cfm

BTW, Toronto's street-running railcars don't provide much of a difference over their buses. They get stuck in traffic like anything else. However, they are pretty much emission-free, meaning they contribute no harmful gases to the environment. Cleveland is a non-attainment area and as of now, there are no solutions in sight. More rides taken by rail v. bus would do more to clean up the air.

Given the stranglehold that oil is putting on major bus transit operations like RTA's nationwide, it's no wonder that many cities are scrambling to expand their rail networks. A single railcar can carry between 2 and 2.5 as many people as a standard bus with essentially the same labor cost: one operator. Some cities have rapid transit lines where one-operator, one-conductor trains carry many hundreds of passengers (DC, Atlanta). While buses play a major role in those cities, the rail systems aren't as directly affected by increasing petrol costs. From RTA's website: Expenditures – where the money goes 69.0 percent, personnel services 10.9 percent, fuel/utilities 08.2 percent, transfers 04.5 percent, materials and supplies 02.5 percent, liabilities and damages 01.5 percent, purchased transportation 00.6percent, other expenses A related statistic is that in 2004, RTA rail ridership productivity was far higher than for bus: 54.4 rail passenger boardings/veh. hour versus 26.3 bus passenger boardings/veh. hour. Total Veh. Hrs. in 2004: rail 143,126 bus 1.706 million. If more of those boardings could be shifted to rail, RTA could theoretically carry more people for less cost. That's the principal reason many German cities replace bus lines with rail lines once the line has reached a certain volume. I'd say that volume has existed for some time on a number of RTA's top-ten highest ridership bus routes. Plus we all know someone who would never be caught dead on a transit bus, but they'd ride a railcar. Ride quality, average speed and image have a lot to do with that. Other Fun Facts on why transit needs to grow: http://www.apta.com/media/facts.cfm

To reach the 2005 annual report: * Click on www.riderta.com/ar_publications-annual_report.asp * Or go to www.riderta.com, then select About RTA > Publications > 2005 Annual Report. To read "Transit 2025", RTA's long-range plan: * Click on www.riderta.com/ar_transit2025.asp * Or go to www.riderta.com, then select About RTA > Transit 2025

And even tho' they run frequently enough a timetable isn't needed all that much, but just in case: Route 61 E-Line http://www.riderta.com/schedules/rt61wk.html Route 62 B-Line http://www.riderta.com/schedules/rt62wk.html And the 147 has changed to be the 47 and runs on Prospect, so downtown has much better loop coverage http://www.riderta.com/schedules/rt47wk.html