JeTDoG

metrocity, I'm checking into who within the Authority might best be able to address your concerns. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. As has already been mentioned, there are a number of factors and multiple organizations in play here. Personally, I'm not interested in finger-pointing, just problem-solving. I've found out some additional information. A few key points: RTA's contract with Megabus allows them to use one, and only one, bay at the Transit Center. This is true regardless of time of day, day of week, or occupancy status of any other bays. The bays are essentially "assigned seating" per route. Megabus' typical schedule is such that they will not have more than one bus pulling in or out of the facility at a time. However, Megabus has been known to add service at peak load times, such as holidays. Normally, they'd give us advance notice, so we'd be aware of possible increased activity. We'd heard nothing to that effect for Christmas Eve. The only weekday service I currently see from Chicago to Cleveland was a scheduled 2:45pm arrival, so Megabus getting to the Transit Center at 4:00pm means that bus was either very delayed or was extra service. 4:00pm is evening "prime time" for RTA coaches to load passengers and pull out of the Transit Center. Empty bays now may not be empty 5 minutes from now, and buses don't just appear and disappear from the bays. There's pull-in/pull-out traffic flow to be considered. RTA's supervisor may have prevented Megabus from discharging at another bay, and in doing so, was enforcing the contract provisions and best practices to maintain traffic flow. Megabus is required to have one of their supervisors on-site at the Transit Center any time one of their buses is on-site. The Megabus supervisor, if present, may have had the discretion to have their bus unload at curbside, offsite from the Transit Center. If they did not exercise that discretion, that is their prerogative, and is something they would need to address. The double-parked cars on E 21 may have precluded that option. I'd hope that what was encountered was an exceptional case. This facility-sharing is still a very new relationship with Megabus, and bumps in the road will undoubtedly come up from time to time. We'll handle them in the best way possible given all the factors involved.

Another issue with those machines. Hopefully they still accepted credit/debit card, or that would have been even worse. I have experience a lot of machines where card purchases no longer work. I heard from a friend that Tower City was a disaster after the event was over. As for the escalators, RTA claims they are all working http://www.riderta.com/elevator-escalator-status Our website is only as good as the information it's provided with. I'm checking with the folks responsible to ensure that those status values accurately reflect the reality of every location. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

metrocity, I'm checking into who within the Authority might best be able to address your concerns. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. As has already been mentioned, there are a number of factors and multiple organizations in play here. Personally, I'm not interested in finger-pointing, just problem-solving.

I think that is an optical illusion. I visited the display car myself this morning, then took a one-stop ride on a Red Line that was passing through at the time. My hips seemed to hit at the same point on both. There is about 1" less knee room, which is probably due to a combination of thicker seat padding and possibly thicker materials used for the frame itself. The actual seat locations were unchanged, as the new seats were designed as "bolt-in" replacements per the District Director (who happened to be on-site this morning). I'm about 5'11", 270 lbs., and was wearing a leather winter jacket, so I don't suspect comfort will be a problem for the average rider or ride. There are a few seats at the car ends that don't have seats in front of them (not specifically designated as ADA), like those nearest the doors, that will afford some extra legroom for taller passengers.

So you said the first newly renovated car, which means only one is done. How long will this process take? From Jerry's original post: "The budget of this project for interior is $3.5 million and will take about two years to complete."

I can't speak to the likelihood of occurrence, but I can tell you that a study like this is a prerequisite for any such project. It is one of the factors that weighs into the awarding of federal capital funds, without which the likelihood of a project of this scope and scale ever commencing would be less than zero. The goal now is to refine and develop the "preferred alternative", and then pursue funding for that alternative if local support is there and other factors that weigh-in, including operational sustainability and organizational priorities, make it sensible to pursue. Changing climates are why old plans from any agency sometimes get unshelved, dusted off, updated, and actually implemented sometimes long after they were first thought about, and why sometimes studies of this kind are thought of as only being "for a study's sake".

Thank you. We're checking into that inconsistency now. It took a few days, and necessitated a non-insignificant bit of code rewriting, but we appear to have resolved the issue of the Routes page showing inconsistent indication of Service Alerts. Now, the Alert icon will only be displayed when the route genuinely has an active alert. As a side benefit, the page now loads much faster, with few (hopefully none) of the AJAX callback errors some users were reporting. Check it out and let us know what you think.

You've brought up some points that we've already addressed to the vendor. At this time, the data stream that is available to us for integration doesn't have any indicators for real-time versus scheduled time. This has been, by far, the highest-demand feature request we've had. As far as sorting the stops by sequence based on direction, again, a very high-demand item, but there is nothing in the data stream that allows us to do that. The only possible thought might be keying on changes in latitude/longitude, but even that would be a mess when it comes to routes that loop, double back, or in any way follow anything but a straight line, i.e., every one of our routes. We're working on various back-end improvements to make the mobile site load faster. It's a bit of a balancing act between implementing proper caching while not being so aggressive as to preclude visitors from seeing updates to the site's information in a timely fashion. Some steps have already been taken, but we're not done yet. I suspect you'll see improvement as time goes by.

We've had one since June of 2012. It's called NextConnect. While the main NextConnect site is not especially mobile-friendly (a shortcoming that should be addressed by the vendor with an eventual upgrade), the information from that system has also been integrated into the route-specific landing pages on riderta.com, which are designed to be responsive to any screen size, orientation, and resolution. Give it a try, and let us know what you think. Send comments to [email protected].

Huh? That would be a branch, not an extension. The Red Line already stops on W. 117th, and cuts through the southeast corner of Lakewood. Thanks, I wondered what I was missing when I read this suggestion (there was also a small part of my brain that said, "Sure, we can do that -- POOF! DONE!").

Route and schedule changes for December will take place December 15. Detailed information is in production and should be released shortly. Smartcards are an entirely separate issue. I have no information on that timetable at this time. If you've heard of Chicago's difficulties with implementing Ventra, you'll understand why this is proceeding at a very measured pace.

Thank you. We're checking into that inconsistency now.

If you haven't done so already, check out the main website at http://www.riderta.com. Each route is now given a distinct "landing page", with a URL of the format http://www.riderta.com/routes/<routenumber> for buses, or <routename> for named routes like the HealthLine, all heavy & light rail lines, and the trolleys (just /routes will get you the master list of all routes, which can be filtered by mode). These landing pages are your "one stop shop" for information on any specific route, including an interactive map, narrative description, Service Alerts, timetable (in both HTML and printable PDF formats), related news items, fare information, and, yes, integrated NextConnect departure information. All pages on the new site are optimized to adapt to any screen size or orientation - no watered-down mobile sites here. Give them a try, and let us know what you think. Send comments, questions, or suggestions to [email protected].

A chance to shine and establish themselves as a viable option, and instead stereotypes are reinforced. Which stereotype, the one that says when you drop a CEI power line onto the overhead catenary, you'll get a power surge that will cause equipment damage, and possibly a fire? Yes, that's true.

Your presumption was your failing. The article clearly stated the NUMEROUS safety mechanisms CTA had in place, and is at a loss to explain how they ALL failed. I sympathize with them, because a situation like this, where you've done all that you seemingly can do and tragedy is still the end result, leaves one dumbfounded. It is my sincere hope that their investigation roots out the ultimate cause, and that reasonable steps are taken to prevent such an event from recurring.

Excuse me? You're not new around here, so I'm going to chalk up that comment to a momentary lapse of reason. Anyone who knows me knows that I am DEADLY serious when it comes to transit safety.

And if there's any question as to why we have so many safety mechanisms in place,yesterday's incident in Chicago speaks VOLUMES to that: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-two-cta-trains-crash-on-blue-line-in-forest-park-20130930,0,1375440.story

Cash fares haven't had transfer privileges, between ANY modes of transport, for some time now. I'm a bit confused by what you're stating here, but if you'd provide some details, I'd be happy to address it further. Also, "unlinked passenger trips" are an industry-standard measurement. Your unsubstantiated classifications of the reasoning behind the decision to terminate certain routes short of downtown are, in themselves, distasteful.

There are folks who'd disagree strongly with your harsh dismissal of the HealthLine and its impact: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/realestate/commercial/cleveland-ignites-job-growth-with-rebuilding-project.html?_r=0 Hindsight is 20/20. Might the residential development project in Uptown, or any of the myriad other developments along the avenue, have otherwise gone forward? Possibly. Would they have taken the same form? Possibly. I, for one, think not -- IMHO.

Here's an interesting take on BRT vs. streetcars: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/09/when-it-comes-streetcars-and-economic-development-theres-still-so-much-we-dont-know/6899/

As KJP mentioned, the windows are being replaced already. I've been on a number of trains with crystal-clear windows recently. YMMV Your other statement perplexes me a bit. You complain about the length of time the mid-life rehab will take, then mention that Baltimore's cars were upgraded about a decade ago - comparing duration to time of occurrence. One point to note - Baltimore's upgrade, which likely was NOT a true mid-life rehab (since their cars only began service in 1983, with the full system build-out being completed in 1995), took from 2002-2005, a period of 3+ years. By that standard, another 2 years to complete our work doesn't seem out of line. Remember, rehabs of this type involve physically transporting the HRVs to an off-site location for teardown and rebuild.

Venting aside, if you are truly interested in helping to SOLVE any real or perceived problems, we'll need details. It's a simple matter of recording the bus number (the four digit number that can be found in multiple locations on the inside and outside of any vehicle, including right above the front door as you're entering); this number is unique to the specific vehicle, and narrows down the problem most precisely. Also, please include a SPECIFIC description of the problem, or problems, you're noting. "It's falling apart" is not a specific description. "No A/C, multiple windows unable to be opened" is specific. Noting the route the bus is on will help us to direct the complaint to the proper garage as quickly as possible. Reporting problems as close as possible, timewise, to when you notice them helps to avoid redundant reports of problems that might already be fixed. Reports should be filed through the feedback form at http://www.riderta.com/feedback. Every operator is provided with a "defect card" they fill out prior to placing a vehicle in service, which is turned in at the end of their run. These defect cards assist with making maintenance aware of problems that need to be addressed. Your voices, added to those reports, further amplify the awareness, and correction, of those problems.

The opinion I was refuting was the oversimplified "RTA doesn't care about rail". This is clearly not the case. I don't mind differences of opinion, but I have greater respect for those opinions that have some factual basis. You say "disinterested", I say "walking a fine line between multiple, often conflicting priorities, each fighting for a slice of the same, ever-shrinking pie". Your support of our ongoing efforts is appreciated.

Objection! Assumes facts not in evidence: $9.4 million reconstruction of the E 55 Rapid Station $9.54 million reconstruction of the Puritas Rapid Station $2.46 million in parking lot repairs for Brookpark Rapid Station, contract awarded in June $16.5 million budgeted for reconstruction of the Brookpark Rapid Station $15.1 million reconstruction of the Cedar - University Rapid Station is ongoing $17.5 million estimated for reconstruction of the Little Italy - University Circle (former E 120) Rapid Station $10.1 million rehabilitation of the Airport Tunnel $7 million restoration of the Red Line S-curve $3.3 million reconstruction of the Buckeye-Woodhill Rapid Station $3.5 million budgeted for reconstruction of the Lee-Van Aken Rapid Station And this doesn't even account for: numerous grade crossing upgrades ongoing on the light rail, signal upgrades throughout the system (including MAJOR enhancements done as a result of an unprecedented lightning strike on one of our shacks), countless bus timings adjusted (another ongoing project) to better feed into and out of the rail spine, interior and exterior refurb programs on both heavy and light rolling stock, and plans underway for eventual rolling stock replacement as those vehicles reach end-of-life. All this, in addition to running approximately 400 buses out of two garages, and servicing an ever-growing paratransit customer base.

To head off any speculation about the presence of an item on Tuesday's Board agenda: http://www.riderta.com/news/agenda-july-16-board-meeting Contract 2013-091 with Jadco Construction Services, for Tower City Wall Replacement, was in the works well prior to Wednesday's collapse.