cleveland1979

What's happening with La Boca?

We agree, an active downtown is great to see. You are correct. Funding is the issue when it comes to providing more service. All the Trolleys are equipped with fare machines. Couldn't RTA establish a reasonable fare for weekend service in lieu of finding some hard-to-find corporate sponsor? Maybe a $1.00 for every ride? Cheaper than a cab! I took a cab from the Warehouse District to East Fourth and it cost be $5.00 (including tip.) Get the hotels on board... make the E-line do more of a B+E-line where it goes down by the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.... I think $1.00-$2.00 per ride is reasonable... run it every 15 minutes or so... or less if you have to.

Is there any talk about starting weekend Trolley service in downtown again? I was down there today and between the Warehouse District, East Fourth, Theater District and CSU, there were quite a few people out and about. Good to see!

I was downtown today... the bus not only honked twice while it was turning but it also had the automated announcement which didn't even completely play as the bus plowed down Superior at seemingly 45 MPH! I love this weather... I can walk, but I must endure downtown Cleveland's new soundtrack.

Now THAT was well stated... :clap:

I think everyone should keep in mind that even though RTA would like to discipline their driver's for such behavior, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 268, simply prevents anything serious from ever happening to these drivers. An extreme example, look at Angela Williams, the RTA driver who struck a pedestrian on June 17, 2006 and was fired... the union filed a grievance and RTA had to re-hire her. That same driver, almost 3 years later, mowed down and killed a pedestrian in Public Square. A slap on the wrist is about as much as we can hope for, because anything more than that and the union will push back.

When my friends and I rode the train last weekend we overheard and saw many people making fun of the announcements; especially the "no one wants to hear what you are having for dinner" bit. I think, and many others that I have talked with think, that the announcements need to be shorter and to the point; announce the station, say a quick blurb about no food or drink on the train, quick blurb about noise related to cell and mp3 use, and if it is a touristy station (Tower City, 25th, and University Circle) mention near by attractions. Also, a lot of people dislike the guys voice. Overall, too much is trying to be said and I don't want to hear announcements the entire way to a station (like from Tower City to 25th and 25th to 65th). The announcements, no matter how Mr. Masek spins it, are a complete joke. I'm not sure who implemented this entire thing, but a trip to nearby Chicago's CTA could provide some much-needed insight as to how these announcements should be handled. Quick and to the point! It's not necessary make clever jokes about someone's cell phone dinner conversation, or even announce the "popular" areas of each neighborhood. How many tourists do we have riding our transportation system that would warrant such a thing? In any case, these announcements are doing nothing to improve the ride on RTA... they're simply making a mockery of it.

Public transit in NE Ohio is pretty expensive if you depend on it for your primary mode of transportation... and luckily, I don't either!

Maybe RTA is upset how everyone on this board unanimously opposed their automated announcements. I'm not sure what the best venue is to provide feedback to RTA these days, because I have sent repeated emails to their website feedback form and those have presumably been lost in cyberspace. There is no acknowledgment to our concerns on this board as of late. Perhaps the best way is to simply march into their office and demand to be heard.

I would never put my luggage in that ridiculous luggage area on the RTA trains... even if the train were packed! I love how you were asked to do this, even as the train was more than likely littered with McDonald's wrappers and Coke cans. Priorities, priorities. (I really like the idea posted above with the luggage area moved closer to the seats!)

"Caution, there is a train moving inordinately slow along the tracks... Caution!"

Don't strain too hard, it's definitely not worth hearing. I would rather listen to the mumbling train operator announce the stops.

Let's make this clear, Calabrese & Friends have not proven these talking buses improve safety.

I'm from Portland... I hope the city doesn't ruin its excellent, pleasant downtown areas with talking and beeping buses. And I hope The Oregonian corrects its error in the article about the RTA casualty rate.

I think this is pure assumption coming from KJP... I haven't seen nor heard anyone say these automated announces are being put into place because of union stipulations. And even if they were, it doesn't take away any part of their absurdity. I have sent several email complaints to RTA via their website feedback form, and even called their customer line to voice my opinions. The woman who took my complaint over the phone had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned "talking buses." She must not even take RTA. But seemingly she took my complaint... I just hope it gets put into the right hands.

The more RTA's budget gets cut, the louder the buses get! I hesitated to post about this, because all I have been doing is b*tching about RTA lately, but after reading the above posts, I couldn't resist... we recently had lunch at Barley House. What a mistake that was! Barley House is the restaurant (with an outdoor patio!) that is across from RTA's World Headquarters on West 6th. All we heard was that Trolley pulling away from its stop with that annoying woman saying something like, "Stand clear, the bus is turning!" The announcement was so loud (the bus stop is only about a 100 feet away) that it would almost interrupt our conversation, and the frequency those Trolleys stopped there forced us to listen to that announcement every 5 to 10 minutes! The bus wasn't even really turning, it was simply pulling away from the West 6th street stop and entering traffic, so presumably their blinker was activated or the steering wheel was turned a certain percentage. I made a comment to the waitress at Barley House and she said the bus just started making those noises. Little did she know was that the Trolleys were probably the last vehicles to be infected by the virus that is RTA's talking bus program. What Calabrese and his assistants think is "innovative thinking" has quickly become one of the biggest annoyances of this city.

I take mass transit most of the places I travel, and I've never seen the level of concentration of trash, graffiti, cigarettes or whatever, along the train routes than here in Cleveland. But yeah, Clevelanders are surely not the only ones who litter like this... there must be something different other transit systems are doing.

Well when one has such a tough time getting their ticket, it sort of tarnishes the experience from the get-go, at least for me. First impressions are everything. And when I have to ask a few young thugs who are leaning against the machines to move, then I have to crouch down and even then I have difficulty navigating the interface, I'd rather just get in my car and drive! I used to live downtown but now I moved within walking distance of the West Blvd transit station which resembles something from a war-torn country... why even bother having escalators when they've never worked? And RTA should be embarrassed by the amount of garbage near the platform, not to mention the hundreds of cigarettes between the tracks. ONE RTA representative (transit cop maybe?) walking the station could alleviate some of these problems.

Well that sounds encouraging, but with all these employees riding the lines, what's being done to address some of these issues that keep getting brought up on these boards? I can't imagine Calabrese runs over to the train station and crouches down on his knees in order to buy a bus pass every time. I HOPE not! I'm assuming all the RTA employees simply flash their badge and continue on their way, avoiding the layers of confusion this fare system is plagued with. Ease of use should be one of the top priorities... RTA is fine for veteran riders who have somehow come to accept these shortcomings, but unless you have 5 DUIs, are unemployed and broke or are too old to drive, I can't imagine anyone NEW joining this system after they try it out once or twice. I REALLY want it to be better, I want this transit system to resemble parts of the stuff I've seen in Portland, Chicago, DC, etc. We almost get there, but it's always an "ALMOST get there." But after my experience last week aboard that Red Line heading to the airport, I'm not going to recommend to my friends they save a few bucks by taking the train... I'll probably just drive 'em! What we really need are some fresh eyes looking at how the system operates and improving (streamlining) it for new and existing riders. I know some cheap consultants... they're already on this board! :yap:

That is a great idea! RTA needs someone who can put a new rider's perspective to some of these decisions BEFORE they are released to the public. I wonder if RTA's upper management even uses the their own transit system on a daily basis (other than maybe the downtown Trolley) because I can't imagine how some of these things get rolled out and continue in "disrepair" for an inordinate amount of time.

Filling concrete on Euclid is the least of their problems right now.

I was also surprised that RTA doesn't have anyone at the airport location... because the room they usually sat it looked like a dark cave. It was also that way when we returned three days later around 4pm. Why not at least have a representative at the airport during peak hours? It seems like that airport location is such a missed opportunity, and one of the places you'd want to make the most polished. There is very little signage throughout the airport and the dark room the attendant used to sit it almost makes it look like the area is out of service. RTA had about a million of those "Best Public Transportation in N. America" signs printed up, but I didn't see ONE at the airport... seems to me that would be THE place you'd put that kind of marketing. But after I caught the train at the West Blvd station and had such a nasty experience, I didn't feel too sorry for RTA... part of me wanted to warn others to avoid it...

So I took the Red Line to the airport a few days ago from the West Blvd. station. My friend (who I persuaded to join me on this money-saving "let's take the Red Line" alternative to parking at the airport) and I arrived around noon. A few thugs with their pants nearly around their ankles are leaning against the two ticket machines, preventing us from getting our tickets. After I ask them to move, I nearly have to kneel on the ground to line my eyes up with the on-screen selections. Why do the machines DEFAULT to 'Senior Citizen/Disabled" because it's basically an additional keystroke for the other 95% of us who have to crouch down and make the cursor move to the right. I understand why at least one of the machines has to be at the horizontal level of a 3 year old, but can't the other machine be elevated for an average adult to see more clearly? And the screens reflect so much light and the type is so small that....... ok, I could go on and on about those ridiculous machines. Anyways, we finally get our tickets and walk down the broken escalators to the train platform and wait alongside what basically looks like a canal of garbage lining the tracks. More thugs walk up and down, spitting on the platform and occasionally flicking a cigarette onto the tracks. A couple of them are cursing at each other about a text message and another guy is playing music on his cell phone. My friend and I are looking at each other with this sarcastic, "what a great way of starting a vacation" sort of thing. Once onboard, the train repeatedly stopped every 100 feet or so... someone has explained this to me as an alert to prevent the trains from getting too close to each other? It was happening so frequently that I started to laugh... almost predicting when the train would brake again. Meanwhile, the automated announcer track was telling us what the next stop was and the major points of interest. How many tourists are taking the RTA trains, listening to these announcements and upon hearing a clever piece a trivia about a particular stop, jump off the train and explore the neighborhood? I don't know how much of this is RTA's problem or what, but it was a really awkward, unpleasant way of getting to the airport to save a few bucks.

Bumping up as I would like to receive a reply by someone at RTA, if possible. Several people agreed with my post, which I am reposting in case it was missed. Unfortunately, R&R, I think we know by now RTA is a fan of their announcements and talking buses. It's a shame.

Undoubtedly the union is just as bad, if not worse, as high gas prices when it comes to the health of RTA. Gas prices fluctuate. But the selfish union, with its inflated salaries, benefits and power is a constant... I say again, such a shame.