joethejalapeno

I took a long break from UrbanOhio, but I posted here some a few years back. I was intrigued by the post, I guess probably by the indefatigable KJP, just up above a bit in this thread, about the possibility of RTA cars that can operate on all of RTA's track. I took quite an interest a few years ago in the idea of one-seat rail trips from the Shaker Lines to University Circle. At the time I was worked at CWRU but I no longer am, and I never lived in Shaker. But lots of CWRU faculty live in Shaker and there were some who professed to be interested in riding transit but whom it was difficult to motivate to try their 2 main options: Getting off rail at Shaker Square and switching to a bus; and riding the Shaker Lines to E 55th -- which overshoots their destination -- and doubling back on the Red Line. One thing I thought was worth noting was that the doubling-back could be reduced if it were possible to use the segment of track that spurs south from the Red Line just east of E 79th, and intersects the Shaker tracks a little bit south of there. I don't know if I posted about it here, but I consulted some knowledgable people and what really ruled this out as far as a one-set trip was that the same cars could not operated on both lengths of track. Could this be possible if the interoperable cars become a reality? The trains would still be going out of their way to the west, but less so than if they had to go all the way to E 55th. I'd be interested in reading replies from anyone with an interest in this. Thanks

CWRU offers parking, RTA discounts to employees earning less than $50,000/year http://thedaily.case.edu/news/?p=40292 ....."Given that some ride the bus and/or rapid trains to work, the option of half-price passes from the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority also was added for those earning $50,000 or less per year. Because of funding considerations, employees may choose only one of the two options"

Hello anyone esp KJP: I "heard" (from the sibling of an RTA engineer) that newly manufactured rail cars kickback electricity from their brakes, and RTA's substations are not equipped to capture and store this power...comment?

This morning's (Fri 10/24) Weekly Regional Roundtable at 90.3 at 9:00 gave some decent verbage to transit around minutes 25-30 and ~40 of this 50-minute talk: http://ideastream.org/soi/entry/65372 This is the regular Friday talkfest of the 5-day-a-week 9:00-10:00 show. I listen fairly often (especially online later that night) and I think this reaches a significant # of people who are potentially sympathetic yet don't usually tune into UrbanOhio or GCBL blog, etc.

I encourage everyone NOT to fill out ODOT's "transit survey". It looks like an attempt to "educate" us that we "can't afford" transit, and/or to gather "data" showing that the public wants things we "can't afford". Where is the button saying I vote to increase transit funding?

Thanks for everyone's interest. JetDog -- down in the bottom right of the upper/printed side, it's stamped "593217" -- is that the batch number or anything else that helps?

Yes mistakes happen -- I meant "fare computer" but I hope it was also a "fair computer" :->

Quick heads-up esp. to RTA employees on UO: I bought several 5-ride cards from RideRta.com some months ago. At least 2 of them had (1-1-2016) printed on them as an expiration date, but were actually encoded in the mag-stripe to expire the 1st of this year -- I confirmed this when an RTA driver read the coding on fair computer on the bus. Mistakes happen of course, but I wanted to let you know.

Can anyone tell me if there is still a scheduled bus stop for the westbound #7 at the corner of Coventry and Hampshire Rd? The circular RTA stop sign disappeared some time back; but there is still a Cleveland Heights sign referring to a bus stop, and the drivers will usually stop for you there if they see you. Thanks.

A pane of glass of the solar RTA shelter at Mayfield and Coventry has been shattered. Can we get this replaced ASAP -- to send a message, as well as to have it fixed? Was thought given before installing these as to making them extra shatter-resistant, or could that be done now? If not, was it naive not to?

A sign at the shiny solar bus shelter at the NW corner of Mayfield and Coventry seems to indicate that both the 7 and the 9 routes stop there. In my experience, the 7 does *not* stop on Mayfield west of Coventry, because it turns on Coventry on its way to going down Euclid Heights Blvd toward the Cedar-University Rapid station. Is this sign wrong/misleading, or is a change in the 7's route in the works?

Sorry if this is a random thread for this. Can anyone, perhaps someone with the initials KJP, tell me who owns the tracks that run through the intersection of Miles and E 131st? I'm trying to help a professor who is trying to help kids in the Corlett neighborhood walk to school. Thanks much!

Has Shaker and Lee been looked at for TOD? Both corners north of Shaker have grassy real estate. I do see that the NE corner is some kind of nature/historical park, and that the NW quadrant has some electrical switches, or something, back behind that wall. But this intersection is not only on the Rapid, it's bus-accessible to both Cedar-Lee and Lee-Warrensville. Just wondering if that had ever been discussed by anyone with any tools to make it happen?

Is American Greetings' recent locational decision an opportunity to anchor transit services along Detroit Ave and/or I-90 with a new node of workweek demand? Even, perhaps BRT or similar enhancements to the RoWs?

Does Ohio need a purely membership-based, intraurban-transit-focused, statewide advocacy organization to lobby for transit funding in Columbus? (As I understand it, All Aboard is not exclusively INTRA-urban-focused; Ohio Public Transit Association is SYSTEM rather than member-based; other orgs like GCBL are not statewide and/or not entirely transportation focused - Greater Ohio is statewide but not transportation-only, etc.) If 10,000 members statewide could pay a $10/year membership fee, a full-time Columbus-based advocate could be hired? This would be more effective as a sustained operation as opposed to ad hoc flurries of postcards each time public meetings are called to protest RTA's latest threatened cuts.