JMasek

^ Regarding the neon sign at the West 25th Street Station, RTA's Facilities Maintenance people are aware of it. The sign is made especially for RTA, and it should arrive here around Feb. 1.

See you all next year.

^ I had to check first to see who handles this kind of work, and then I called. The person spends a lot of time in the field (as he should), so he may not get back to me until Tuesday morning.

I am pleased we could clear that up.

^ Let's not rush to judgement until we have all the facts. Remember, there are 3 parts to every message -- the sender, the mode of communication, and the receiver. ( I typed this, and then waited five minutes.) I checked and here's the response I received -- verbatim. "I checked the Commuter Alerts that I received and there was no Alert sent around noon today. There was an alert sent at 7:53am for a train scheduled to arrive at the Airport at 813am. This is the likely text message sent. The queuing could have occurred with the customer's cell phone carrier." It was signed by the Service Quality Manager. He supervises the staff that issues the Commuter Alerts. Many employees at RTA subscribe to Commuter Alerts, so we can see just what the customer sees. A time difference like the one mentioned would have set off a lot of red flags. To subscribe to Commuter Alerts, go to: http://commuteralerts.riderta.com/CommuterAlerts/ Have a good night.

^ I am not sure how that can happen. There are usually 2-3 people who board AT or BEFORE the transit center, and when I have been on, it has been almost empty when it pulls up to the first CSU stop. After that, it has been full.

^ FYI, the building was known as the East Side Transit Center only when it was in the planning stages. Ground was broken on the late Congresswoman's birthday, and finished about one year later.

^ The E-Line trolley stops at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center, where it has a brief layover before beginning its route again. It's first stop as it heads back to Public Square is on the north side of Euclid Ave., in the middle of the CSU campus. Yes, there are some times of the day when CSU students fill it up on the first stop, but there are many times when they do not. I have seen many times when tourists will board either trolley "just to ride around" and see Cleveland. The trolleys were designed to move people around the city, and it is, so my answer is yes, it is serving its purpose. The B-Line trolley lays over at the RTA Main Office building.

:clap: The November ridership report was released today, and the numbers are great. :clap: Systemwide: * Nov. -- 4.0 milllion, up 6.4 percent, or 241,000 rides, best Nov. since 2008 * YTD -- 42.4 million, up 2.8 percent, or 1.2 million rides * Increased every month since May * Average daily ridership is 167,000, up 6.3 percent, or 10,000 rides per day Bus: * Nov. -- 2.8 million, up 6.6 percent, or 198,600 rides * YTD -- 30 million, up 0.8 percent HealthLine: * Nov. -- 392,7000, up 10.8 percent, or 38,300 rides * YTD -- up 7.3 percent * 3-year total -- more than 13 million Total bus: * Nov. -- 3.2 million, up 6.6 percent * YTD -- 34.1 million, up 1.5 percent Heavy rail: * Nov. -- 507,000, up 6.8 percent * YTD -- 5.2 milliion, up 12.7 percent Light rail: * Nov. -- 235,000, up 3.3 percent * YTD -- 2.5 million, up 1.8 percent Total rail: * Nov. -- 743 million, up 5.7 percent * YTD -- 7.6 million, up 8.9 percent * Average daily ridership has increased more than 3,000 trips. Paratransit: * Nov. -- 49,000, up 8.5 percent * YTD -- 524,000, up 5.7 percent Trolley: * Nov. -- 84,237, an increase of 2.5 percent, or 2,052 more rides More than 3,800 bikes were boarded in November, an 11.4 percent increase over last year. YTD, there are more than 39,300 bike-related trips. :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave: :wave:

Excuse my good-natured chuckle at your question. The house has not been even built yet, and you are asking if you can park your car in the driveway. First things first, but thanks for asking.

As I said before, we are working to finalize all the financial aspects. Construction won't start until we do. Any comments as to the source of the funding (federal vs non-federal) would only be speculation at this point.

$12.5 million grant announced for Mayfield Station CLEVELAND - The holidays have come early for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), with the award of a $12.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, via the Federal Transit Administration. RTA officials were informed today of the award, under the TIGER III program, as part of their grant funding program for National Infrastructure Investments. TIGER stands for: Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery. The money is designated for the Mayfield Road Red Line Rapid Transit Station, which will replace the current station at East 120th Street Station and Euclid Avenue on the Red Line. The new station will be several blocks away, and closer to Little Italy. The entire cost of the project is $17.5 million, which includes the design, construction of the station and rehabilitating two transit track bridges. The design is now 30 percent complete. RTA hopes to begin construction on this station in late 2012. Last year, RTA received a TIGER II grant for $10.5 million, which completed funding needed for the University Circle station.

^ If you have a specific question about a specific route, you may want to send it to me in writing, [email protected]. I will have a service planner respond. Again, please be specific. Thanks.

A press release with more details may be posted later today at www.rideRTA.com. We are working to finalize the finances, and hope to start construction in late 2012. That's all I know for now. I will post the release as soon as I can.

Regarding the public art, I am trying to contact the people in-house who can address this issue. In my opinion, there are several inaccuracies listed in this conversation, but I am not going to wade into it until I have all the info.

All new timetables for the Jan. 8 winter service change are now avaiable at www.riderta.com/schedules. The changes include the HealthLine.

Typical slack customer service story that has a representative refusing to admit he/she might have made a mistake....and offer a viable answer. Instead, she is more interested in "being right" and defending...than doing right. Such is the sort of thing customer service training these days needs to polish up the act. It is slack and no excuses. Another example of how a lot of little things can add up to become a lot...and leave either big negative impressions, or positive ones. I will not dispute the accuracy of the complaint. If the person said it happened, then I believe it did. I forwarded the text of the message to supervisors, who are checking into it now. However, I believe it is an isolated incident. RTA has been working hard in the last few years to "beef up" our handling of special events -- events like Browns games, St. Patrick's Day, and others. Complaints have decreased sharply, and all are investigated. Joe Calabrese uses the service on many special events days, to experience it the same way customers do. I can tell you this -- we will find out why there was confusion, and take steps to ensure it does not happen again.

^ As you have noted, the changes are planned for spring, probably in March -- four months from now. Details are still being worked out. As soon as they are available, I will post them here. In the meantime, I can point you to a PDF of a PowerPoint presentation that was presented to the Board on Nov. 15. The presentation contains highlights of the 2012 Service Management Plan, and was part of discussions on the proposed 2012 budget. On Dec. 6, the Board voted to approve the budget, which takes effect Jan. 1. http://www.riderta.com/usercontent/file/2011-11-15-ServicePlan.pdf

I am sorry to hear about the snafu at the Browns games. We have focusing much attention in recent years on improved coordination of service for special events. I have forwarded your comments verbatim to the special events team, so some corrections can be made as the season winds down. Thank you.

The question -- and my answer -- dealt with a facility, not with service changes. Precise details of the service changes will be announced shortly.

I cannot speak for what the Cleveland Clinic may be doing or building. If I understand the question properly, then the answer is: RTA is not planning anything additional at that intersection.

The December Riders Digest is now posted on-line: http://www.riderta.com/pdf/RidersDigest/Dec-11-RD.pdf

No change is planned for bus route #7. It appears the sign is in error. We are double-checking that now, and the sign will probably be removed in a few days. Thanks.

^ checking

The NE quadrant has a dedicated platform for debarking passengers. The way the HealthLine is currently configured, this is the LAST stop, so people are only dropped off there. There is (was?) no need for a shelter. The first stop on the HealthLine is on East Roadway, with a main stop across the street from the Horseshoe Casino. OPINION: I do not believe that RTA will put up any more shelters on Public Square until the future of the Square is decided by the Mayor's group that is looking at closing it off to some or all traffic.