AMN

FYI: I may be a tad late. We're on deadline here and things are not going smoothly. I should be able to make it, though.

See you there!

I would say, by and large, the booth workers are friendly at Rapid stations. The exception is often the airport, which is where the best of the bunch should be, in my opinion. The rotation at the Ohio City booth are pretty good people who remember my face and say hello.

If they follow the protocol from last time, it will be valid for a long time after the switch. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe last time the multi-trip tickets were valid up to a year after date of purchase?

Quality of product and profitability have nothing to do with each other, unfortunately.

Layoffs announced today at WCPN/ideastream and Sun Newspapers. http://www.wcpn.org/WCPN/news/27262/

Is this the brochure, KJP? http://www.riderta.com/pdf/BikeBusTrain.pdf It does a very good job explaining it.

A fare hike would bother me way less if there wasn't also a reduction in service. I understand the numbers. I understand why. As a consumer, there will be a point when it doesn't make sense anymore. And it's very soon if not here already. Once the Circulator is eliminated, I either have to leave 15-20 minutes earlier for work (and get there 20 minutes early) or ride my bike and not use the service. Twenty minutes may not seem like a ton, but that's more than an hour and a half a week. That's time I usually spend giving my dog a long walk, or in the winter hours, straightening up the house so I can have more time on the weekend to be leisurely. That's quality of life. I can't leave early if I get in earlier because I'm a salary slave. And if I get downtown earlier, I won't do something equally enjoyable for 20 minutes to burn off the time. I'll go straight to work because that's the frame of mind I am in once I'm in business attire and headed downtown. It will feel like a waste of time. Plus, I'll no longer get to walk out of Tower City in the morning with a rush of commuters which actually is enjoyable to me and makes me feel more connected to my city. Again, quality of life. Is this the biggest deal in the world? No. Is it a big enough deal for me to settle for driving or riding my bike instead of taking the bus? It may be. I'm leaning toward yes.

Let's keep something else in perspective. When the bus I use second or third most often is eliminated, service is worsened systemwide, why would I pay more for the service? I have hung with them through three disruptions of my service. If the breaking point isn't here yet, it's darn close.

And this shall end my car-free existence, I think. At least my monthly pass ridership. I heavily use one of the circulator routes. I also have been biking more often and can bike to work most days. Sigh.

Yep. I was just basing that on a 20-minute mile pace, which is nearly a saunter. For some reason, saying 8-minute walk sounds totally acceptable to me where 0.4 mile walk sounds like a bit much to ask.

0.4 miles is about an 8ish minute walk for anyone in good health.

Look for a bunch of geeks, or eavesdrop for key words like "port authority," "RTA," "Dimora," "MayDay" or "community development corporation."

Top of Greenhouse sounds cool. To throw out a few more options: * Academy Tavern in Shaker Square. * I really want to check out the Waterloo Cafe, the new tavern in an old building in North Collinwood. * Chuck's Place on the edge of Asiatown. * Harbor Inn in the Flats

I would probably be in for an Aug. 6 outing.

You know they do rent cars. Do the math. I bet you'd save more money renting cars than paying for insurance/maintenance/plates for a year on that car.

I will likely be dropping my monthly pass and paying per ride. The circulator gets heavy usage by me. I've already started biking to make up for some large gaps in service. I'll just add more cycling.

Fixed that for you.

I agree: Winter is an awesome time to be car-free. Maybe not an awesome time to be biking from Shoregate to Mentor. Then again, so long as enough time has passed since the last snowfall to allow the roads to be cleared, it probably isn't all that bad. I know it's doable because I've seen it. The real question: Is it doable for ME? :)

And KJP: You wouldn't consider Mentor a vacation?! OK, maybe you're right. Mentor on the Lake. Now THAT'S a vacation. :wink:

I went on a 12-mile test ride yesterday, and I have to say the bicycle may act as a serious solution to many of my whines about RTA service. At least for 9 months out of the year. I've been doing a lot of running and while it's not the same muscles being worked, it sure has helped stamina since last time I rode. It's really not all THAT hard to get into bicycling shape, considering I'm still not in the ballpark of what anyone would call fit.

Thank you for the response. Mods, feel free to move this little string if it is more appropriate in travel, which it probably is. I feel pretty confident about this. I am going to do a few longer rides this week and then try it out this weekend. I'll just take it slow. Lakeshore gets busy again after 306. I don't think it's too bad right before then. (Thankfully I'll be turning down 306.)

Has anyone ever ridden their bike on Lakeshore blvd from Wickliffe up to Mentor? (7 miles or so.) If so: What is traffic like? Is it accommodating to cyclists? Is it flat or hilly? Is it incredibly windy? I'm thinking about putting my bike on the front of a 39 and taking it to Shoregate (the terminus) and pedaling the rest of the way. This is ambitious because: 1. I have never put my bike on the front of a bus. 2. The most I've ever ridden in a day is 20 miles, so this would put me close to that number. (I'm not an avid cyclist.) 3. While I now feel comfortable riding on downtown streets and most major streets in Cleveland, riding out in Lake County could be a different sort of adventure. I don't know how accustomed they are to cyclists on the road out there. I don't remember many from my time living out there. And the ones I do were on the freaking sidewalks. Any input would be helpful.

Anyone up for an UO audit of the trolley counts? I'll participate.

If I reported that, I'd have to report nearly every driver on the Trolley and the Healthline. I have never seen a driver push the button an accurate number of times. Even when I walk on alone I hear a string of beeps. I can also say some of the decreased ridership on the 81 has nothing to do with job loss but due to the time shift. All I have are isolated anecdotes, but I personally know nine people who now drive because the bus doesn't get them downtown at a convenient time when it did before. Of course there could be new drivers resulted from the shift in scheduling. But there are far, far bigger concerns, like RTA not properly servicing the Waterloo Arts District or top brass mulling (or just threatening — whichever) cutting off a day of weekend service because of the decrease in revenue.