JMasek

I'm not sure. Target dates are often tossed around because people expect them, but until all stakeholders agree, and until the project is funded, all bets are off. It's kind of like Dick Goddard, who admitted that an eight-day weather forecast in Northeastern Ohio was "a best guess." I do not have his exact words, but it was plain that he does not like the forecasts because so much can change.

Most of us will watch tonight's debate at 9 p.m. on TV-3, but at least one RTA employee will be INSIDE the Wolstein Center. Jorge Lozada of the Telephone Information Center attends CSU, and his name was pulled from the lottery for CSU students. If he is chosen, he will ask a question about funding for public transportation.

Monday's Columbus Dispatch, editorial page, Pro and Con. Should transit be privatized? http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2008/02/25/pro25.ART_ART_02-25-08_A7_I19E43K.html?sid=101

All this talk about walking makes me long for nicer weather. Both JetDog and I are walkers, (I am also in the Cleveland Hiking Club). Anytime the posters here want to "take their masks off" and join us for a lunchtime walk to talk transit, just let us know. Of course, all walks/hikes will begin at 1240 West 6th St.

<<I'd be very surprised that, once development like Wolstein's FEB comes on line, RTA doesn't beef up Waterfront Line service, at least to the level it originally was.>> When there is demand, service will be upgraded to meet the demand.

Thanks for your comments. I enjoy the repartee (is that the correct word?), and years in journalism have allowed me to type as fast as I think (which sometimes, is not very fast). Our Webmaster, JetDog, can talk more about this, but it is our eventual goal to host a forum or blog or whatever you want to call it on our Web site. There are some technical issues in the way, and we are working to resolve them. The idea is in its infancy, so please do not ask a lot of questions about it, because we have no answers, just ideas.

Metro Magazine, part of the transit trade press, looks at how systems are upgrading their fare collection procedures. Click on this link to see the entire issue, including a cover photo of Joe Calabrese, and an inside photo of the Euclid Corridor project. http://metro-magazine.epubxpress.com/wps/portal/metro/c0/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3iLkCAPEzcPIwMDC0NTAyNT3yAjM6MQQ0dDI_1I_ShzXPJmzib6ISATM_UjjQwMLUHMAv1IEwP9guzEpCpHRUUAeDPOeQ!!/

http://www.riderta.com/PDF/InsideRTA/Insider_2-08.pdf The February issue of Inside RTA has been posted. This publication contains transit news in summary form for community leaders and elected officials.

In the short term, I can tell you there will be no service increases. RTA's resources are stretched to the max, and if any new services are added, existing services will have to be reduced. In the long term...I cannot predict the future...but your idea has merit and I will pass it along. The Waterfront Line is ideally situated to serve the development on the East Bank, and it certainly has the capacity. The last thing RTA wants to do is compete with itself. Again, thanks.

<<As a taxpayer, I want to see his performance review! I'm dead serious! How do we get to see his performance goals and targets along with his contract?>> As long as my name is already out there, I will be happy to be the contact for the group. Please send your request to Jerry Masek, [email protected], or 1240 W. 6th St., 44113. According to Ohio law, the request does not HAVE to be in writing, but I ask you to do so for clarity. It makes it much easier to respond to, and we sincerely appreciate it. Please be as specific as possible when making your request. As soon as I receive your request, I will forward it to the proper persons within RTA, and they will handle it. According to Ohio law, we are allowed to charge a reasonable, per-page fee for making copies of public records.

^ I feel your pain. I have been there, and none of your options is perfect. (The rest of this answer is personal opinion). I might have taken a low-key approach, asking the woman if she needs any help. She probably feels overwhelmed, or angry at life, and lashes out at her kids for no good reason. A warm smile just might help. I agree with JD...telling the operator is a great first step, Unfortuneately, our society does a poor job of preparing parents to be parents, and an equally poor job protecting children. Let's say you are walking through a shopping mall, and a screaming kid gets on your nerves. You walk over and slap the child to get him to shut up. The mother, of course, calls security, and has you arrested for assault. Then the loving mother straps her kid in a car seat, rolls up the windows because it is cold outside, and chain-smokes cigarettes for 30 minutes while she drives home. I ask you, who did the greater damage to the child -- you, who are now in jail -- or the mother, who forces her child to inhale cancer-causing fumes during the tender formation years? What are our laws doing to protect the child from its own loving mother? Thanks for letting me vent. The problem is -- even if you get the mother on the Rapid car to handle her child properly -- the same scenario is being played out every second of every day, all over this area. The real solution is bigger than either of us. Thanks for caring. That counts for alot.

FYI, RTA's media relations manager gave more than one interview to Monday. They were cordial and never used.

http://www.19actionnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=7867474 TV-19 ("honest...fair...everywhere") aired a 5:31 story on RTA safety issues last night. RTA's official response was in the last 10 seconds. Here is a letter that Joe Calabrese sent out late Monday afternoon. February 14, 2008 Dear Friend of RTA, At the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA), we take safety seriously. Extensive work goes into what we do to assure the safe transport of the 57.3 million customers that we serve annually. This evening, RTA will become the subject of a story by Channel 19’s Carl Monday that calls our safety practices into question. However, in Mr. Monday’s investigation for this story, he did not request any safety records from RTA. Without a doubt, we believe this story will be greatly sensationalized. We hope that it does not smear the good reputation that RTA has worked so hard for. ..... If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call me directly at 216-566-5218. Sincerely, Joe Calabrese

I have no specific knowledge of this accident, but I can tell from my knowledge of that area, and light-rail in Cleveland, that many motorists do not respect light-rail, and they should. I am sure that in the future, these people will. I worked on the Waterfront Line a few years ago on St. Patrick's Day, allegedly to give people directions, but in reality, I became a traffic cop. Over the course of several hours, some trains had to come to a full stop, because the cars would not stop going over the tracks. They ignored the presence of the train and flashing warning lights, and just kept going. Several years ago, a man who was a bit tipsy exited a light-rail train, lost his balance, and fell against the side of the train as it pulled away. A TV station, of course, reported that "an RTA train struck a pedestrian". One TV reporter even asked me, just a few minutes after the incident occurred, if the operator had been suspended yet. I replied, "You are assuming the operator is guilty. What was the operator supposed to do, swerve?" To get back to your question, the PD does not often do second-day stories on such accidents, which are really traffic offenses -- failure to yield to an oncoming train that is more than twice as large as your vehicle.

^Mike Roberts, listing major wastes of tax dollars, writes in Inside Business: "The Euclid Avenue Corridor project has helped turn downtown into a wasteland, driving businesses and other organizations such as the Cleveland Athletic Club to ruins, while public officials spend more than $300 million ensuring a comfortable bus ride between Public Square and University Circle. Some liken the project to the urban renewal fiascos of the 1950s that played a big role in killing downtown's vibrancy. Know anyone who ever took a bus from downtown to the circle?" KJP asked for an official response. This is one man's opinion. He is a veteran journalist, and he is paid to have opinions -- even if they are not based on facts. FACTS: The cost of the project is NOT "more than $300 million", the project does not use a "bus", businesses on Euclid Avenue were closing long before construction started -- RTA just became a convenient scapegoat, and millions of people ride the #6 bus every year between downtown and University Circle, Cleveland's two largest employment hubs. He even has the name of the project wrong. But the real test will come when the Project is finished. I invite all posters to keep Roberts' clipping, and send it to him when business on Euclid Avenue is flourishing. I sent a copy of the story to our Media Relations staff. I am sure they will have dialogue with Mr. Roberts.

On March 2, RTA plans to open the segment of Euclid Avenue from East 55th to East 86th Street. That means that all buses will use the stations in the median strip (not the curbside stations), and customers will be asked to use the crosswalks to reach the median stations.

On March 2, RTA plans to open the segment of Euclid Avenue from East 55th to East 86th Street. That means that all buses will use the stations in the median strip (not the curbside stations), and customers will be asked to use the crosswalks to reach the median stations.

^ The "next train" sign is programmed to reflect the printed timetable. It gives the scheduled time. A staffer on the platform has communication with the dispatcher, and knows the real time of the next train.

Comments from Henry Kwee, who supervises the operations of the electronic signs, on the scrolling comments for NEXT TRAIN: "I assume that you are talking about the SignPost signs (and not the OnStreet/Nextconnect signs). This SignPost signs have advertising. The OnStreet/Next Connect don't have advertising, they have only the time of day, and the route and departure times. You may have them mixed up. If you look at the SignPost signs at Tower City, you will see the scheduled departure times scrolling at the bottom continuously. So there is always a departure time displayed. The next time you have a concern, please tell us which of the two types of signs you are talking about. Thanks for your comments."

Comments from Michael York, Deputy Generall Manager of Operations: "The portable sound system was an initiative by RTA to try and improve our communications with customers at Tower City until we can replace the PA system. The sign doesn't tell you which track the train is on and it is scheduled time, not real time. We have received lots of positive feedback."

^I was there one night and the staffer had a real personality, and a sense of humor, and the customers really liked him. I personally think it is a great addition. Signs are nice, but Tower City can be confusing, especially to newcomers. Having a person to talk you is always preferable to reading a sign, and the signs do not take into account dayt-to-day delays, breakdowns, etc. I handle platform questions all the time down there.

^ I just talked with the people in charge of these signs, and they will check ASAP. On some signs, the direction moves first, leaves the screen, and the "next train 3 minutes" comes a few seconds later. FYI, I have never heard Ohio City shortened to OC before (and the journalist in me hopes I never hear it again).

Thanks. Did you know the Cleveland project includes bicycle lanes from CSU to Case?

RTA Board of Trustees will meet in committee, beginning at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The items will include an update on the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project, and a look at RTA, major projects and federal legislation. That look is an annual event, and is always interesting.

The #25 on the West Side is now the #12 and #13 on the East Side. I talked to the staff in Service Planning. They noted the last bus now leaves downtown about 1:10 a.m., drops out of service in the Shaker Square area, and then heads for the garage. If RTA extended service for even one more hour x 365 days, that would cost more than $36,000 a year...and for how many riders? Right now, RTA is looking for ways to save money and stay afloat in a sea of rising fuel costs, inflated health-care expenses, and declining revenue from the sales tax. RTA is "not in a position" to pay $36,000+ to provide late-night service to a relatively few riders, Service Planning says. This may not be the answer you want to hear, but these days, the budget is the boss. Thanks for asking.