^ Woah! Not good...  Good luck if you write to RTA...and congrats if you even get a response.

You're right, it was 2918!

 

And EC, there are RTA people here on UO who are very helpful, which is why I posted here.

^ Woah! Not good... Good luck if you write to RTA...and congrats if you even get a response.

 

That's what Jerry and JeTDoG are for.  They very kindly take our verbal anger around here :).

I moved the commuter rail discussion over to....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2768.0.html

 

.....so as to keep this thread focused on the HealthLine. Thanks!

Saw a broken Healthline bus being towed this morning (and MTS, it wasn't my bus, lol).  It just made me think about how many broken down Healthline buses I've seen over the past few months, which is surprising since they're brand new.  I mean, I know buses drive a ton of miles......  Does anyone know if there's been a primary problem with them?  Batteries maybe, since they're hybrids?  Just a curiousity of mine.

Saw a broken Healthline bus being towed this morning (and MTS, it wasn't my bus, lol).  It just made me think about how many broken down Healthline buses I've seen over the past few months, which is surprising since they're brand new.  I mean, I know buses drive a ton of miles......  Does anyone know if there's been a primary problem with them?  Batteries maybe, since they're hybrids?  Just a curiousity of mine.

Im glad you said that because I totally was going to think it was your bus.  LOL  Lately you've become the "unlucky bus chick".

Saw a broken Healthline bus being towed this morning (and MTS, it wasn't my bus, lol). It just made me think about how many broken down Healthline buses I've seen over the past few months, which is surprising since they're brand new. I mean, I know buses drive a ton of miles...... Does anyone know if there's been a primary problem with them? Batteries maybe, since they're hybrids? Just a curiousity of mine.

Im glad you said that because I totally was going to think it was your bus. LOL Lately you've become the "unlucky bus chick".

I saw a Healthline bus sitting on Chester this morning being worked on (maybe the same one) and the first thing I thought of was that I hoped it wasn't doc-broc.

Saw a broken Healthline bus being towed this morning (and MTS, it wasn't my bus, lol). It just made me think about how many broken down Healthline buses I've seen over the past few months, which is surprising since they're brand new. I mean, I know buses drive a ton of miles...... Does anyone know if there's been a primary problem with them? Batteries maybe, since they're hybrids? Just a curiousity of mine.

Im glad you said that because I totally was going to think it was your bus. LOL Lately you've become the "unlucky bus chick".

I saw a Healthline bus sitting on Chester this morning being worked on (maybe the same one) and the first thing I thought of was that I hoped it wasn't doc-broc.

 

It probably was the same one, cause the tow truck with this bus turned onto Euclid from Chester.

While cleaning up this thread, if anyone asks why we needed to spend so much on a bus project on Euclid Avenue, show them the pictures in this earler posting I found while cleaning up this thread....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2840.msg105077.html#msg105077

 

Replacing the natural gas pipes, sanitary sewer pipes, storm sewers, eliminating ancient underground vaults, rebuilding the street, sidewalks, adding streetscaping, etc. etc. was worth the huge price tag. It had to be done to have an up-to-date street. Some of this infrastructure was 150 years old and possibly more, which needs to be done with every major street in the city!

 

Oh by the way, we also got a transit corridor out of this.

 

Some more...

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,2840.msg114835.html#msg114835

Noticed on my way home today that RTA has started taping instructions to the fareboxes for how to purchase each type of farecard.  For instance, there's a column titled "All Day Pass, $5.00" and then below that is a list of R6, R7, yadda yadda to push to buy that type of pass.  I guess it's a good temporary fix until they can improve the software.

I would say it is a great temporary fix.  Adresses the confusing nature of the problem and hopefully fixes it.  As long as it is a temporary solution and the UI sofware is updated.  We cant let this become the fix.

RTA is in process working with the vendor on a hardware and software upgrade to the new fareboxes.

several of my co-workers were delighted to tell me that they took the HL downtown on Wednesday for the first time.  they liked the ride, but were confused as hell by the farebox and ended up just buying a bunch of senior passes!  all they could say was "RTA must be losing a ton of money because of this."

several of my co-workers were delighted to tell me that they took the HL downtown on Wednesday for the first time.  they liked the ride, but were confused as hell by the farebox and ended up just buying a bunch of senior passes!  all they could say was "RTA must be losing a ton of money because of this."

 

Whoa, I was actaully embarrassed about this same this.  Two times I've accidently purchased senior passes but was in too much of a hurry to fix it. 

 

It must be something with the display that made me pick the wrong one??

 

several of my co-workers were delighted to tell me that they took the HL downtown on Wednesday for the first time.  they liked the ride, but were confused as hell by the farebox and ended up just buying a bunch of senior passes!  all they could say was "RTA must be losing a ton of money because of this."

 

Whoa, I was actaully embarrassed about this same this.  Two times I've accidently purchased senior passes but was in too much of a hurry to fix it. 

 

It must be something with the display that made me pick the wrong one??

 

 

the default selection for some of the passes is to senior/disabled, so you have to manually move the cursor to regular fare before going foward. 

 

this will be changed in the redesign, although there is concern that ADA users and seniors should be given the simplist choices (and fewer screens), even if most passes sold are regular passes. 

I know what the problem is and how to get to the ticket I want, but these first time riders did not and ended up with senior tix.  I don't know if they realized it before getting the fare cards or if they were surprised at how cheap the tickets were and what popped out!

 

Don't worry.  The next day, I made up for one of them by paying twice with my 5-ride card for a single ride...

I think they should do away with the menus altogether.  One button, insert money, one pass.  Maybe a second button for upping the number of passes bought.

This thread has been cleaned and returned from UO purgatory. But it's a real bummer having to edit messages by still-active forumers, including a mod or two.

Not everybody knew what was going on.  I know I was away for the weekend and next thing I knew when I was back there were these red boxes everywhere, by the time I found the explanation for and directions it was already to late to contribute.  I'm sure that was the case for more than a couple of people.  Apologize for your troubles. 

Docbroc was on the litter prowl again this morning  :police:.......

 

I was on the Healthline this morning, and I saw three dudes probably about my age get on at E. 51st with hands full of mini chip bags, pastries, those brown cigarettes, and some nasty looking blue kool aid concoction.  So, the whole time I was sitting there watching them feed their faces and prune their cigarettes (by flicking tobacco on the ground), I just knew they were gonna try to leave their trash on the bus.  Right around the Clinic, sure enough, the chip bags got tossed behind the seats.  I sat fuming for a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do (since the last time I nicely said something to an elderly gentleman, I got cursed out), and eventually I made my way to the front of the bus and told the driver.  At the next stoplight, he put the bus in park, got up, walked to the guys, and told them they needed to pick up whatever they threw back there.  Once we got going again, the guys eventually wanted to get off at E. 105th, and the driver (Thomas) wouldn't open the doors until they showed him they had their trash in their hands.

So, major kudos to Healthline driver Thomas for handling the situation (I know not all drivers would've cared that much, unfortunately).

 

This leads me to my idea.  I know RTA can't afford to hire a type of "Litter Patrol" right now, but have they ever thought about having a couple of plain-clothed transit cops (I don't think people would have as much gall to litter in front of cops in uniform) on litter patrol to hand out fines as opposed to just the fare fines?  Obviously, this would have to operate slightly differently from the fare fines in that the cop would probably need to ride the whole line back and forth to observe people over time.  Perhaps if RTA started doing this (even just a little bit) in conjunction with a Riders' Alert about littering fines, it may help curtail the trash problem, even if only a little bit.  Would it also be possible to give the drivers the ability to hand out littering fines?  Like, in the instance that happened today, where I went and told the driver about it so he was aware, and then ideally he could slap the dudes with a fine. 

 

There just has to be a better way to deal with this than a lame "No food or drink" sign on each bus.  *Sigh*

 

Docbroc was on the litter prowl again this morning  :police:.......

 

I was on the Healthline this morning, and I saw three dudes probably about my age get on at E. 51st with hands full of mini chip bags, pastries, those brown cigarettes, and some nasty looking blue kool aid concoction.  So, the whole time I was sitting there watching them feed their faces and prune their cigarettes (by flicking tobacco on the ground), I just knew they were gonna try to leave their trash on the bus.  Right around the Clinic, sure enough, the chip bags got tossed behind the seats.  I sat fuming for a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do (since the last time I nicely said something to an elderly gentleman, I got cursed out), and eventually I made my way to the front of the bus and told the driver.  At the next stoplight, he put the bus in park, got up, walked to the guys, and told them they needed to pick up whatever they threw back there.  Once we got going again, the guys eventually wanted to get off at E. 105th, and the driver (Thomas) wouldn't open the doors until they showed him they had their trash in their hands.

So, major kudos to Healthline driver Thomas for handling the situation (I know not all drivers would've cared that much, unfortunately).

 

This leads me to my idea.  I know RTA can't afford to hire a type of "Litter Patrol" right now, but have they ever thought about having a couple of plain-clothed transit cops (I don't think people would have as much gall to litter in front of cops in uniform) on litter patrol to hand out fines as opposed to just the fare fines?  Obviously, this would have to operate slightly differently from the fare fines in that the cop would probably need to ride the whole line back and forth to observe people over time.  Perhaps if RTA started doing this (even just a little bit) in conjunction with a Riders' Alert about littering fines, it may help curtail the trash problem, even if only a little bit.  Would it also be possible to give the drivers the ability to hand out littering fines?  Like, in the instance that happened today, where I went and told the driver about it so he was aware, and then ideally he could slap the dudes with a fine. 

 

There just has to be a better way to deal with this than a lame "No food or drink" sign on each bus.  *Sigh*

 

 

I feel ya... I once said something to a guy who had the gall to throw a handful of used napkins and a brown paper bag full of chicken bones out the door of the bus onto the ground... He told me I needed to get "schooled in the hood."  :angel:

 

All the littering around bus stops (especially on Public Square) bothers me, but what gets me worse is all the spitting...  :x  Not only is it gross, but it's unsanitary, too!  I've often thought it would be great to have transit cops or even CPD walking beats to help curb this stuff.  Unfortunately, I think it's probably more a matter of prioritizing the distribution of limited resources than anything else, particularly in an area as big as the Euclid Corridor.

Docbroc was on the litter prowl again this morning  :police:.......

 

I was on the Healthline this morning, and I saw three dudes probably about my age get on at E. 51st with hands full of mini chip bags, pastries, those brown cigarettes, and some nasty looking blue kool aid concoction.  So, the whole time I was sitting there watching them feed their faces and prune their cigarettes (by flicking tobacco on the ground), I just knew they were gonna try to leave their trash on the bus.  Right around the Clinic, sure enough, the chip bags got tossed behind the seats.  I sat fuming for a while trying to figure out what I wanted to do (since the last time I nicely said something to an elderly gentleman, I got cursed out), and eventually I made my way to the front of the bus and told the driver.  At the next stoplight, he put the bus in park, got up, walked to the guys, and told them they needed to pick up whatever they threw back there.  Once we got going again, the guys eventually wanted to get off at E. 105th, and the driver (Thomas) wouldn't open the doors until they showed him they had their trash in their hands.

So, major kudos to Healthline driver Thomas for handling the situation (I know not all drivers would've cared that much, unfortunately).

 

This leads me to my idea.  I know RTA can't afford to hire a type of "Litter Patrol" right now, but have they ever thought about having a couple of plain-clothed transit cops (I don't think people would have as much gall to litter in front of cops in uniform) on litter patrol to hand out fines as opposed to just the fare fines?  Obviously, this would have to operate slightly differently from the fare fines in that the cop would probably need to ride the whole line back and forth to observe people over time.  Perhaps if RTA started doing this (even just a little bit) in conjunction with a Riders' Alert about littering fines, it may help curtail the trash problem, even if only a little bit.  Would it also be possible to give the drivers the ability to hand out littering fines?  Like, in the instance that happened today, where I went and told the driver about it so he was aware, and then ideally he could slap the dudes with a fine. 

 

There just has to be a better way to deal with this than a lame "No food or drink" sign on each bus.  *Sigh*

 

 

I feel ya... I once said something to a guy who had the gall to throw a handful of used napkins and a brown paper bag full of chicken bones out the door of the bus onto the ground... He told me I needed to get "schooled in the hood."  :angel:

 

All the littering around bus stops (especially on Public Square) bothers me, but what gets me worse is all the spitting...  :x  Not only is it gross, but it's unsanitary, too!  I've often thought it would be great to have transit cops or even CPD walking beats to help curb this stuff.  Unfortunately, I think it's probably more a matter of prioritizing the distribution of limited resources than anything else, particularly in an area as big as the Euclid Corridor.

 

I read this and had to think.... 

 

"Schooled in the hood" Hmmmm...  Does this mean we should all strive to emulate dysfunction, I wonder? Obviously if that is what he was getting at, he was making an excuse for himself, and therefore must have had some inkling that what he did was wrong.

 

Seems a better idea that we should be "schooled" by examples that produce successes, not failures. This is part of the problem in the US culture regarding litter...Too many seem to think if you're poor, live in a low-income area...or were raised around such, that you have to be, or it is opk to be a slob, or aspire to be stupid...OR, at least make stupid look cool. Pride is free, doesn't cost a dime...and I have been in some really poor areas around the world in similar cultures and yet they were some of the most humble and clean places! Maybe that guy needs to think outside 'the hood' and look back inside again....to see just how dysfunctional the thinking he has been conditioned to believe, really is.

 

Al the crap Doc was talking about should not even be permitted on a bus, in the first place... full stop! I am sure that if they could not have brought it on the bus, that they would have waited outside, indulged themselves...then pitched it all over the ground, EVEN if there was a trash can 2 feet away. Then, we have our little clean-ups! Maybe we should just let those who find this habitat so appealing, literally drown in their trash.

 

I have no tolerance for this. No time to entertain stupidity... and can no longer accept cop out excuses for people who do this. My quota for that has run dry a long time ago. Only a nice fine (as mandated by existing laws) to enforce existing laws/rules to remind them that they never had a right to do this in the first place, needs to happen.

 

Too bad we now have to start enforcing such rules/laws that we used to rely on common sense to abide by. Now that those who are used to never having any rules enforced in their lives enforced...NOW have them HAVE to be enforced because of their own stupidity...they seem to think it is somehow an encroachment on their rights/freedoms. I swear there must be something in all that crappy food that was mentioned that must compromise an already careless mind, even more so, to critically think.

 

But....You cannot discuss logic with someone who is incapable of reason. Fines...fines...fines...until they get the f-ing picture! We also have to teach all over again, what has failed to be taught in years, and that is...just what the hell a garbage can is for..and that your car window is NOT a receptacle for trash!!!

 

Litter in Ohio cost ODOT some 4 million plus in '07 to clean up along highways alone--And mostly because of idiots like the ones on this bus. How we could use that money for other things!

 

All this money spent on a transit system so it can be treated like that...to haul around the asses of those who do things like this which contribute not one thing to anything socially redeeming. Shameful! A few bad apples really does spoil it for many people who ride the bus and cause no problems.

 

I still question why the buses are even permitting all that crap that will likely result in litter... to come aboard. (open food/drinks, etc, that is)

 

This is one of the reasons I don't ride the bus as much as I used to...  I don't have the patience like Doc... and I might pull a Michael Douglass ala "Falling Down" on someone!

 

On a good note...  It is a good thing the driver had enough sense to attempt to make this right.  :police:

 

Sorry, this story had me fuming!!!  :whip:

 

And yes, the spitting is nasty....and very dirty...  Are they some sort of reptilian creature with the need to spit venom? What is up with that? Keep the hepatitis to yourself!

I had an interesting experience about two years ago now on the No. 21 bus here in Seattle.  The route passes through middle class, working class and public housing areas so all types ride the bus.  Usually, things are uneventful and the public housing units have lots of Ethiopian/Eritrean immigrants whom I find to be some of the most polite and publically thoughtfully urban people I have ever met (I know I am stereotyping).  Nevertheless, one morning a young, late teens woman dressed in new, expensive gangsta clothes (woman "A") got on board at the public housing stop with another non-gangsta dressed woman (woman "B"). I have seen woman B ride the bus uneventfully many times before.  I almost get the impression that she is a social worker or the like from the reading materials she brings on board.  Woman B spoke normally to woman A.  Everything that came out of woman A's mouth was garbage, F bomb laden, sexually explicit and loud.  Even the young toughs on the bus were cringing when she spoke.  All of this was occurring in the back of an articulated bus were the seats are in a "U" shaped configuration.  I was a few seats away from her on the angle.  Finally, I asked her if everything that came out of her mouth was garbage.  She responded that I was not her father and she could say anything she wanted.  I asked her if her father let her talk like that at home.  She advised that she did not have a father.  I responded that it was obvious that she did not have a father.  Things went downhill from there.  Eventually I informed the driver about what was going on and she was asked to leave the bus which she did, without her friend.  Interestingly her excuse was that where she came from, "everybody talks like that".  I advised her that she was on the bus now and was not where she was from (wherever that was).  First of all, I know that "everyone" in the projects does not talk like that.  Second, when you voluntarily get on public transportation, aren't you in "Rome" so to speak and shouldn't the expectation be to "do like the Romans" not to get "schooled in the hood"?

To give this discussion more focus (I'm sure we all have stories of bad behavior on public transportation), it would be helpful to use this thread to discuss the performance, management and policing of the HealthLine, including offering tips, suggestions, constructive criticisms and compliments to RTA that help make this new service more enjoyable.

 

Please provide specific times, dates, locations, directions, bus/coach numbers, driver names/ID numbers, passenger descriptions (be nice!), etc. I know this might not all be possible in the heat of the moment. Just do the best you can. Thanks!

Someone at RTA MUST know this....  if not, then I shake my head.  The scrolling schedule boards around the Clinic (so 89th, 93rd, 105th) have been spewing computer jargon instead of bus schedules for weeks now.

Cross-posted from the "What others are doing with rail, transit" from the railroad section. I post this Pittsburgh article without comment. I'm sure others here will supply it!.....

 

 

$80.7 M sought for bus network

Port Authority asks for stimulus aid for rail-like system

Monday, November 23, 2009

By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

The 6.8-mile HealthLine in Cleveland is a bus route pretending to be a light-rail line.

 

The sleek, extra-long silver buses, with a capacity of 100 seated and standing riders, are of a different design than the city's other buses and travel the Euclid Avenue corridor in dedicated lanes with separate traffic signals that give them priority over cars.

 

Passengers pay their fares at 58 stations along the route, before boarding. The service operates around-the-clock, and LED message boards in the stations alert riders to the next bus arrival.

 

The faster, cleaner and more frequent service, which debuted a year ago, has cut a formerly 30-minute ride to 18 minutes, boosted ridership nearly 50 percent and sparked $4 billion in investment in the corridor, according to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.

 

Port Authority and Allegheny County officials are hoping to develop a similar system here to speed travel and spark development between Downtown and Oakland and in the Mon Valley.

 

 

Read more at:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09327/1015656-455.stm#ixzz0XhoBaNLY

Great article from Litt:

 

RTA's Euclid Avenue HealthLine is faring well in ridership, innovation

 

By Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

November 29, 2009, 5:00AM

Steven Litt talks about Euclid Corridor

 

Cleveland's Euclid corridor project has paved the way to economic development

A year is hardly enough time to judge the success or failure of a major public infrastructure project.

 

Nevertheless, a fair-minded observer would have to conclude that the Euclid Avenue HealthLine is measuring up well after its first anniversary, which fell a few weeks ago.

 

Ridership is up sharply. The appearance of Euclid Avenue is dramatically improved. And more than $3.3 billion in economic development along the Euclid Corridor -- though stalled by the recession -- is chugging along, if slowly.

 

The $197 million HealthLine, designed and built by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, is a nationally significant experiment intended to see if bus rapid transit could provide the benefits of a light rail line at a fraction of the cost.

 

MORE AT http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2009/11/rtas_euclid_avenue_healthline.html

 

And another VERY GOOD article:

 

Cleveland's Euclid corridor project has paved the way to economic development

By Michelle Jarboe, The Plain Dealer

November 29, 2009, 5:00AM

 

 

RTA's Euclid Avenue HealthLine is faring well in ridership, innovation: Steve Litt

In October 2008, construction finally ended along one of Cleveland's most essential avenues. The crumbling Euclid Avenue corridor had become a sparkling link between downtown and University Circle. The sleek buses, the slick stations and the smooth road offered a potential path to urban renewal.

 

Meanwhile, the nation's financial system was crumbling. Lehman Brothers had filed the largest bankruptcy case in the nation's history. The government had seized mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The housing market was in tatters, banks were floundering, and the country was headed into a severe recession.

 

Despite the challenging financial climate, the $197 million renovation of Euclid Avenue has become an economic development engine for the city. More than $3.3 billion worth of projects are in the works or recently finished along five miles of the vital artery.

 

MORE AT http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/11/clevelands_euclid_corridor_pro.html

Good article.  Don't read the comments, though.

Great articles. Thank you PD for some good reporting.

Very interesting articles. However, the comments after were ridiculous.

Those comments are something else.  The fact that some posters are actually complaining about developers building nice condos and apartments.  Yeah....

Can anyone picture some of the Healthline runs, during rush hour, making that loop up the the Cedar Rapid Station and then back to Euclid?  That's what's proposed to connect the 7's and 32's that will no longer go past the station, to downtown during rush hours. We had envisioned, possibly, the 7i's and 32's making that extra loop to and from E. 107th and Euclid....

Well, Apr. 4th will be interestin'....

Here's hopin', of course, all this nonsense is dropped and the 7's and 32's keeping going downtown as they now do - at least during rush hours.

@lafont:

 

The most recent proposal from RTA is for every other HL Bus to go from downtown to Univ Rapid Station and back dwntwn ONLY during the morning and afternoon rush hours.  This every-other bus solution will preserve a 10min interval for dwntwn to Windermere during Rush Hour periods. 

Here is the graphic presented at the Board meeting on Tuesday.  Basically, as theguv states, during rush hour periods on the HealthLine (currently 6am until 9:30am and 2:30pm until 6pm), every other HL bus heading east from downtown will circle to Ceder redline station and then return west towards downtown - keeping 5 minute headways between public square and stearns. 

 

to me, this is one reason to be skeptical of BRT - a service that is a little over a year old is being modified, albeit slightly.  On the other hand, depending on how you use the HL, it may be a very positive modification and could be viewed as an advantage of BRT. 

 

The Clinic, and Heights residents seem to be winners here.  Now many Clinic employees can conceivably take the redline to Cedar and the HL to Euclid and 93d.  (the existing connection between the cedar redline station and the clinic is non existent)

 

The losers seem to be EC residents and people traveling to or from UC proper, as rush hour frequency will now decrease to every 10 minutes at the stops Adelbert and east.

 

It will be interesting how they plan to denote the different routes - ie the old 6 and 6A - or something different...which also means all maps and schedules along the route will need replaced.

 

^Thanks, Urbanlife for this info.  In one sense, this shows of the flexibility of BRT.  And it creates a pretty significant transit hub at the UC rapid station, so maybe this could warrant better waiting environment improvements.

 

But it could also cause problems- eastbound riders must now be sure they're on the correct HL bus during rush hour if they want service to UH and beyond on Euclid.  Sounds easy enough, but requires a slight shift in habits and adds a layer of complexity for explaining how the system works (particularly because casual riders will have no idea what "Windermere" on the destination sign means).

 

Also, does this mean off-peak #7 and #32 riders are still out of luck for connections to Euclid?

 

From a rider perspective, still seems like extending #7 and #32 to the HL would have been a much better option, but maybe RTA couldn't make it work with headways or lack of layover area on Euclid or something.

 

One thing I like about this change- maybe it could open the door to extending the UC station spur up Cedar Hill someday.  One seat service from Cleveland Hts to the Clinic, Euclid Corridor and Downtown, with HL level of service would be pretty sweet.

^I'd love to see BRT line extended up Cedar Hill, then it could follow the old interurban line down Euclid Hts to Coventry/Mayfield... just like in days of yore.

^ Despite my seething hate for BRT, I kinda like this Cedar Hill idea.  Did that interurban of yore start somewhere down the hill?  Did it go straight up Cedar?  Was there one on Mayfield too?  I'd still rather have rail going up Cedar and Mayfield to 271.  But I'm less opposed to BRT for those routes, because it wouldn't compete with any existing rail like Buckeye would and like Euclid kinda does.  It also wouldn't preempt any proposed rail like Clifton might... nor would it block any rail expansion, like that cockamamie Blue Line proposal.

I addressed the historical routing of streetcars up Cedar Hill here....

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,10253.msg462284.html#msg462284

:-oThis seems like an interesting idea.

OK, I will preface this with "in my opinion."  I realize that others' definition of "rapid" and of "success" may be radically different and perhaps even opposite of my own.  And I do appreciate that even modest improvements to service on Euclid were better than none at all.  And I will overlook that tens of millions of dollars were spent to gain these modest improvements, with no prospect of a return on that investment in our or anyone else's lifetime.

 

But 35 scheduled minutes (and often 45 actual minutes, or more), to serve barely 7 miles??  The scheduled time is 12 miles per hour.  A good runner can run faster than this.

 

Compare this to the 51, which covers over 21 miles in just over an hour, without the benefit of timed lights, freeways, or offboard fare collection.  Or even the 3 bus, whose longest scheduled time is 42 minutes, to start and end at roughly the same destination, in spite of significant congestion at both ends, stopping at every other block, and having no advantages over, and no pretense at being other than, a local bus.  I won't mention that the 55, 77, 39, and all of the Park & Rides also manage far better average speeds, since these do benefit from using freeways for some or all of the trip and that is not possible for the Euclid Corridor.

 

But the following could be done, and would help a lot.

 

• Separate the service into local and express services.  The express service should have far fewer stops - no more than 2 per mile outside of downtown and U/C.  It need not run as frequently as now but it should be very predictable and reliable.  The local service can make more frequent stops.
  
• Fix the lights.  Express buses outside downtown should NEVER have to stop at one.
   
  

 

These are all interesting ideas that should be explored.  IMHO, there were too my stations from the beginning (more than were proposed for Dual Hub) and the city probably should have been a little more aggressive removing traffic lights. For example, there are about 9 sets of lights in less than mile through Playhouse Square and CSU.  And there are four separate stations on the 4800 ft stretch between the innerbelt and 55th St.  That's not really rapid transit station density.

 

It's much harder to make those changes now that's it built, sadly.

 

Bringing the Healthline BRTs up to the Univ. Rapid Station is much better for the riders communiting from the Heights than our keep having to wait at Euclid and E. 107th, and it will be even better when the new station is built.  I'm still not that happy about the required changeover but this makes it more palatable. Came as big surprise, too.  I had always imagined either no connection between 32s and HealthLine or everyone having to wait around Euclid and E. 107th....

Okay - Went through the first day of new schedules - 4/4 - and hadn't realized the Healthline BRTs in a.m. rush hour alternated between starting at Windemer at Cedar Rapid station and, conversely, in p.m. rush they ended alternately at Cedar and Windemere. I didn't look at my new schedules carefully enough, as I had pictured every other Healthline BRT, during the rush hours, would get off Euclid, proceed to the Cedar Rapid Station, and loop back to Euclid for the rest of the journey. Others seemed to picture that, too. Now I see the BRTs that leave from Windemere do so only every ten minutes in rush hour, while I pictured they'd leave it every five minutes and, again, every other one would make that loop to and from the Cedar station....

Questions: before Apr. 4th, did the BRTs still leave Windemere every five minutes in the a.m. rush hour or were they always every ten minutes? If they were always every ten minutes from Windemere, then BRTs starting or ending at the Cedar station are indeed an ADDED cost to GCRTA. I'm happy about it - believe me - but this added cost could cut into GCRTA's financial benefit from eliminating all the Heights-Downtown runs. Or were the BRTs, before Apr. 4th, every five minutes during rush hours between Windemere and Public Square??  :clap:

^The rush hour service from Windermere had been every 5 mins- the new change simply diverts every other rush hour trip; pretty sure it didn't add any service.  I wonder how many people on the pm rush hour runs this week look up from their book and say "crap" when they arrive at the UC rapid station.

^The rush hour service from Windermere had been every 5 mins- the new change simply diverts every other rush hour trip; pretty sure it didn't add any service. I wonder how many people on the pm rush hour runs this week look up from their book and say "crap" when they arrive at the UC rapid station.

 

Correct, no service added.  They just made half of the existing trips start/end at the UC rapid stop instead of Windermere.

Thanks.

Thanks.

 

Essentially the old 6 & 6a service has been reinstated.

Cleveland.com article on the expansion of the transit cops' jurisdiction to include Euclid Sidewalks- which seems to make good sense.

 

RTA Transit Police's jurisdiction on Euclid Avenue will include sidewalks

 

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/04/rta_transit_polices_jurisdicti.html

 

The article includes a photo of one of the stations at CSU which, as many commenters to the article point out, has some badly spalling concrete.  Question to those who walk on Euclid daily- is this spalling widespread?  I know new infrastructure loses its shiny sheen pretty quickly as it ages, but it's going to be awfully annoying to watch all that concrete break down unevenly and get patched up intermittently.  I hate to think it's happening already.

 

I recall that as the designs came together for the HL streetscape, a whole lot of granite curbing east of Playhouse Square was value engineered out (though this may have been only from the street curbs, not from the stations).  I hope this doesn't come back to bite us.  Granite seems to be considered a luxury in NEO, which is definitely not the case in all places.  New England, which faces similar freeze/thaw and salting issues seems to spec granite for everything- it's mind blowing, actually, if you're used to NEO.  I don't know if it's because of different state DOT construction standards, flusher budgets or what.  There is also a whole of research indicating that the full life cycle costs of using granite are more or less the same as for concrete, because granite is reusable, doesn't have to be repaired.

Riding my bike from east 18th through University Circle and back on Friday i noticed A LOT of chunks missing from the road (even the bike lanes). I found myself swerving a lot just to avoid the pot holes, which is pretty pathetic since this is the bike lane and doesnt take near the beating that car and bus lanes take.

^Wow, missing from roadway?  That's no good. Do you recall if it's at the joints or more like pot holes?