I will taking the blue line to opening day tomorrow. I've been on the red line many times but not the blue. How does payment work on the blue line? I don't see any ticket machines along Van Aken. Do I pay on the rapid? Do I need correct change?  Thanks in advance!

Pay when exiting traveling west bound. Pay when entering traveling east bound. There are only fare machines at Tower City, so if that's your final destination, you can buy one there after getting off. If you're getting off before Tower City, then you have to pay cash. Exact change. Is this a completely antiquated & highly confusing system? Yes. Yes it is.

Given the antiquated complexity, you might think RTA would take special care to spell out how the payment routine works on its website. But if you go to the "how to pay" section, you instead get this this utterly bizarre and unhelpful page, seemingly distilled from an old press release(?): http://www.riderta.com/howtopay , which includes this misleading info:

 

Fareboxes are used on all buses and light-rail trains on the Blue, Green and Waterfront lines.

 

Please RTA, for the love of god, fix this page.

 

 

^ Not to mention there are only signs describing the payment system on about half of the LRT trains, and even those they are usually only at one end of the train

So I'm about to move to shaker and I plan on often taking the blue line to shaker square for the farmers market. I will need exact cash and pay when I exit? Does my ride cover a ride home within a certain amount of time ( Chicago you have I think an hour in between el rides until ur ticket expires)

^ Yes, you will need exact change. And you don't get a farecard, and there are no transfers for a single ride. I would recommend stocking up on 5-ride cards. That way you can swipe the card instead of using cash when you exit and it allows you 2 1/2 hours of transfer privileges

I'm sure this informational void will all be addressed before the RNC...

 

Seriously though. If this conversation was occurring at the following thread, it would get noticed by GCRTA staff who read it:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,4504.0.html

Given the antiquated complexity, you might think RTA would take special care to spell out how the payment routine works on its website. But if you go to the "how to pay" section, you instead get this this utterly bizarre and unhelpful page, seemingly distilled from an old press release(?): http://www.riderta.com/howtopay , which includes this misleading info:

 

Fareboxes are used on all buses and light-rail trains on the Blue, Green and Waterfront lines.

 

Please RTA, for the love of god, fix this page.

 

 

 

I just opened up this link and literally laughed out loud when I saw the title of the page: "Meet RTA's state-of-the-art fare collection system"

^I love the "Cleveland" dateline at the beginning. You know, in case you were worried the GCRTA website accidentally directed you to Pittsburgh's "how to pay" page. How a professional at RTA can see that page and think, "yeah, it's good enough" is beyond me. But I guess that mediocrity in passenger experience thinking is consistent with the fare machine debacle.

 

I'm sure this informational void will all be addressed before the RNC...

 

Seriously though. If this conversation was occurring at the following thread, it would get noticed by GCRTA staff who read it:

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,4504.0.html

 

I've raised this same issue multiple times in the main RTA thread, including in exchanges with JetDog. I know RTA folks are busy, but this stuff should be easy to fix. I'd happily volunteer an hour to rewrite the text on that page myself.

 

[Modified to be less ornery]

^ Yes, you will need exact change. And you don't get a farecard, and there are no transfers for a single ride. I would recommend stocking up on 5-ride cards. That way you can swipe the card instead of using cash when you exit and it allows you 2 1/2 hours of transfer privileges

 

Very helpful.  Thanks.  I always use single fare cards when I go to airport.  I can buy the 5 ride passes at TC?

^ Yepp

5-ride passes are the way to go. I made the mistake of buying two one-way passes at the front end of my trip...well it expired and the cops at Tower City did not like that.

 

I haven't quite figured out how to validate the 5-trips though...I always play trial and error until it works.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Wow. This is terrible.

 

I've long said that RTA operates the Rapid as a closed rail system for people who have been riding it for years; decades.  People just kinda know these things, such as how fare payment works.  However it is very inaccessible and confusing to those accessing the system for the first time.  This is especially true of the archaic Blue-Green, eastbound/westbound fare payment system (and then what do you do if you get on or off at a WFL station? esp if you ride through from Shaker and the East side -- I've seen drivers who, upon arriving at a WFL station, open all the doors and let everybody off without asking for fares and with no fixed payment booths -- huh!?).  I've literally seen a Yale-educated man who was confused by this system. 

 

I also think that the directional signage for the Waterfront Line is terrible/next to non-existent -- aside from the big sign over the turnstiles that says (IIRC) Green, Blue and Waterfront lines... For example you might think that, given the international prestige the Rock Hall has brought to Cleveland that, at Tower City, there would be signage screaming that the WFL is the best way to get there and pointing passengers directly to the WFL platform.  (Note: I think the WFL should be for a lot more than Rock Hall tourists/visitors, but you get my point)...  I haven't gotten much rise out of Jerry or JetDog on this issue either.

^ RTA's response is that they can't afford to put fare machines at all the LRT stations. That doesn't excuse the signage issue though...

I've long said that RTA operates the Rapid as a closed rail system for people who have been riding it for years; decades.  People just kinda know these things, such as how fare payment works.  However it is very inaccessible and confusing to those accessing the system for the first time.  This is especially true of the archaic Blue-Green, eastbound/westbound fare payment system (and then what do you do if you get on or off at a WFL station? esp if you ride through from Shaker and the East side -- I've seen drivers who, upon arriving at a WFL station, open all the doors and let everybody off without asking for fares and with no fixed payment booths -- huh!?).  I've literally seen a Yale-educated man who was confused by this system. 

 

I also think that the directional signage for the Waterfront Line is terrible/next to non-existent -- aside from the big sign over the turnstiles that says (IIRC) Green, Blue and Waterfront lines... For example you might think that, given the international prestige the Rock Hall has brought to Cleveland that, at Tower City, there would be signage screaming that the WFL is the best way to get there and pointing passengers directly to the WFL platform.  (Note: I think the WFL should be for a lot more than Rock Hall tourists/visitors, but you get my point)...  I haven't gotten much rise out of Jerry or JetDog on this issue either.

 

I even encountered this using the buses a few years back.  There's lots of what we call "tribal knowledge" (something manufacturing people try their damndest to document and standardize) associated with the system, and without competition there's likely little motivation to fix this.

^ RTA's response is that they can't afford to put fare machines at all the LRT stations. That doesn't excuse the signage issue though...

 

That shouldn't prevent them from putting them on the trains (like most modern streetcars have), and/or at the busiest stations on the Blue/Green lines.

 

Agree about the trains. Joe's response about the busiest stations is that they still have to run fiber optic cable out there which they say they can't afford to do

^ RTA's response is that they can't afford to put fare machines at all the LRT stations. That doesn't excuse the signage issue though...

 

That shouldn't prevent them from putting them on the trains (like most modern streetcars have), and/or at the busiest stations on the Blue/Green lines.

 

Hell, how long did it take them to put bus line numbers on the back of buses?  I recall trying to run ahead of a bus to see what route it was a good ten years after I first heard the idea discussed.

Agree about the trains. Joe's response about the busiest stations is that they still have to run fiber optic cable out there which they say they can't afford to do

 

Those must be some REALLY long fiber optic extension cords on those streetcars! ;) They could do a satellite-bases system for static fare machines too. And I'd be very surprised there aren't fiber optic lines at/near Shaker Square, Lee Road, Warrensville and Green.

^ RTA's response is that they can't afford to put fare machines at all the LRT stations. That doesn't excuse the signage issue though...

 

I'm not even talking about changing the structure at this point with POP and fare machines at all stops (although this would be desirable), I just want RTA to thoroughly make clear to the public the convoluted fare system they've already got.

which includes this misleading info:

 

Fareboxes are used on all buses and light-rail trains on the Blue, Green and Waterfront lines.[/i

 

 

I have no idea why you think this is misleading. There are fareboxes on all buses and light rail trains, and they are used.

This whole conversation needs to be moved to the GCRTA thread.

^^Unless you're riding westbound to Tower City, as in the original poster's case. He'll never need to get near the farebox. No big deal, but that website text makes it sound like paying in the light rail is just like bus. For most riders, it's entirely different.