clvlndr

Glad to see movement.

The RTA board has been quiet lately (save the on-going Public Square mess, which is trivial compared to RTA's funding issues) which is bad. I wish we could see progress on finding a funding solution (preferably long-term), to fend off more severe service cuts. After recent service cutting, the system currently is just a shell of what it should be, and any more cuts may seriously undermine RTA's viability as an even partially effective big-city transit network. The silence leads me to believe nothing's really happening on the funding front. In this case, no news is bad news and presents the image that nobody (local official-wise) cares enough to do anything now that our supposedly moderate gov Kasich has definitely stated re increasing funding: Ohio transit systems, drop dead.

Williams status as a power forward/small forward "tweener" has been used against him in the past. But I think he could be big enough and versatile enough to spell LeBron and RJ for periods, as well as run with Lue's new Cavs' 'Death Lineup' version Chris Fedor noted: LeBron, Jefferson, Williams, Korver, and Frye -- shortest guy is 6'7". ... I did note LeBron's minutes for Denver dropped to 33. I didn't see the 2nd half of the game, but I suspect part of that could be more due to the fact the Cavs were blowing out Denver more so than Williams' presence, but I could be wrong. Bottom line: I, like LeBron, really like the Williams pickup. He's a talented misfit that hasn't found the right team until, perhaps now, who we gave up nothing for.

TOD is nice to see.

She might stand a chance if enough people voted early and often. Chris Ronayne, absolutely. He's been a success in the 2 public positions he's held -- it was he, as Jane Campbell's planning director, who oversaw one of her few successes: Fairmount/Wolstein commitment to FEB toward the end of Jane's tenure in 2005 (it took 8 years, lawsuits, financing hurdles and even threatened eminent domain for FEB to materialize, but it was more than worth the wait)... And we don't even have to talk about how Ronayne transformed UC's Euclid/Mayfield rundown retail district of extensive surface parking into the bustling/walkable/growing Uptown urban paradise of today -- and before Ronayne, RTA had been hinting of closing its lightly-used E. 120 Red Line station, but Chris got parties together to encourage development and RTA to move the thing to Mayfield/Little Italy -- a seemingly small feat that CTS/RTA couldn't pull off for 60 years!-- that's worked out pretty well, I think; in less than 2 years, it's even spawning rare Cleveland TOD. Nina Turner? Love her politics, her passion and her grass-roots cultivation, but I'm not as sure as her fitness for the mayor's job. She's obviously bright woman and I'm certainly not saying she can't do the job, but being a state senator does not pose near the challenges and headaches of running a major city, especially one with the obstacles (poverty, unemployment, poor schools, aging infrastructure, dilapidated housing, mass transit cuts/poor service, crime, etc, etc) facing Cleveland. Plus, as has been alluded to, Turner seems to be looking for a larger, national platform. She's obviously become a national figure via MSNBC and other media outlets that have made her a power broker in progressive politics. I think her bolting Hillary for Bernie and having Jill Stein court her for veep (causing the Dems from barring her from the podium at the DNC) have all been forgiven.

OK, it's easy to dump on Jackson because of how he/the city handled the RTA-Public Square debacle. To me both he and RTA's Joe Calabrese are both culpable in the great project, gone sour -- RTA's contract with FTA about through bus lanes as well as RTA's added expense for the round-the-Square routing should have been seriously taken into account way ahead of time with a compensation plan for RTA devised to cover its losses. Jackson's comments about terrorism re closing the Square made him look even more foolish... ... but let's not develop sudden amnesia to all the good Jackson has done especially regarding downtown development. Has he been 100% perfect? No. But his administration both gotten in front of development and out of the way, when needed, in encouraging the huge momentum this city has experienced, including Public Square despite the current RTA mess. And the cherry on top was his handling/coordinating with all parties, including the cops, RNC week last summer which was not only peaceful, but left reporters from around the world singing the praises of what a great city Cleveland is as well as it being so highly organized -- Frank has got to get the lion's share credit for this-- ultimately, he was Coordinator-in-Chief. (Cleveland ran rings around Philadelphia where grumpy reporters had the exact opposite reaction to that (much more high-profile) city's handling of the DNC one week later)... and Frank didn't just sit back in City Hall; both he and his police chief were on the ground, out on Public Square every day overseeing the festivities, making sure things were going right... All this didn't just suddenly materialize out of the ether... We non-Millenials are old enough to remember all too well past Cleveland mayors (no names, please...) who grandstanded, got in the way and thwarted development and progress and even embarrassed our city nationally. Cleveland in the past 5, 6 years has made more developmental progress downtown and key neighborhoods than I've seen in my lifetime, and Frank has been the Man in the Chair while it's all unfolded. ... the Square/RTA debacle aside, Frank has tended to be a wise and calming voice leading City Hall... schools, poverty/jobs and even addressing RTA's flaws and crisis-level lack of financing, are some of the areas I have issues with Frank. But let's not suddenly act like he's been some total, incompetent doofus who been a dark storm cloud hovering over and impeding this City... The man hasn't served his record term in office without reason; quite obviously a lot of people like what he's been doing.

Hopkins-San Diego should be very interesting. Outside of a few December flights for a few years, I don't think UA or CO had scheduled service there. Charlotte - American hub Minneapolis - Delta hub Houston/Intercontinental - United hub Not quite sure what Frontier is doing there but they have the numbers to justify it I guess. It's also kind for strange Pittsburgh has international service to Iceland, Frankfurt and Paris but only has a handful of flights to SF/LA. Meanwhile, Cleveland has no service to Europe but flights to San Diego/Portland/Seattle and alot of service to SF/LA. Meanwhile Frontier quietly dropped its Cleveland-to-Philadelphia route meaning, good bye $76 round trips home. Thanks a ton Frontier!!

Ugly. I thought this would be a "fun" regular season, but it's almost as hard to watch as last year, if not harder. He needs to take a couple weeks off, like he did last season. Not a bad idea.

LeBron's movie 2 years ago applies to the Cavs, currently, because they're a total train wreck. LeBron is playing like he's both burned out and pissed off. We're getting little from the bench; missing free throws an absurd pace; silly/lazy turnovers and the total inability to get stops when needed.

looks like most or all of them, including the 2013 mnrr engineer crasher, are from the looks of them, older, out of shape guys claiming sleep apnea: http://www.amny.com/transit/engineer-s-sleep-texts-diet-to-be-scrutinized-in-lirr-crash-1.12887509 Interesting. I would have thought passenger train engineers were subjected to tough physical scrutiny like (I believe) airline pilots are BEFORE THE FACT. Certainly new rules need to be put in place as a preventive measure.

Let's see if Stark will build first in downtown Pittsburgh or Cleveland. Hopefully Beacon/515 will break ground soon, so the answer would be the latter.

^You're welcome... and I didn't say it was this time of year. :wink:

Excellent photo + essay by KJP, as usual... ... I get that CVSR is a tourist rail and not a commuter rail operation. It's for enjoyment for people who want to access the park, mainly. However, apparently some people commute via the trains now. I'm aware of some UA students who park at Valley View and train into class. Apparently this, and some other commuter uses aren't uncommon.

^actually I got it reversed, it's pay board Eastbound, pay leave, Westbound... I grew up with this riding the old Shaker Rapid; I should know it better.

POP on the Red Line was definitely a step forward. The Red Line now runs with a 2-car base at all times, which gives the system more flexibility... Before POP, during off peak hours, the Red Line operated with single cars with front-door boarding. Not only was service slower because of this 1-man/woman driver/fare counter operations with single-file commuter boarding, these 1-car trains were often crowded, with standees, when flash crowds showed up... ... but RTA's education to the public about POP has been terrible. Passengers are often confused by the fact of traditional turnstile barricades at Tower City but then, nowhere else, and the fact the Blue/Green/Waterfront Lines are pay on board, and then with the wacko pay board, Westbound, pay leave, Eastbound... Unless you're a regular, it's easy to understand the confusion.

While riding the NEC this past December, I noticed Amtrak is slowly setting up catenary upgrades in central New Jersey. Some new supports are in place.

^I sure hope not. I'd rather have Taylor anyway.

^The Beachland Ballroom Line!?

Editorial: The benefits of extending Metro Rail will be worth taking up the challenge Metro Rail extension to Amherst – or anywhere, really – has always seemed more fantasy than possibility. Because of the city’s resurgence and a governor committed to building on it, it might very well get done. Now, more than in decades, there is a sense of hope in Western New York. New jobs in clean energy are coming online where steel mills once stood. The financial sector is going strong and IBM wants to bring new hires to its downtown offices. And let’s not forget the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, which will soon see an influx of students and workers. https://buffalonews.com/2017/01/16/editorial-benefits-extending-metro-rail-will-worth-taking-challenge/

^Good for Scene. Yeah, their expanded rapid-rail network may be an imaginary pipe-dream, but at least Scene is thinking about expanded mass transit, unlike most people/media/leaders in Cleveland.

Awesome photo. It totally captures the down-to-earth nature of Joe Biden... I actually had the honor of shaking hands with him on an Amtrak train to D.C. back in the late 1980s while he was just returning to his duties in the Senate after his near-death aneurysm. He was skinny as a rail, but had his textbook warmth and smile; he greeted everyone and, of course, we all were happy he had survived. The fact Joe has suffered so many family tragedies he's shared publicly while, yet, keeping his same positive and friendly demeanor is a large part of what makes him special in my book.

I agree. People are fixated on this one issue -- not that it's unimportant, because it is -- but there seems to be less concern about the more important fact that the system is broke now, about to receive huge cuts because of the loss Medicate sales tax revenue, while our stingy, transit-hating governor says there's nothing more (than the peanuts the system already gets from the State) coming.

Zach Reed has strongly suggested he will run on his Twitter account, but as he and Jeff are usually allies, that may be questionable now. As I've said here, I knew Jeff in college and he's a good guy who's smart as hell and focused. I recognize that he (and Reed) have to say things when I am pretty sure they know better. I'd vote for either over Jackson. I've known Jeff for some time but lost touch. However we reconnected at the Hillary rally at Luke Easter Park this past Labor Day. I too think he's a smart, stand-up guy who is passionate about what he believes. It's unfortunate that he got himself caught up in stupid stuff (illegal campaign contributions) that sent him to 5 months in a halfway house as a convicted felon. We all make mistakes; Jeff has made amends and Ohio has reinstated his law license. I'd be willing to vote for him.

I don't really think anyone "just abandoned" Buffalo Metro Rail. There is a relentless narrative that the subway line has not been successful but no evidence of that being true. The poorly designed downtown transit mall, where the train emerges from the subway and travels through downtown at street level, was never a design success, but the block-by-block return of one lane of car traffic in each direction (the same lanes that are used by the trains), a process that also includes new stations and the removal of many of the unattractive mid-80s flourishes, has started to transform lower Main Street. I think Buffalo is a bit behind Cleveland in its downtown renaissance, but certain successful parts of town like Allentown and Elmwood Avenue are not recent phenomena. Elmwood has been a great street for at least 50 years. While I'm not wild about the downtown mall portion, Buffalo's subway was better designed than most, including Cleveland's, as it goes directly up the main artery to the edge of the City -- something Cleveland has been trying to do for decades, the last failure being the 1990s initiative leading to the Health Line... And for it's 6.4 mile length and Buffalo's smaller size, it performs well passenger-wise. For an initial system like that to have no extensions, nor serious proposals for such, in 32 years, sure seems like abandonment to me. Most every city advances past a starter line; even in older, Rust Belt cities of economic and population decline, like St. Louis. Buffalo, though smaller, seems similar to Cleveland; but the fact is, most cities are experiencing forms of recovery in their downtowns and certain close-in neighborhoods. Rail transit in older, more conservative Midwestern cities, needs a strong champion to expand. Cleveland lacks one and really foolishly risks hurting its overall momentum by thumbing its nose at its transit system, both bus and rail. The new urban dwellers want quality transit along with walkable neighborhoods.. Until Andrew Cuomo came along with this initiative, Buffalo was in the same boat. Let's hope Cuomo is successful.

Maybe after we win, a number of players will boycott the WH visit.