5 minutes ago, PlanCleveland said:

Ya RTA really needs to be more public with their shut downs. The red line was closed west of Tower City on Saturday and Sunday. I ride it pretty often, and I only found out when the time schedules weren't showing up for the W25 station on Google maps Sunday morning. And even better, the replacement busses didn't make stops at W25 or W65 stations. 

 

There have been too many times when I've had to try to convince myself that RTA leadership isn't intentionally trying to kill the trains. 

 

What happens with the train operators during these shut downs?   Do they still get paid?  Do they also have CDL's and operate buses? 

2 hours ago, Cleburger said:

I agree re configuration.   There are not that many people riding on a daily basis.   And when the trains are needed for an event, they are packed (Browns etc), with most riders standing. 

 

Lateral seating would also decrease complexity for cleaning and maintenance for RTA.  

 

I do wonder, would it possibly be a hybrid seating layout, like the Buffalo NFTA Trains have?  👇

 

 

 

This seating arrangement looks great! Good compromise. 

Weak article. I've experienced much worse on RTA. "Horrible" is getting stranded between stations on a packed train for an hour and not being let out. And their only source was one ex-WKYC employee...

 

'It was horrible' | Passengers describe RTA headaches following concerts, Cleveland Guardians game on Friday

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/passengers-describe-rta-headaches-following-fridays-cleveland-concerts/95-c435c89c-d5d2-488c-9466-5d3515a55876

20 hours ago, KJP said:

If it isn't reliable, makes it pretty hard to use it

 

 

Was thinking about parking at the Brook Park station and taking the train (for the first time ever in Cleveland) to the airport from there in a couple weeks. Think I’m good and just pay to park.

When you have an underfunded transit system due to a lack of interest by the state and are located in a shrinking/stagnant county you get an inadequate transit system. Obviously there are other factors but that plays a part into where we are at. Also due to that lack of funding (and lack of forward thinking) our antiquated infrastructure is no longer built to carry 100,000 passengers in one day. Even with the new trains, due to being much smaller, essentially becoming all light rail, until we have enough trains to unify the system we won't have that type of capacity. 

Edited September 17, 2024Sep 17 by MyPhoneDead

56 minutes ago, JB said:

Was thinking about parking at the Brook Park station and taking the train (for the first time ever in Cleveland) to the airport from there in a couple weeks. Think I’m good and just pay to park.

 

A friend of mine took the train to the stadium concert last weekend. Said it was crowded but no problems. Sometimes in life you get on the wrong train.

 

Meanwhile....

 

14 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

A friend of mine took the train to the stadium concert last weekend. Said it was crowded but no problems. Sometimes in life you get on the wrong train.

 

Meanwhile....

 

Platform and track rebuild?

 

Also, not sure I want to risk finding out on the way back RTA decided to shut down the service for whatever reason.

25 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

A friend of mine took the train to the stadium concert last weekend. Said it was crowded but no problems. Sometimes in life you get on the wrong train.

Maybe you can write a story about it and use your friend as your one source to cite 😜

 

Interesting that they are rebuilding that W117th platform.    I wonder if it's an emergency repair?   Certainly they arent' already factoring in the new train cars to this work? 

12 minutes ago, JB said:

Also, not sure I want to risk finding out on the way back RTA decided to shut down the service for whatever reason.

 

The good thing would be you're only one stop away, so if you have to grab a shuttle bus or Uber to get back to your car, it would be quick. 

 

Make sure to not leave valuables in your car--i have heard there are lots of breakins there since not much security or traffic in the overnight hours.  

13 hours ago, Cleburger said:

Maybe you can write a story about it and use your friend as your one source to cite 😜

 

Interesting that they are rebuilding that W117th platform.    I wonder if it's an emergency repair?   Certainly they arent' already factoring in the new train cars to this work? 

 

This is a bridge project that's been planned for a long time. GCRTA is rebuilding the track and platform bridges (3 bridges) over West 117th including rebuilding the concrete bridge abutments on which the bridges set. Yep, the station platform is actually a bridge over the street.

On 8/18/2024 at 12:09 PM, Boomerang_Brian said:

I’m not following. The STJ Transit Center is owned by RTA. My understanding is that CSU just complained about it. Very bad reason to undermine this logical location for greyhound. 

 

CSU didn't complain about STJ.  It's not illogical to say the Center has fewer security issues than the Greyhound station.

On 9/17/2024 at 4:38 AM, KJP said:

Weak article. I've experienced much worse on RTA. "Horrible" is getting stranded between stations on a packed train for an hour and not being let out. And their only source was one ex-WKYC employee...

 

'It was horrible' | Passengers describe RTA headaches following concerts, Cleveland Guardians game on Friday

https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/passengers-describe-rta-headaches-following-fridays-cleveland-concerts/95-c435c89c-d5d2-488c-9466-5d3515a55876

 

This is an agency that ran a "regular Sunday schedule" the night the Cavaliers were playing for the title in 2016.   They are not exactly known for being reactive, let alone proactive.

On 9/16/2024 at 11:35 AM, KJP said:

If it isn't reliable, makes it pretty hard to use it

 

 

 

I actually flew in that day and took the replacement bus... unlike on the east side the 66R is *incredibly* slow from the airport to downtown. 

 

And I believe they did post an alert on the Transit app at least a few days before - currently that's the only place RTA has up to date information 

Cross-posted from the Cleveland soccer stadium thread...

 

 

 

On 9/17/2024 at 11:23 PM, KJP said:

 

This is a bridge project that's been planned for a long time. GCRTA is rebuilding the track and platform bridges (3 bridges) over West 117th including rebuilding the concrete bridge abutments on which the bridges set. Yep, the station platform is actually a bridge over the street.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO SUPERIOR STATION NEXT! My GOD that is easily the RTA's worst station, I literally pass it to use Stokes Windermere instead.

56 minutes ago, MyPhoneDead said:

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO SUPERIOR STATION NEXT! My GOD that is easily the RTA's worst station, I literally pass it to use Stokes Windermere instead.

 

I'm curious, what makes it the worst in your opinion? 

42 minutes ago, GISguy said:

 

I'm curious, what makes it the worst in your opinion? 

Escalators always broken, graffiti on the track area, dimly lit inside and out in an area that already is sketchy, broken glass windows at the track area, smells like urine and it hasn't seen a real refresh since it's opening. It should look identical to Wet 25th condition wise, instead it looks bombed out at the platform level. 

On 9/16/2024 at 11:35 AM, KJP said:

If it isn't reliable, makes it pretty hard to use it

 

 

I had arranged to meet a friend at the W. 150 St rapid station Saturday afternoon to take the train downtown before we attended JEFF Lynne's ELO concert at Rocket Mortgage Field. I had purchased tickets to the Terminal Tower observation deck in advance and checked the RTA website last week to ensure there were no planned closures for the red line on Saturday. When I looked, there were none. Imagine the feeling when, after meeting in the lot, we walk to the station door and find it said the red line was closed. I carefully researched and planned a nice itinerary for the day. We are both fans of trains and he hadn't ridden the rapid since the last Browns game before they left for Baltimore. We ended up taking the 66R replacement bus, but what a bummer. Thankfully, between the observation deck, then meeting my sister and another friend for dinner on the river at Collision Bend Brewery and then the ELO concert, it turned into a great day, even after having to take 66R back to the train station afterwards. 

6 hours ago, TMart said:

I had arranged to meet a friend at the W. 150 St rapid station Saturday afternoon to take the train downtown before we attended JEFF Lynne's ELO concert at Rocket Mortgage Field. I had purchased tickets to the Terminal Tower observation deck in advance and checked the RTA website last week to ensure there were no planned closures for the red line on Saturday. When I looked, there were none. Imagine the feeling when, after meeting in the lot, we walk to the station door and find it said the red line was closed. I carefully researched and planned a nice itinerary for the day. We are both fans of trains and he hadn't ridden the rapid since the last Browns game before they left for Baltimore. We ended up taking the 66R replacement bus, but what a bummer. Thankfully, between the observation deck, then meeting my sister and another friend for dinner on the river at Collision Bend Brewery and then the ELO concert, it turned into a great day, even after having to take 66R back to the train station afterwards. 

 

This is how you aggravate regular users and turn off potential new ones at the same time.  

 

Ending up with the sort of captive customer base that makes bureausclerois a viable "management "option.

 

I sometimes wonder it it's at least semi-intentional.   Of course, it's always been that way.   Even when I lived at college I had some interesting plans cancelled by an unannounced weekend shutdown of the Shaker Rapid.

A positive post on here for once...

 

I took some friends who had never been on the rapid before around Downtown and UC on Saturday morning/early afternoon, and was really happy to see how many people were using the red line with no game or event going on. Around 15-20 people got on with us when we boarded the trains at Little Italy, Ohio City, and Tower City. Getting on going eastbound at Tower City, there wasn't even a spot for the 6 of us to sit next to each other with so many seats taken. All of them loved it and are excited to use it again. 

17 hours ago, PlanCleveland said:

A positive post on here for once...

 

I took some friends who had never been on the rapid before around Downtown and UC on Saturday morning/early afternoon, and was really happy to see how many people were using the red line with no game or event going on. Around 15-20 people got on with us when we boarded the trains at Little Italy, Ohio City, and Tower City. Getting on going eastbound at Tower City, there wasn't even a spot for the 6 of us to sit next to each other with so many seats taken. All of them loved it and are excited to use it again. 

Honestly, I'm not saying that the RTA is perfect but every time I ride I don't have any issues with riding the rapid, it's always efficient.

14 minutes ago, MyPhoneDead said:

Honestly, I'm not saying that the RTA is perfect but every time I ride I don't have any issues with riding the rapid, it's always efficient.

 

I second this.

I’ve generally had good luck with the RTA’s network, but I’m also aware that I don’t use it that frequently, maybe a handful of times per month at most and I’d be as nervous as hell if I had to rely on it to make my livelihood. I’ll add to the good vibes though to say that we took the Healthline from downtown to and from Severance this last Sunday to see the Cleveland Orchestra. We were not the only people doing so and the ride back to downtown was full with a real cross-section of people. Along with us concert-goers, there were UC/ CC staff, grocery shoppers from the midtown Dave’s, CSU students and people heading to work at the casino, bars and restaurants. 

2 hours ago, MyPhoneDead said:

Honestly, I'm not saying that the RTA is perfect but every time I ride I don't have any issues with riding the rapid, it's always efficient.

Ya I've also never had any problems on board. I've never felt unsafe or had any rider who was causing trouble. The only problems I've ever experienced with RTA is twice I've had busses just drive right by me as I'm waiting at a stop. 

40 minutes ago, PlanCleveland said:

Ya I've also never had any problems on board. I've never felt unsafe or had any rider who was causing trouble. The only problems I've ever experienced with RTA is twice I've had busses just drive right by me as I'm waiting at a stop. 

 

I've taken a ton of RTA lines and almost never have any issues (as a comparison it only took like 2 bus rides in Detroit before I saw a woman start yelling at a man she said was trying to touch her inappropriately).

 

From what I have seen, only some of it was within the RTA's control:

- A rider threw a yogurt or something at a Red Line driver because he had missed his stop

- One night I walked past police talking to a suspect in front of W117th Red Line station ... only to notice the shattered glass doors and a bloody towel on the ground as I walked in

- One of the drivers on the 48 would repeatedly go a full 3 stops past mine before dropping me off unless other riders started to notice

5 hours ago, roman totale XVII said:

I’ve generally had good luck with the RTA’s network, but I’m also aware that I don’t use it that frequently, maybe a handful of times per month at most and I’d be as nervous as hell if I had to rely on it to make my livelihood. I’ll add to the good vibes though to say that we took the Healthline from downtown to and from Severance this last Sunday to see the Cleveland Orchestra. We were not the only people doing so and the ride back to downtown was full with a real cross-section of people. Along with us concert-goers, there were UC/ CC staff, grocery shoppers from the midtown Dave’s, CSU students and people heading to work at the casino, bars and restaurants. 

Only tangentially related, and maybe there's a better thread for this, but are there any plans to repave Euclid? The current state of the road serving the BRT seems abysmal... granted I've only driven myself down Euclid recently but I can imagine it isn't much better for the buses. It really does need repaved from Public Square all the way to 105th - I'd guess it would make for an overall better Healthline experience in general but who knows if its worth it.

18 hours ago, Geowizical said:

Only tangentially related, and maybe there's a better thread for this, but are there any plans to repave Euclid? The current state of the road serving the BRT seems abysmal... granted I've only driven myself down Euclid recently but I can imagine it isn't much better for the buses. It really does need repaved from Public Square all the way to 105th - I'd guess it would make for an overall better Healthline experience in general but who knows if its worth it.

The worry I had when it was built was the concrete street. Although concrete is supposed to last longer it is much more of a task to rebuild it and obviously costs more. I felt that eventually whomever is responsible for rebuilding either will do a bad patch job or eventually replace it with asphalt which makes me wonder why use concrete in the first place. 

1 hour ago, MyPhoneDead said:

The worry I had when it was built was the concrete street. Although concrete is supposed to last longer it is much more of a task to rebuild it and obviously costs more. I felt that eventually whomever is responsible for rebuilding either will do a bad patch job or eventually replace it with asphalt which makes me wonder why use concrete in the first place. 

Yeah.  Despite the "concrete lasts longer" mantra, the seams between concrete sections seem to be brittle and break quickly, and are not easily repaired.  Ideally the Healthline would be moved to rails....

51 minutes ago, Foraker said:

Yeah.  Despite the "concrete lasts longer" mantra, the seams between concrete sections seem to be brittle and break quickly, and are not easily repaired.  Ideally the Healthline would be moved to rails....

 

Any clue what this would take infrastructure wise? I imagine the existing platforms eliminate a huge part he typical cost of light rail.

42 minutes ago, Zagapi said:

 

Any clue what this would take infrastructure wise? I imagine the existing platforms eliminate a huge part he typical cost of light rail.

I've had the same thought. The stops and right of way already exist for most of the line. You just need the rails, trains, and power source. 

Fun fact -- the HealthLine was originally proposed to be built with electric buses pulling juice from overhead wires. Thus pre-Calabrese GCRTA wanted to make the HealthLine as convertible to rail as possible. But GCRTA came under pressure to reduce the project's costs as Congress and its transit-overseeing committees at that time weren't interested in new starts transit projects and instead were interested only in high-occupancy vehicle lanes on highways. Getting any funding approved for the HealthLine in the early- to mid-2000s was miraculous. Stokes, LaTourette and Tubbs Jones made it happen. But the stations were still designed for use by light-rail trains. And there's an old memory somewhere in the depths of my brain that's telling me that Euclid's bus lane concrete slabs were designed to pull them up easily and replace them with tracks either in a grassy median or embedded in new concrete like a streetcar.

1 hour ago, KJP said:

Fun fact -- the HealthLine was originally proposed to be built with electric buses pulling juice from overhead wires. Thus pre-Calabrese GCRTA wanted to make the HealthLine as convertible to rail. But GCRTA was under pressure to reduce the costs as much as possible as Congress and its transit-overseeing committees at that time weren't interested in new starts transit projects and instead were interested only in high-occupancy vehicle lanes on highways. Getting any funding approved for the HealthLine in the early- to mid-2000s was miraculous. Stokes, LaTourette and Tubbs Jones made it happen. But the stations were still designed for use by light-rail trains. And there's an old memory somewhere in the depths of my brain that's telling me that Euclid's bus lane concrete slabs were designed to pull them up easily and replace them with tracks either in a grassy median or embedded in new concrete like a streetcar.

Tracks in grass -- that would be awesome.  And it would keep cars out of the streetcar lane.  (Although now the bus lane does provide a convenient way to get around the delivery vehicles that just double park in the travel lane.)

2 hours ago, KJP said:

Fun fact -- the HealthLine was originally proposed to be built with electric buses pulling juice from overhead wires. Thus pre-Calabrese GCRTA wanted to make the HealthLine as convertible to rail as possible. But GCRTA came under pressure to reduce the project's costs as Congress and its transit-overseeing committees at that time weren't interested in new starts transit projects and instead were interested only in high-occupancy vehicle lanes on highways. Getting any funding approved for the HealthLine in the early- to mid-2000s was miraculous. Stokes, LaTourette and Tubbs Jones made it happen. But the stations were still designed for use by light-rail trains. And there's an old memory somewhere in the depths of my brain that's telling me that Euclid's bus lane concrete slabs were designed to pull them up easily and replace them with tracks either in a grassy median or embedded in new concrete like a streetcar.

Well depending on the upcoming election maybe they'll revisit this (I doubt it). 

7 hours ago, MyPhoneDead said:

Well depending on the upcoming election maybe they'll revisit this (I doubt it). 

 

The scoring criteria was changed a long time ago to favor New Starts funding for projects in cities like Cleveland (addressing economic development, poverty, equity, etc). GCRTA has also changed, too, from a corrupt, professional agency wanting to build and grow amid neglect to a self-anointed victim bragging about its abilities as it fights to survive.

RTA: “🚍 Blue Line Restoration!

We’re excited to announce that Blue Line service has been fully restored! Thank you for your patience. Plan your trip today with and enjoy the ride! ”

 

Rhetorical question:

 

Saturday night downtown will host the Rock Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the same time that the Guardians (hopefully) will be playing Game 5.  Is RTA adding any trains or service to accommodate the crowds? 

^ I did read somewhere (maybe on UO) that last Saturday for the Tigers ALDS decider, the red line had three cars instead of the usual two. 

1 hour ago, roman totale XVII said:

^ I did read somewhere (maybe on UO) that last Saturday for the Tigers ALDS decider, the red line had three cars instead of the usual two. 

Can confirm they have been doing this. This was on October 5th, ALDS game 1 and the Towpath Marathon day. 

 

I have a random question. What exactly made the Red Line cars age faster than the LRV cars? Being 10 years newer it seemed like it would be the opposite, but I remember reading that the restoration they did to them sped up the aging process. What possibly could have happened in that restoration that could have caused that? A restoration should, if anything, EXTEND a vehicles life.

11 minutes ago, MyPhoneDead said:

I have a random question. What exactly made the Red Line cars age faster than the LRV cars? Being 10 years newer it seemed like it would be the opposite, but I remember reading that the restoration they did to them sped up the aging process. What possibly could have happened in that restoration that could have caused that? A restoration should, if anything, EXTEND a vehicles life.

 

The use of substandard and possibility incompatible materials might do it.

1 hour ago, MyPhoneDead said:

I have a random question. What exactly made the Red Line cars age faster than the LRV cars? Being 10 years newer it seemed like it would be the opposite, but I remember reading that the restoration they did to them sped up the aging process. What possibly could have happened in that restoration that could have caused that? A restoration should, if anything, EXTEND a vehicles life.

@KJP is the expert, but my understanding is that the Red Line cars are completely different from the Blue/Green Line cars --- that will all change in the next decade with the new vehicles already ordered.

 

So it could be a question akin to "why does my 1980 Ford have so many fewer problems than my reconditioned 1990 Yugo?!"

2 hours ago, MyPhoneDead said:

I have a random question. What exactly made the Red Line cars age faster than the LRV cars? Being 10 years newer it seemed like it would be the opposite, but I remember reading that the restoration they did to them sped up the aging process. What possibly could have happened in that restoration that could have caused that? A restoration should, if anything, EXTEND a vehicles life.

 

I recall that the HRV undercarriages were corroding faster but I don't remember why. I found this older post in which a knowledgeable poster noted:

 

This is due to RTA not having enough operational single unit HRV's to provide off-peak service (when new, 20 of the HRV's were single units and 40 were intended to run in a minimum of 2-car trains as they have operators' cabs on one end). 

 

 

44 minutes ago, KJP said:

 

I recall that the HRV undercarriages were corroding faster but I don't remember why. I found this older post in which a knowledgeable poster noted:

 

This is due to RTA not having enough operational single unit HRV's to provide off-peak service (when new, 20 of the HRV's were single units and 40 were intended to run in a minimum of 2-car trains as they have operators' cabs on one end). 

 

 

Ahhh that makes a lot of sense, thank you. 

1 hour ago, KJP said:

 

I recall that the HRV undercarriages were corroding faster but I don't remember why. I

 

 

They probably weren't taking into account the effects of galvanic corrosion (caused by electrically dissimilar metals...the reason boats carry zinc anodes) which of course can happen rather aggressively in salty water.

4 hours ago, E Rocc said:

 

They probably weren't taking into account the effects of galvanic corrosion (caused by electrically dissimilar metals...the reason boats carry zinc anodes) which of course can happen rather aggressively in salty water.

 

That sounds VERY familiar. I think that might've been it.

 

GCRTA's new railcars start production
By Ken Prendergast / October 22, 2024

 

Manufacturing work has begun this month on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) new railcars, said members of the authority’s management team overseeing the replacement of its aging railcar fleet. But until enough railcars are delivered, which won’t happen until 2027, the public will still be riding the oldest trains among any transit authority in the nation.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2024/10/22/gcrtas-new-railcars-start-production/

16 hours ago, KJP said:

 

GCRTA's new railcars start production
By Ken Prendergast / October 22, 2024

 

Manufacturing work has begun this month on the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) new railcars, said members of the authority’s management team overseeing the replacement of its aging railcar fleet. But until enough railcars are delivered, which won’t happen until 2027, the public will still be riding the oldest trains among any transit authority in the nation.

 

MORE:

https://neo-trans.blog/2024/10/22/gcrtas-new-railcars-start-production/

So essentially if Cleveland already had unified light rail system before these were ordered they could've been phased in much quicker than the 2027 date?

8 hours ago, MyPhoneDead said:

So essentially if Cleveland already had unified light rail system before these were ordered they could've been phased in much quicker than the 2027 date?

 

Not necessarily. There's several factors, one of which is the fact that there's only one assembly plant for the most dominant railcar manufacturer in the USA. Cleveland has to get in line for the assembly line.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCh8eu2pNrZ/?igsh=MWE2bGYwcWowaXFhbw==

 

Probably minor, but any info on what this could be? I think the obvious answer is that Mayor Pete secured us $2 billion in new rail project funding at the last minute before Biden leaves office. 

 

But I'm guessing W117 will reopen soon?

12 hours ago, PlanCleveland said:

 

Probably minor, but any info on what this could be? I think the obvious answer is that Mayor Pete secured us $2 billion in new rail project funding at the last minute before Biden leaves office. 

 

My guess is another 40% salary increase for Birdsong.  And, she's pregnant.  😜