THE COLOR OF MONEY

People have a lot to gain by giving up their automobiles, author says

Sunday, September 10, 2006

MICHELLE SINGLETARY

 

I’ve had a car since I was about 22. I couldn’t wait to get that first car, having been held hostage by my grandmother. She kept tight reins on me and my whereabouts by driving me to most of the places I had to be. As a parent now, I understand her desire to keep an eye on me.

 

Still, I remember the liberation I felt when I finally bought my first car.So when I picked up Chris Balish’s new book, How to Live Well Without Owning a Car, I put it on the pile of personal-finance books I get every week.

 

Full story at:

 

http://dispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/09/10/20060910-H3-00.html

"You’ll get to know other residents in your community because you’re no longer zooming through it."

 

yeah, with the doors locked & the windows rolled up, AC on & the stereo palying.

This is what really got me when I went car free. Even if I didn't stop & meet people I just felt like I was more a part of the communities I worked and lived in.

I've lived car-free since 1973, most of it in downtown Cincinnati. I sold my beautiful Olds Cutlass convertible to finance a trip to Europe after graduate school. There, I spent some time in the center of Paris and realized how great it was to walk everywhere and buy everything you need in your own neighborhood. I returned home after a couple of months and never got around to buying another car. It has been no problem at all. I have never looked back. Almost anyone without children could do it.

 

My wife and I occasionally rent cars on weekends. You wouldn't believe how cheap it is to rent a brand-new car for the weekend. Sometimes we might want a convertible or maybe something larger for road trips. Need a pickup truck every now and then? They're available too. Mechanical problem? No problem; just call Hertz and ask them to bring you another one. Sometimes I have to rent a car for several weeks, and I'll just return one whenever it gets dirty and exchange it for another one. Once you make the break with car ownership, you become pretty unsentimental about them. They become mere tools, like hammers.

 

We ride the bus a lot. For $0.45 and my Metro bus pass, I can get to our international airport on a Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky bus faster than I can by driving there and parking. And returning from a long trip there's nothing better than just walking out of the terminal and hailing a cab rather than bailing your car out of long-term parking.

 

Once people know you are car-less, many will offer to pick you up or give you a ride home. Friends often see me at bus stops and pull over to offer me a ride.

 

But the best thing is ... rediscovering the joys of walking. I now walk home every night through historic neighborhoods being reborn. I take quiet streets and often stop to smell the roses along the way. The dogs know me and don't bark anymore. Even the cats seem to understand that I'm a trusted traveler and sometime come off the porches to greet me. A block from my home, I can pick up a bottle of wine. Or dinner. It's just a great way to finish the day. More people should try it.

 

There is so much time and money wasted in the highway economy. Imagine what I've saved over 33 years. And what I've gained in the process of being carless. It seems counterintuitive, but with me and cars, less is more.

 

Don't get me wrong - I love to drive. On the Italian Autostrade, sure! California Route 1 through Big Sur, any day. The Going-to-the-Sun Highway in Glacier National Park -- I'd leave tomorrow if I could. But I-75 through northern Cincinnati, no thanks.

 

More and more people are going carless including children of the suburbs moving to cities with great public transportation systems and there figuring out what they've been missing. In the future, people may be known less by what they drive, but rather why they don't.

 

Food for thought.

Walking to work and the grocery store have been the most liberating things I've done since I moving away to college in '98.  I'd recommend them to anybody, and I do on a daily basis.

I've been car-free in Cleveland for about 5 years now and I honestly don't see myself ever owning a car again. I bought Margo (a '94 Mazda 626 - great little car) in 1997 when I was living in the 'burbs after college. After putting waaay too many miles on her, she needed about $2500 in repairs just to be somewhat dependable so I ended up donating her to charity in 2001.

 

At the time I was living in an outer-ring 'burb and that had to change. I had to do a little homework before I decided on where to live, so that I could have access to transit, etc. I initially worried about being stranded or unable to run errands but I've found that friends are happy to help - and especially given gas prices, they love that I always offer gas money. If they aren't available there's renting or thanks to CityWheels, I can use car-sharing. The only thing about renting from places like Hertz or Enterprise is that when you don't own a car, you don't have auto insurance - and getting it through the rental agency is usually $20 a day on top of the rental fee and that adds up. Thus, I prefer car-sharing.

 

That said, my S.O. has a car and I haven't had to rent or anything for a while. I guess that makes us "car-lite" (extra-lite, since he drives a Mini, haha).

The only thing about renting from places like Hertz or Enterprise is that when you don't own a car, you don't have auto insurance - and getting it through the rental agency is usually $20 a day on top of the rental fee and that adds up.

 

Ifyou have a good driving record,  you can buy a "hired and non-owned" auto policy for less than $200 per year. Pays off pretty quickly.

^That's good to know - do you know what companies offer that? I checked with a few back in the day and I got a lot of "uhhh, never heard of that".

>The only thing about renting from places like Hertz or Enterprise is that when you don't own a car, you don't have auto insurance - and getting it through the rental agency is usually $20 a day on top of the rental fee and that adds up.

 

That is exactly the problem I had, and I rented cars about 10 times in the 4 years I went without a car.  It was if I remember correctly about $110 for a weekend and then if you needed the car during the week the rates were much higher.  Obviously I saved a lot of money overall in that time period, but I also aside from those rentals rode the Greyhound (which really isn't that cheap) about 30 times, took Amtrak about 5 times, took many cab and metro bus rides, and flew 10-15 times, so it certainly isn't as if your transportation spending is $0. 

I don't think anyone's suggesting that your transportation spending is $0 - but it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than car ownership expenses. I mean - $720 gets me a monthly bus pass for a year - or it gets me maybe two/three car payments. It also helps to live in an area where you have multiple transit options (rail to the airport, buses to feed to rail lines, community circulators, etc.).

I wish I could do it, as my car was hit-skipped last night at 3:30 am and probably totalled.  I can't do it now though with kids and my work in a non-convienient local.  It would be worth a cut in pay to work downtown.

^That's good to know - do you know what companies offer that? I checked with a few back in the day and I got a lot of "uhhh, never heard of that".

 

Mine is now through a comprehensive business package @ Cincinnati Insurance Co. But I've had this kind of coverage on a stand-alone basis for many years prior to now. Start with the company that has your homeowners' insurance. If you have your own business, you can probably get it that way. If you have any kind of professional liability insurance, try that carrier too.

In case you have not heard of him, there is a syndicated talk show host out of Nashville named Dave Ramsey whose show centers around financial issues and especially getting out of debt.  He advocates paying off and cutting up credit cards, investing in mutual funds, and so on.  As for transportation he never advises people to buy new cars and to drive their existing cars until they die.  All fine and dandy, but as he broadcasts out of suburban Nashville and speaks to primariliy a southern audience people there quite literally don't even have city buses as an option.  I think this stat alone proves my point:

 

              Metro Pop:        Daily ridership:

Cincinnati  2.0 million        100,000

Nashville    1.4 million          22,000

Knoxville    650,000            10,000

 

I just found a PDF last night with ridership numbers from each of SORTA's bus lines, just daily ridership from Green Township to downtown Cincinnati exceeds all of Nashville's daily riders, and I think it's safe to say there are more bus riders in Cincinnati alone than the entire state of Tennessee.  The southern cities all suffer from a shortage of jobs in their downtown area as well as a lack, if not near complete absense of walkable neighborhoods.   

 

So generally speaking, it is much easier to live car-free in certain cities with no rail transit than others, and the Cincinnati bus network is actually quite extensive (although would have been *much* more extensive had the Metro Moves initiative passed).  My major complaint with riding the bus in Cincinnati is not so much waiting for the bus as it is the ridiculously slow crawl of the buses through certain areas of town caused by incredibly lazy riders.  With stops every two blocks, it's not uncommon to stop at every single damn stop for a mile or more.  I'll never forget seeing a morbidly obese woman get on at 6th St. and get off at 12th.  I would frequently get off one stop ahead of my stop, if someone else was stopping.  The problem with excessive stopping is that the buses often get blocked in by cueing traffic, meaning they not only don't make the light they would have made if there was no stop but risk missing the next one once the cue clears and they pull back into traffic -- I've seen it happen.   

 

^That's what I meant by doing homework before I moved to where I live. There may be other areas that have more frequent service to/from downtown (the usual times I'm on the bus), but they're like you describe: stops on every block, and they go through various neighborhoods to get to my 'hood.

 

In contrast, the primary bus route that I take utilizes the Shoreway to bypass the many/slow-stop neighborhoods and thus the time from my stop to downtown is usually around 5 minutes. If I took the other routes, it could easily be 15-20 or more.

 

Sorry, living in cities without strong downtown job markets or walkable neighborhoods (or metro populations under 2 million) has NEVER been an option for me.

I would listen to Dave Ramsey a bit when I lived in Nashville. His advice seems more for those who don't have much self control with their spending.  Also, driving the cars to the death often times leaves you with some huge repair bills in the last two years of the car's life.

 

I am not surprised at all about Nashville's numbers. The city has three times the congestion of Cleveland with half the population. Also, it is never practical to walk to a bus stop due to the cul-de-sac world that Nashville is.  There are a couple of neighborhoods that are close to transit, but they amount to one small sector of the city.

Ironically Nashville is starting operations of its first commuter line this or next week but expects a daily ridership of something like 700.  The major problem is the lack of office jobs in the downtown Nashville area.  They just spent $50 million paying off Nissan to move from Los Angeles to...Cool Springs.  If they had brought 3,000 jobs to downtown, that would have been huge.  And there are no lack of parking lots waiting for new construction.  If Martha Ingram could cut a $100 million check to build the new symphony hall basically next to the Greyhound Station and a body shop, so could Nissan. 

I just had a visitor in from Nashville this weekend. Its pretty amazing to see a person react to Cleveland after they have never been out of Nashville.

 

My father-in-law used to run MTA's bus system.  Boy is he every the pessimist about that thing. He said that it'd be better to buy every one cars instead of wasting money on sustaining that fleet.

If the transit system doesn't provide a viable alternative because of land use and development patterns, he might be right.  Give the poor a car or a cab-pass for those who can't drive.

We're now car-lite.  :)  We got rid of my car last week, and so far, hubby and I are doing fine with one car.

FYI...

On Sept. 18, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) will launch service on the Music City Star ( http://www.musiccitystar.org/ ), a 32-mile commuter-rail corridor linking Nashville and Lebanon, TN. Trains will operate along existing Nashville and Eastern Railroad Authority tracks.  RTA spent about $40 million to install continuous-welded rail, replace ties, upgrade crossings, align track and install a new signal system.  The five-station line is expected to average 1,300 passengers daily.

 

The above was from a write-up by the Nashville RTA. My own comment is that 1,300 riders daily isn't bad, especially since they spent only $40 million for the Music City Star (an obscenely low amount of money for a 32-mile rail service). Similar ridership is likely in Greater Cleveland's West Shore Corridor, too, if only a few rush hour-only trains are offered.

Give the poor a car or a cab-pass for those who can't drive.

 

How exactly would this work? Would every college student get a car? I mean, most are "poor" by national income standards -- most with negative net worths -- but they're not exactly poor in prospects. And if you did this, wouldn't it mean even more cars on the road, more parking spaces needed, and dirtier air? Who would pay the operating costs of these free cars, which today are growing much faster than the capital costs.

 

Who would decide who "can't drive?" At say, $10 for an average cab trip and, say, four trips a day, what would be the mechanism for awarding each person who "can't drive" nearly $15,000 worth of cab fares each year?

 

This is the problem when mobility solutions automatically default to the lens of highway economy. It seems so simple because we sort of understand it -- until you start to think it through.

"They got more space too. They converted part of the driveway into a dog run and put a pingpong table on another part."

HA! I have been wondering what to do with the driveway.

>I just had a visitor in from Nashville this weekend. Its pretty amazing to see a person react to Cleveland after they have never been out of Nashville.

 

Well what the Ohio cities have in common with Nashville is that most of the job growth is happening in the suburbs, which dooms growth of mass transit ridership.  Industrial operations need flat land for warehousing and loading docks, and cities like Cincinnati are completely built-out within their municipal boundaries.  Increasing office space in the city means either tearing down existing buildings for surface lots or constructing parking garages.  Obviously, the latter is preferable and Cincinnati is doing nothing currently, with the exception of the riverfront garages, to change the situation for the better.  For example, the former CL&N railroad yard, aka Broadway Commons, is itching for major midrise office and housing, but its roughly 3,000 parking spots are currently being used by CBD workers.  That means a group of enormous garages would be needed to replace that parking and provide parking for new development on the site -- so a group of garages totalling at least 5,000 spots.  Obviously, getting just 1,000 of those people to start riding the bus would save $10+ million in construction costs. 

 

Nashville has a lot of developable land near downtown but is in a difficult position because all the new residential growth is beyond the reach of the present bus system and because of the rock underground garages are even more expensive there than elsewhere. 

 

John, I was being facetious for the most part.  My main point is that transit doesn't solve the mobility problems of the poor if the existing development patterns don't support it.  But if it came down to what I suggested, I'm sure it could be figured out.  There are programs in place for giving redistributive benefits to the poor, right?  How many college students do you know milking food stamps or welfare?  As for who can and can't drive, they might check for one of those drivers license thingies.

Okay, my Toyota Corolla is on its last legs these days.  It's been a good vehicle to me, I've driven it for ten years and put 175,000 miles on it and hardly had to do any maintenance on it, but even with that, it's expensive of course.  And looking at the cost of buying another car as broke as I am right now, I am seriously considering going car free.  I am at least going to try it for a while to see how well I can do without a car.  I luckily am within walking distance of my day job, so that's not an issue.  But I have some questions for you folks who have more experience in this area.

 

First of all, so that I understand how to read the bus schedules properly, I was planning out a trip to Tremont Saturday as part of the Trolley Hop thing.  I'm sure will have a ride to Tremont.  We are probably eating at Ty Fun afterwards (on Professor).  I have to be on E. 4th by about 11:15.  When I enter my starting point and destination into the Trip Planner it tells me to get on the 81 at Professor and College Av.  But if I look on the 81 timetable, that stop is not listed.  If you don't have access to the internet and only have a printed route map, do you just assume there will be a stop every couple of blocks along the route and start walking until you find one?  And will the bus automatically stop anytime it sees someone there, or do they sometimes do an "express" thing where they only stop at the main listed stops?

 

Also, if I go car free one of my main obstacles is that every Friday and Saturday night I do that show at Pickwick and don't get out until after 1:00 am.  Which seems to only leave me with the option of bumming rides, which I can only do so often before my fellow castmates will start to get annoyed, or take a cab.  Anyone know how much the fare would be from E. 4th to about 117th and Clifton?

 

I will have more questions and be looking for further suggestions, but that should do for now.

People who live car-free are my freaking colective hero. And this coming from a (former) Detroiter.

 

Good work, people. YOU are the REAL Americans.

 

               Metro Pop:        Daily ridership:

Cincinnati   2.0 million         100,000

Nashville    1.4 million          22,000

Knoxville    650,000            10,000

 

Not to steer off topic, but, Jmeck, where did you get that link? Just curious.

I'll be living car free in a few days.

This one actually says Nashville's ridership just grew from 22,000 to 30,000 due to the rise in gas prices:

 

http://www.nashvillescene.com/Stories/News/2006/03/02/One_Way_Lawmaking/index.shtml

 

This one says 26,000

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060326/NEWS01/603260377

 

For Knoxville, this one says 3.75 million per year, the highest in 25 years:

http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=49466

 

Divide 3.75 million by 313 (6 days a week, to account for lower weekend business) and you get 12,000.  It was definitely under 10,000 when I lived there 5 years ago. 

 

For some reason I couldn't find where I got the Queen City Metro stat, but from memory I think it was around 88,000 and TANK was 12,000. 

 

This one says 115,000 were estimated with the Metro Moves plan:

http://www.citybeat.com/2002-08-29/news3.shtml

 

And in hunting for that stat I saw that my dad's cousin is now on SORTA's board:

http://www.sorta.com/news/2006/nr26.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oompa, I'm sure others know Cleveland's public transit better than I do, but I did spend two years riding it fairly often...

 

The schedules only list major stops and estimates of when the busses will be there.  Keep in mind that those estimates are just that - they may be early (especially during low ridership times) or late.  But there are always a load of stops between those major ones.  Your technique of "walking until you find one" is correct.  Since the printed schedules come with a map, that's really pretty easy to do - and, by the way, one can always call the RTA and have someone help plan your trip over the phone.

 

Be sure to pay attention to the signs by the stops - in some denser areas (like Euclid Avenue) they'll have two or three stops on the same block, just to spread out the riders waiting.  Now, if there are two or three busses which may all serve your needs, I believe they put them all together (say the 9X, 6 and 6A to go from downtown to CWRU) - but pay attention to what stops where.

 

As for stripped-down routes, I don't believe they do that, but if they do, it should be very clearly indicated on the schedule.  Generally a route is a route, and they look for riders to pick up at every listed stop.  If nobody's there, they'll blow through, but if you're waiting at a stop, they'll pick you up.

 

You may find that if you offer to pay for gas, and make it an inflated offer, that your castmates may be thrilled to help out - like, if it's a $10 cab ride (I have no idea what it would be, by the way), and you offered a castmate $5 to take you home, you'd both make out on the deal.

 

 

One thing to keep in mind - it didn't happen very often, but there were times when an entire run was completely missed.  The worst was trying to get home on a weekend, when the 17X (I believe) would run every 50 minutes, and for some reason one of the runs got skipped.  I learned patience commuting from Summit County to CWRU by bus for a semester, I'll say that!

 

On longer trips, don't assume that a route that took you one place in the evening will bring you home in the morning - I learned that visiting a friend at BW one time - took the rapid to Brook Park, then some bus from there to BW - but by the time I got up and took off in the morning, I'd missed the morning rush hour runs, and was stuck!

 

Anyway, please keep a cell phone and cab fare handy...between driver error and user error, something will end up going wrong - being able to handle that is far superior to being unable to handle it!

Also, if I go car free one of my main obstacles is that every Friday and Saturday night I do that show at Pickwick and don't get out until after 1:00 am.  Which seems to only leave me with the option of bumming rides, which I can only do so often before my fellow castmates will start to get annoyed, or take a cab.  Anyone know how much the fare would be from E. 4th to about 117th and Clifton?

 

That's one area that can be problematic - afterhours transit. I've taken cabs from downtown to Lake and 104th - it ends up being about $8ish plus tip so it isn't cheap.

 

As RiverViewer said, I would suggest offering your castmates gas money (or offer to buy an aftershow drink at Twist). In my experience, people appreciate the offer for gas money - but they usually decline; they definitely don't turn down an offer for a drink though! Another option - do you have enough castmates who would consider carpooling? Finally, and I definitely do not mean this to sound sexist but I've found that most people are understanding that women are leery of using transit in late-night situations.

 

"get on the 81 at Professor and College Av."

 

I want to say there is a stop there - it'll probably be just a RTA "circle" sign. However, the good thing about that spot is that it's across the street from Treehouse. My suggestion would be to head over to Treehouse and either wait inside or at least near the door - Professor being a straight-shot, it should be easy to see the bus arriving.

 

There are several things I would do if you're considering going car-free:

1. Cell phone - an absolute must-have. Go to the Yellow Pages, look up the three largest taxi companies (Yellow, Westlake are two of the biggies), and PROGRAM their number into your phone.

 

2. In all seriousness - pepper spray. I've never had to use mine, but there have been a few times where I was glad to know I had it.

One of the 1st agenda's for Joe Calabrese after he was hired was to yank late night rail service which, during the Summer, went until 2am on Fri & Sat nights.  It was mainly geared for the Flats/Waterfront line and, as we know, since then the Flats has gone into decline, esp the areas closest to the WL on the East Bank... But since then the Warehouse Dist and the emerging Gateway Dist are packing 'em in on weekend nights year around.  Why can't we push for re-instituting the weekend expanded service year-round?

 

Callous-brese also quickly yanked the all-night New Year's Eve rail service which had become something of an RTA tradition.  Why? other than downright meanness and stupidity.  Shouldn't we be trying to reduce drunken driving as much as possible?  Wasn't this a great way to do so?

 

I mean, am I wrong on this?  If so, what can we do to fight to get these services put in place?

Cincinnati runs the same service on Friday as the rest of the week & Saturday the service is scaled back. No late night service. They get the second shifters home from work & close up shop.

I have heard that Minneapolis had service after 2 AM on weekends. Makes perfect sense to me as well as having more frequent services to entertainment centers on weekend evenings.

It is a shame that RTA has cut late-night service on the weekends.  I have to think that only leads people to drink and drive, since they don't really have other realistic transportation options should they close the bar.  It's especially a bad idea since you can'teasily hail a cab off the street in Cleveland.

 

I didn't know that Minneapolis ran the Hiawatha Line so late.  Good for them.  I'm grateful that our Metro is wise enough to run trains late on weekends, unlike other cities.  (I'm talking about you, BOSTON).  Our trains used to run until 2 on Friday and Saturday.  Problem is, District bars are open until 3 in on Friday and Saturday, so DC ponied up extra money to run the trains an hour later on weekends.  Metro also charges rush hour fares between 2-3 AM to help pay for the additional service.  There are still idiots who drink and drive, but at least you have the option of not sharing the road with them.

^Last New Year's Eve some drunkard ran into and smashed the RTA crossing gate in the Flats where the WL crosses Old River Road under the Red Line bridge... can it get any more prophetic and ironic than that?

 

I've actually used the late night DC Metro on weekends, and its great; well patronized.  Folks don't feel pressured to run home for that last train... Minneapolis should be applauded, as well... Why do we often seem so regressive in Cleveland (and we're the city that had rapid rail transit a half century before either of these two places!)??  MADD should be all over RTA on this.  Where are they when you need them?

^^ BTW, I don't get Boston's "T" either.  It's a magnificent rail system and, yet, it's policy on this makes the town feel very small town-ish.  If you notice, the sidewalks tend to roll up in Beantown around the time the trains stop rolling.  MADD should be attacking the T as well.

Sorry to jump into this one late, but the Hiawatha Line in Minneapolis closes at 1:15 am heading southbound from downtown.  The only section that remains open is the link between the two airport terminals, which is 24-hour.  There has been some talk of extending service when some of the other lines are completed (The central corridor to St. Paul, SW corridor to Eden Prarie) but in the near future 1:15 is where it ends until it reopens at 4 am.  Still not bad but it'd be nice if they stayed open until last call at 2am.  I think they can be cut some sack though for working aggressively toward expansion of the system.

^Nah, that's why you just stay out until the buses/trains start running again.  By virtue of just being at a bar past midnight you are declaring that you don't have to work in the morning.   

 

It would probably be easier to get a transit agency to run the first trains at 4:30 than it would to get them to keep running past 12 midnight or 1.  NYC runs 24 hours but specific lines are frequently shut down overnight for work and if you have to do more than one transfer you're looking at 90 minutes to get home. 

 

 

 

^

Despite closing at 1:15 the trains still pack plenty of people in well into the evening.  Works well to take it down and then hail a cab to either get home, or back to one of the park and ride lots further south along the line toward the airport.

 

Edit: Maintenance is usually one of the concerns brought up in editorials and new articles that discuss extending the hours.  Also, due to the unexpectedly high ridership of the line they don't have the spare trains that they were counting on, making it a lot tougher to put a replacement train into operation if one goes down.

I wouldn't jump on Joe Calabrese too hard.  Greater Cleveland's RTA is in much the same fix as most other transit systems in Ohio..... lots of demand and little funding to meet it.  Not trying to defend whatever service cuts that have been made in recent years, but it's important to understand the context in which most of these cuts are made. 

 

What needs to be done is to build the political will locally, statewide and in Washington to properly fund things like passenger rail, commuter rail and local mass transit.  With the volaitility of fuel prices alone, a good case can be made for why we need to do this. 

... 1:15 is where it ends until it reopens at 4 am.  Still not bad but it'd be nice if they stayed open until last call at 2am. 

 

Have you thought of lobbying to keep the bars open until service resumes at 4 a.m.?  :wink:

I wouldn't jump on Joe Calabrese too hard.  Greater Cleveland's RTA is in much the same fix as most other transit systems in Ohio..... lots of demand and little funding to meet it.  Not trying to defend whatever service cuts that have been made in recent years, but it's important to understand the context in which most of these cuts are made. 

 

What needs to be done is to build the political will locally, statewide and in Washington to properly fund things like passenger rail, commuter rail and local mass transit.  With the volaitility of fuel prices alone, a good case can be made for why we need to do this. 

 

noozer, I don't doubt what you say, but how come the late night weekend/New Year's eve trains were axed soon after Ron Tober left and Calabrese started?  I hear what you're saying, but as a regular user of RTA for the past 10 years, it seems to me (looking into RTA from the outside) that under Calabrese rapid transit is not been given the prominent position it deserves in Cleveland transit's hierarchy.  We hear nickel 'n dime excuses for very important service cuts (like a train/station security guard here 'n there, and maybe, maybe, a little extra service during some major events like last week's Air Show)...  JoeC loves to cry 'money' when it comes to the Rapid, but there are plenty of buses, routes and policy RTA wastes money on that could/should be redistributed into what should be its Cadillac service -- rapid transit; a service many, many cities would give their eye-teeth to have... I'm far from being alone in thinking this.  I've known of RTA employees who actually feel the same way.  :whip:

... 1:15 is where it ends until it reopens at 4 am.  Still not bad but it'd be nice if they stayed open until last call at 2am. 

 

Have you thought of lobbying to keep the bars open until service resumes at 4 a.m.?  :wink:

 

Not a bad idea, except Cleveland ordinances require 'last call' by 2p, and that would be a very tough law to alter (given the aforementioned MADD).  And as you know, even if the bars/clubs stayed open, w/o drinks, a large bulk of the customers would take off.  A few, though, like Panini's in the WHD do stay open till 3, even beyond.

... 1:15 is where it ends until it reopens at 4 am.  Still not bad but it'd be nice if they stayed open until last call at 2am. 

 

Have you thought of lobbying to keep the bars open until service resumes at 4 a.m.?  :wink:

 

Not a bad idea, except Cleveland ordinances require 'last call' by 2p, and that would be a very tough law to alter (given the aforementioned MADD).  And as you know, even if the bars/clubs stayed open, w/o drinks, a large bulk of the customers would take off.  A few, though, like Panini's in the WHD do stay open till 3, even beyond.

 

I think you nailed it with MADD there.  They don't care to reduce drunken driving per se.  They are a toned down temperence organization.  If the two goals are potentially in conflict (ie public transit for bar goers) they will err on the side of slamming down on alcohol.

I'm a little late to this discussion, but I'll chime in anyway.  I lived without a car for nearly six months in Cincinnati, from December 2002 to July 2003, and it wasn't as big a hassle as one might guess.  I walked to work, which, alongside with being ones own boss, is THE gift you give to yourself that keeps on giving.  Lived at 12th & Walnut, worked at 9th & Main, Library was at 9th and Walnut, the bar was on Main between 13th & 14th.  On Sundays if I wasn't too hung over I'd catch the bus at Gov't Square and head out to my grandmother's in Mariemont, and I'd drive her to church in her car.  Catch the bus or simply walk back to my parent's house in Mt. Lookout, and figure out things from there.  Of course, my roommate still had a car, but I'd only occasionally ride with him to get certain groceries that were easier to get at the Hyde Park Kroger (the refurbished OTR Kroger was nice but didn't carry certain essential items, hummus for me, soy milk for him) or occasionally on a Saturday to Findlay.  Avril's on Court is solid gold, and Shadeau Bread on Main is well known to those of the discerning palate.  Once the Coffee Emporium moved into the Emery HP Kroger became nearly irrelevant.  I can't say that I felt any more a part of my community but if I had enjoyed my job and that bartendress at Mr. Pitiful's had been more forthcoming it would have been perfect.

^That sounds absolutely heavenly.  Working in Blue Ash (and happily so), I'm not able to dump my car, and my family in Cleveland and my in-laws in Columbus, we travel way too much to dump it anyway (unless we get the 3C rail going!) - but wow, I envy that lifestyle...may I ask why you stopped?  Oh, I see your location is Ft. Benning - did you move there in July 2003?

Wow, I think the all-night Rapid service on New Year's is a great idea. It can't cost that much extra to run it once a year.

 

Is there that might nightlife demand for the Rapid, though? When I take it, the cars are pretty empty during the day, so I imagine it's even more empty at night. That might make me nervous, and I tend to be reasonably street smart. Maybe I'm a pansy, but even in NYC, if it was after midnight, I would either take the train with a lot of people or grab a cab if it was a smaller group. But that's almost a different circumstance. I used to walk to most of the nightlife rather than taking transit.

Wow, I think the all-night Rapid service on New Year's is a great idea. It can't cost that much extra to run it once a year.

 

Is there that might nightlife demand for the Rapid, though? When I take it, the cars are pretty empty during the day, so I imagine it's even more empty at night. That might make me nervous, and I tend to be reasonably street smart. Maybe I'm a pansy, but even in NYC, if it was after midnight, I would either take the train with a lot of people or grab a cab if it was a smaller group. But that's almost a different circumstance. I used to walk to most of the nightlife rather than taking transit.

 

Yes, traffic does drop off at night, but remember, I'm only talking extending it 2 hours during Fri & Sat and all night one night per year, New Year's Eve, -- which used to be done until Joe Calabrese came on the scene.  As to the Fri/Sat service, in Joe's (slight) defense, it's true that he came on board at around the time the Flats East Bank -- which was the genesis for the extended service (and was immediately served by the few year's old rail line) -- went into serious decline after the infamous 3 drownings and underage drinking (and drug) bar busts.  But at the same time however, the Warehouse Dist and, more recently, Gateway, have picked up where the Flats left off and are both convenient to Tower City.  So why not try it again?

 

Also, remember as they tell you in NYC on lighter used subway lines at night: ride up front near the driver, it's a much safer feeling (if there's 2 cars they usually only open 1 of them anyway after hours).  And maybe, MAYBE, someone could convince RTA to have those security guys hang around a few of the heavier-used stations at night, including trolling platforms, rather than merely driving around to style 'n profile in their fancy pseudo cop cars.  Might induce a few weekend downtown patrons to give the trains a try, esp given the price of gas (yeah, down slightly of late, but for how long?) as well as parking lot prices... ya think?

^That sounds absolutely heavenly.  Working in Blue Ash (and happily so), I'm not able to dump my car, and my family in Cleveland and my in-laws in Columbus, we travel way too much to dump it anyway (unless we get the 3C rail going!) - but wow, I envy that lifestyle...may I ask why you stopped?  Oh, I see your location is Ft. Benning - did you move there in July 2003?

 

Roger.  I've been working for Army for the past 3 years.  2 more to go.  I actually walk to work here as well, but since I'm not in middle of a city it sucks.  I'd love to be back in OTR.  I'm hooked on walking to work.  Now I just need to get things together so I don't have a boss and I'll be set.

I seem to recall that when the Washington Metro changed is closing time from 2AM to 3AM on Friday and Saturday nights, they said it would cost an extra $1.5 million per year to stay open the extra hour.  Granted, this is for a system with 5 lines, 105 miles of track, and at least one station manager for each of the 85 stations.  I imagine RTA's costs would be far lower, but I'm not sure how this would jive with their budget.

Okay, another question regarding the RTA timetables and such.  I was trying to use the Trip Planner to figure out how to get over to Superior and E. 22nd tomorrow morning in the shortest period of time, and the options it gave me, whether I took 75X or 55X downtown, kept telling me to then pick up the transfer to 326 at W. 6th and Superior.  Why would I hike it over there when I should be able to pick it up right there at Public Square where I was dropped off?  (Esp. when one of the options only had 2 minutes between arrival of the 1st bus and departure of the 2nd.)  It makes me wonder how reliable that trip planner is in giving the best routes.

 

It also seems like when you view the timetable on the website, it doesn't list as many options as the PDF print version.  I'm hoping the print version is the accurate one, because that's what I'm going by.

 

Anyway, based on what I deciphered out from the printed timetables I have, in order to arrive by about 10:00 am, I am going to take the 75X leaving from 117th and Detroit at about 9:28, arrive at Public Square at 9:44 and pick up 326 going east at 9:51.  Hopefully I am doing this right...