Bookman

I am now a fan of Uber. The system worked flawlessly. It was pretty cool to actually see how far away the car was before pickup. Absolutely going to use this in the future!!!

I need to get from Lakewood (Clifton and Edwards) to the Cleveland Greyhound station by 4am this Saturday. Would Uber be a good option for this and does the time cause one of those "demand" calculations to kick in? Thanks!

I don't care what they are wearing if the don't win.

Judging from the video, they won't use a very steep hill. I would suggest either the Detroit-Superior Bridge or the Hope Memorial (Lorian-Carneige) Bridge. They both probably have at least 1000 feet of straight-away incline and no cross-streets to cause major bumps. Public transit is plentiful in the area and so is parking. Plus both would give great views of the city.

I had a feeling there was a specific manner that RTA wants fare cards checked and this is a good example of why.

I'm not sure where I saw the point of discussion where it may be that some of the stops on Westbound Superior East of the Square may need to be moved so that non-bus traffic can be more easily directed around the Square. Given the width of Superior in that block, perhaps creating a pad/platform for riders in what is currently the left lane to board Westbound buses would also force non-bus traffic to the right lane? Of course there will still be buses that need to turn right because Ontario will no longer exist. Hmmm, I'm sure one of the brighter minds on this forum has an idea.

Those are the suspended officer's words in his police report of the incident.

In this case you must pay before you consume, so those cases you refer to don't apply. That is why I would only recommend that confrontational enforcement occur either before you consume or while you consume. Yes, I've bought items at lots of places that check receipts at the door and I can tell you they are not looking to see if I'm stealing a $2.25 candy bar. There is a huge difference between retail shopping and using public transit.

You bring up more reasons why fare checking should only happen prior to or while the transit service is being consumed. Checking after the fact just opens up a can of worms. By the way, if I remember the W117 station correctly, the first sign for the fare paid zone is just past the machines for buying or validating fare cards. The double doors are outside of the fare paid zone. Not saying that this makes RTA wrong for having an officer checking fare cards at the door, but it just points to yet another challenge with this manner of fare checking.

I never said that there shouldn't be a confrontational way to enforce the payment system. What I essentially said was that when the confrontation happens, make it before or while I'm using the bus/train, not when I'm leaving the station.

I wonder if RTA has set a quota for their officers for how many free riders they catch? Not that it excuses the manner in which the officer handled that incident, but it might explain the insistence of the officer to see the card.

^I'd let the person keep walking. It's a fare of $2.25, it's midnight and it appears that there are very few people around. If there are any others around I just stop checking fare cards until a fresh set of people arrive. It's just not worth the effort from my perspective.

As I stated earlier, ask to see my fare card while I'm on the bus or train, no problem. Ask to see it as I'm exiting the station, we have a problem. I'll add that asking me before I get on the bus or train is also not a problem. Don't stand in the way of me getting where I need to be over $2.25 when I have already consumed the product. Imagine that you are at McDonalds and you buy a meal with a small beverage where the dispensers are self serve. You finish your drink and decide to get a bit more to help wash down the fries. You finish your meal and the extra beverage. As you get ready to leave the building a McDonalds associate stops you and asks to see your receipt. You no longer have it because you threw it away with the rest of the wrappers and cup. The associate says that you need to pay for the extra beverage you took. What do you do and how do you feel? My point to all this writing is that while there is a concern over not getting all of the fare revenue, there is a cost to inconveniencing the paying customer. In my opinion, the lasting impression from the "incident" is that you need to make sure you obey the RTA police. It's not that you need to make sure you pay your fare. That is just wrong.

I strongly disagree with that. Not that people aren't predisposed to do the right thing, but I think most people probably don't view skipping out on a transit fare as high on the list in terms of sins. What would you do if you saw a way to ride without paying, even though you have the ability to pay and the mechanism for you to pay is easy?

I didn't say that there shouldn't be enforcement, I simply indicated that there are less intrusive ways of enforcement. As for needing an incentive to buy a fare card, I feel you might be underestimating the normal human condition to do the right thing. Most people when presented with the opportunity for an inappropriate or illegal benefit, unbeknownst to someone else, will turn down that benefit. In other words, regardless of the enforcement, most people are going to pay the fare. Again, I'd like to state my case that I think the fare card enforcement should be like other secondary offenses. Get caught being disorderly or violating other obvious rules of riding (playing music without headphones) and expect to have your fare card checked. Otherwise, don't slow down everyone for the few that might have skipped paying.

^So it's worth it to RTA to have an officer "chase" down a person to verify that their fare card was valid? I wonder how much revenue RTA generates from the tickets they write from catching people without validated fare cards? Of that, how many actually get paid? Bottom line, the vast majority of people that ride RTA are paying their fare and for the few that don't pay, we are all being inconvenienced. These are not $100.00 fares, we are talking about $2.25. While it is a bit of an extreme analogy, imagine having to go through a traffic stop where all the police are checking is whether you are wearing your seatbelt. You and everyone else in that stop are probably in compliance with the law, but now you are late to where you needed to be. If I'm sitting on a Healthline bus and an officer walks by and asks to see my fare card, sure, no problem. If I was leaving a Red line station after being at work and I was hurrying home so the babysitter could leave or (insert urgent situation here) and I had to stop and dig out my validated fare card that I had put back in my wallet and inside a zippered pocket so no one can pick my pocket, I have a problem with that. While those that are not in the situation can easily say that she should have complied, I say that RTA never should have put her and the officer in that situation. It's simple guest service, nothing more, nothing less. I'm done with my rant for the day. Go back to work everyone...

^I guess I look at this whole situation as a question of how the resource (RTA Police) is used. The bigger PR problem for RTA is safety (real or perceived) not people that are taking free rides, especially at Midnight. The train is going to make the journey whether it has one or fifty riders at that time of night. Look at what this is costing RTA in terms of public relations over a $2.25 fare. Sure you will find a number of people that will think twice before either trying to get a free ride or breezing past an RTA officer that is checking fare cards. You are also going to get folks that will become the opposite where they refuse to show the card citing their rights or they will try to take free rides to see if they will get caught. In my perfect world, RTA is publishing statistics about how much crime (assaults, disorderly conduct, etc.) has been reduced by more frequent patrols and walk-throughs of trains and busses. While enforcement of fares is part of their responsibility, what are the associated costs? Perhaps taking the same tact as seatbelt laws where it is a secondary offense would be more customer-friendly. Get pulled over for speeding and get an extra ticket for not wearing your seatbelt.

There is a significant difference between the types of shows/events that go to the IX Center versus the CCC. The IX Center gets the shows that draw local attendance and don't need hotel rooms close by. The CCC should hold events that draw attendees from out-of-town and therefore access to hotel rooms is a priority. I believe the article is focusing on the events that draw the out-of-town crowd and that's why the IX Center was not part of the discussion.

For what it's worth, I needed to drive through the Public Square area all last week and only once did I encounter a mild slow down. So far whoever is responsible for signage, traffic control and general getting the word out has done a pretty good job in my opinion.

It was a great turnout Friday. Tons of energy in the arena. Unfortunately the Vikings didn't pull out the win. Next stop is the Horizon League Tournament that will be held at Valparaiso. They need to win the tournament to make the NCAA tourney.

If the Vikings win, then they would have an identical conference record with Valpo. The next tie-breaker is record with common opponents. CSU swept Green Bay. Valpo split, so we would win that tie-breaker. They wrinkle is that Oakland could end up with an identical won-loss record to CSU if they beat Green Bay. Then the tie-breaker is RPI which right now CSU is ahead by a few points. Overall record does not play into Horizon League Tournament seeding directly. It does when you look at RPI, but that takes into account the strength or weakness of the opponent.

Yes, 10 PM. It's being shown live on ESPNU, so ESPN dictates when the game will start.

Calling all college basketball fanatics and especially those that are CSU Alum or students. Friday, February 27th at 10:00pm, the Men's Basketball team will take on Valparaiso at the Wolstein Center. The winner of this game will host the Horizon League Tournament. There are lots of special deals for this game, the best one being the 216 Hoopy Hour ($2 food items, $1 drafts, $6 tickets - must be purchased in advance). It's the BLACKOUT game. First 1000 fans get a BLACKOUT t-shirt. Wear black anyway or you can purchase black apparel at the Viking Outfitters Merchandise stand near Gate A. Say you saw this post on Urban Ohio and you'll get 20% off any regular priced item. If CSU wins this game, then the Horizon League Tournament would start Friday, March 6th at 7pm at the Wolstein Center.

As I said last year, if the Browns truly don't believe they have their franchise quarterback, use both first round picks to take the best available quarterbacks. Go into Spring Training with a wide open competition. Best case we end up with everyone doing great and can trade for what else we need. Worst case we have yet another year of misery. If we had done this last year, we would have had Bridgewater or Carr. Both are better than Manziel. Any decent free agent quarterback is going to avoid the Browns because of all the dysfunction. We better hope that Hoyer is willing to look past Textgate and give them one more chance.

To be honest, my interest in seeing the Bus Only lane signs obeyed is my need to make a turn at Bunts so I can drop off my kids at school. When lots of cars are using the right lane many streets before Bunts, it makes it a bit more challenging to get over at the proper time to make the right turn at Bunts. I'm sure that many people that travel on Clifton during the restricted ours would like to have the signs obeyed.