JeTDoG

sweet mother of mercy... it's pictures like these that make me glad I DON'T drive... that first from Shanghai one wasn't a highway, it was a freakin' amusement park ride...

FYI for rail riders... For today, 3/17 only, after 8:00am, Waterfront rail service will be suspended and replaced with shuttle buses. Also, shuttle buses will be supplementing Green Line rail service inbound this morning, making all stops between Green Rd. and Shaker Square, and then continuing downtown directly to Tower City. As of 7:50am, the Green Line is experiencing approximately a 30 minute delay. Please plan your travels accordingly. As of 8:15am, the Green Line is back on schedule. Shuttle buses are now in place as necessary to supplement the line. 12:15pm parking lot status: West Park lot 50% full Puritas lot full Brookpark lot full Triskett lot full W 117 lot full W 98 full More updates will be posted here as they become available, as well as on the riderta.com home page (the top banner now displays multiple headlines in a rotating fashion, with links to more information as appropriate).

In a word, maybe. I know that sounds rather non-committal, and for the time being, it is, because I need to have a further conversation with some folks internally. We have had some staff turnover recently that has changed the reporting responsibility for some of our information systems, and I want to make sure that the transition hasn't introduced any roadblocks. Improved communication has taken on a very prominent place in RTA's priorities lately, and you WILL see improvements forthcoming. Map Boy, you are 100% in the right for wanting good information -- as a user of our services, it's the least we can give you. People, I've found, will even accept lapses in service levels if the existence of such lapses is known about. More often than not, it's a question of figuring out where the correct knowledge is, and how to quickly, effectively get such knowledge distributed, which isn't always as easy as it sounds. Timeliness is also an issue -- if a delay lasts ten minutes, but takes thirty minutes to communicate through the system, then by the time it's been communicated, the delay has ended, and a second communication indicating such (and consuming another 30 minutes) has to take place, lest the wrong (outdated) information continue to be disseminated. More to come, stay tuned...

You can bet those rental prices will be increasing posthaste... probably still economical to rent, but Lowe's/HD have to accurately reflect their operating expense (plus whatever outrageous markup they put on it) in the cost passed onto the customer

$3.459 for regular, $3.559 for premium at E 185 / Neff Rd. Sunoco (Grovewood neighborhood) this morning... disgusting, but not nearly as disgusting as $3.999 for diesel -- I have a friend in Arizona whose brother is an independent OTR trucker, he's gotta be hurting

Wishful thinking? "If you destination-sign it, they will come?" :-) I kid, I kid... I can't speak too much for history as to why this car would have such a destination sign on it (I'm sure it made sense at some point in time -- you have to remember, our heavy rail rolling stock is quite old), but if you happen to see it again, please note down the car number and let us know, and I'm sure we can get it addressed. Making a request to have signage removed/updated in car #123 (for example) tends to yield quicker results than a request that all heavy rail cars be checked for Solon signage (mind you, if it were a system-wide problem, such a request would be perfectly valid, but this appears to be an isolated incident).

On a lighter note, the schedules for spring service adjustments, taking effect March 23, are now available on RTA's Maps & Schedules page, at http://www.riderta.com/maps-schedules.asp. The only schedules that have not yet been published are those for the light and heavy rail, but they should be out within the next day or so. Modifications there will be very slight, and in fact most of this round of changes is minor tweaks, not major adjustments.

The following message has been published on our web site and is currently being distributed to our e-news subscriber list. I encourage you to share it with any appropriate communications channel: Please be advised that, due to the gridlock created by the Public Square water main break, evening rush hour bus service will experience delays of as much as 30 to 45 minutes. These delays will also filter down to routes that serve the suburbs but originate downtown. We recommend that you plan accordingly for any appointments you may have. Full details of the reroutes put in place as result of the water main break can be found at http://www.riderta.com/nu_ridersalerts_list.asp?listingid=997 RTA apologizes for any inconvenience to its customers during this time.

It's strictly a matter of call volume... there's way more calls coming in than we have attendants, and unfortunately, some (many?) of them are calls that can be answered via common sense. If you have 18+ inches of snow drifts on your street, chances are bus service in the area will be delayed until such time as the municipalities can make the streets passable, which is something we have little control over. To report problems that may not require human communication, please use our online feedback form at http://www.riderta.com/feedback/. For anyone in Cleveland proper, if your street hasn't been plowed, you can call the city's Operation Snowbird hotline at 216-664-2510 to report such, as well as any damage that might be done by city plows to treelawns, sidewalks, etc...

Well, that would be me... I just spoke to Barry Wisner (the previously-mentioned west side supervisor whose crews handle these stations), and they are working as fast as they can to clear all west side stations. Between a couple of equipment failures (including a flat tire on a front end loader, never a fun circumstance), the need to remove stuck cars from the parking lot at Triskett, and (legally) parked vehicles that are blocking access to clear the W 25 station entrance, it's slow going, but it will happen.

minor revisions have been posted to the water main break reroutes around Public Square, as the magnitude of the damage is now somewhat better known, and some streets closer to the vicinity of the break have reopened to traffic: http://www.riderta.com/nu_ridersalerts_list.asp?listingid=997

Generally speaking, yes. Ice is anathema to any rail system like ours due to buildup on the overhead catenary (the suspended line) breaking the connection to the pantograph (the retractable assembly on the top of each car that completes the circuit and transfers power to the vehicle). Also, ice on the rails makes climbing the slightest incline difficult, since we're talking smooth steel wheels on a smooth steel rail, which is a relatively low-friction, slippage-prone environment to start with. Snow, on the other hand is fairly easily cleared, doesn't cause as much buildup on the catenary, and can actually be cleared by wind as well as artificial means. Neither one is a particularly good situation, but forced to make a choice, I'd take snow any day. As I write this, I'm watching the tail-end of "Volcano" on AMC, and realizing how much worse things could be :-)...

Please spread the word by any means possible... As of 7:15pm March 8, approximately 75% of RTA's bus fleet is snowbound. Rail is operating with slight delays. While crews will work through the night to restore fleet service to normal operation, we have approximately 40 calls in queue to our towing service for extrication of our vehicles from snow drifts. Service delays are expected to extend through Sunday morning. Further updates will be provided as they become available. I am in continuous communication with our Operation Center, and updated information will be posted to our Riders' Alerts page and linked from our home page.

It appears that Greyhound has launched a competitor to Megabus in the NY-DC corridor... say hello to BoltBus: http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=30&sid=1359669

dude... ever consider decaf??? :-D okay, I'll be going now before I get my a$$ handed to me... seriously, I feel your pain, and even if they have water supply problems, last time I checked, coffee is made with BOILING water... sheesh, the lack of common sense out of some of the knuckle-draggers in this world never ceases to amaze me...

It ain't the weight on top so much as the lack of support from below that causes sinkholes (technically "subsidence", but I'm mincing words) like this. When a subterranean pipe breaks, the high-pressure water literally scours out an underground cavern while seeking a path of escape. Combine that with pre-existing utility access vaults and the like, and you go from "zero to crater" in a matter of seconds or minutes... I'm just very grateful no one was hurt.

The letter from Mr. Calabrese has also been posted on our Riders' Alerts page, and further details about reroutes around the water main break in Public Square will be forthcoming....

Nah, just look up posts from username "Edsiou"... now THOSE could keep a person from coming back :D. Of course, it sorta looks like WE'VE kept HIM from coming back... Sorry, any time I hear "zip line", I get a certain scene from "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in my mind, but I have a feeling it'll be a cold day in hell before we see Angelina Jolie zipping her way across the Cuyahoga. A people-mover would be an interesting idea for under the Detroit-Superior Bridge, though I imagine the up-front infrastructure cost would be substantial. Any unmanned system has to be run by a computer brain smart enough to account and compensate for people holding doors, stuck/disabled people-movers, etc..., lest you have a crash or vehicles stacking up on one side or the other. In the summer time, I routinely enjoy walking across the bridge on my lunch hour... it's very refreshing, and the views are great.

just look at my sig for my opinion on this topic...

folks, while I appreciate the passion that the child-rearing conversation has sparked, please take it off-line... KJP, I'll leave it to Jerry to respond to Mr. Calabrese's contract extension announcement and the inquiries it has elicited...

*unofficial response (because I needed a mental diversion from a remote Javascript implementation that has me stumped)* It's unfortunate that such a question even needs to be asked, although I understand your hesitation in getting involved (you never can tell with some of the crazies out there today). While the Samaritan in me would applaud your direct confrontation of the situation, it's more than I'd expect from most people. In my mind, a situation like this absolutely warrants speaking to the operator (unnecessary conversation is frowned upon, but this hardly falls into that category), as all operators have the ability to contact dispatch and get the police involved if necessary. Failing that, you'd always have the option of calling Transit Police directly (566-5163), if you feel that what you witnessed warrants police intervention. RTA's police force is no different than the Cleveland PD in terms of law enforcement powers, they just have different jurisdictional boundaries (those being RTA property, which can sometimes be a broadly-defined term).

So, just what is the plural of "doofus" (doofii?), and how many of them work at ODOT? Sorry, but domain name renewals are bloody simple, and completely unnecessary if you register the domain name for a period sufficient to cover the project -- some registrars even offer 100-year registrations now...

um...ewwww??? I agree that "something" needs to be done, but this SO ain't it... the signs themselves aren't bad , but the "arctastic" (love that word, punch) brackets take up what looks to be a cubic buttload of footprint space...

Mr. Monday's "reporting" was the journalistic equivalent of a drive-by shooting, with all the concomitant pain and utter confusion that goes along with such an occurrence... the man never lets a good story get overly cluttered with facts

I SO don't need a visual like that before lunch (or after lunch, or at any waking or sleeping moment in my earthly existence)...