^Those are good points. And related to them: I would predict that moving employees from the city's traditional CBD to the new FEB office tower is going to be a net negative for RTA ridership in the near term because it's pulling people further away from Public Square and the main bus routes and instead putting them in what is more or less an isolated pocket of development surrounded by parking. A really bad outcome from the first phase of FEB. IMHO, would be RTA getting pressured to resume full time service on the WFL at the expense of other operations because there's new development, even if it generates only a few riders.

 

A concern I share. This is why not overbuilding---and making best use of what we already have in the meanwhile, will help to assure adding "more" of whatever will not become a flop. So, in the meantime, I'd rather see vacant spots turned into usable pedestrian space than more parking lots. We just may have to build arround the current demand for a small first step back to where we'd like to be. You don't cook a meal for 20 when only 5 are certainly showing up, in other words.

  I can't imagine the City of Cleveland would oppose lifting this policy, given the transit agency's ongoing struggle with cash.

 

In fact, the city appears very opposed to this idea.  the city made a deal for exclusive advertising on the triangular kiosks a few years ago, and attempts to expand the program to provide revenue for rta, recycling containers, uniform newspaper machines (the "nice" street elements you may see in other cities supported in part by ad revenue) were all rejected by the city.

 

it is a good question, and one that more people should be asking the city why this isn't happening.  to be fair, there are downsides (real and perceived) of cluttering the ROW with additional advertising, which the city stands behind.

 

Just another argument for regionalism and cooperation.  Why not have both governmental bodies work to sell ad space, and split the commission based on the space sold?

 

Of course, once sold, we'd have to remind RTA to mount their display ads above the height of an average three year old.  ;)

 

 

I've seen some pretty creative stuff done, particularly in Chicago, with bus shelters being sold as advertising.  I understand the city wants to protect some sort of design aesthetic to the city, but come on.  If the additional revenue RTA received from the sponsorships allowed the transit agency to hold onto a route or two, or keep some employees on-board, etc. I can't imagine what the city's counter argument would be to keep the policy as it is.

Blow me down.  This city approves every demolition and every suburban zoning variance that comes across the table.  But an ad program that would actually produce revenue is just too ugly?  Come on.  These ads are commonplace in major cities, they're a sign of living breathing commerce.  I think that would improve Cleveland's appearance, even if it didn't bring in a dime.

Here here 327.  :clap:

 

It is absolutely absurd that the city bothers itself with this sort of concern, while meanwhile bad decisions are being made and the city is crumbling around us....

 

Regulation of the display ads?  Fair enough.  But an outright ban on lucrative income for RTA?  Why don't we just pay for more people to leave NE Ohio....

I'm guessing... and this is just a guess.  That the city ad program has less to do with regulation for aesthetic purposes and more to do with revenue.  By only allowing ads at the kiosks the city keeps any revenue recieved (which I believe there was an article in the not to distant past that said it wasn't much).  By opening it up to RTA advertisers may want to be where more people are clustered (bus stops) and less inclined to use the kiosks, which would help rta, but decrease city revenues.

 

like i said... just a guess.

 

If you don't have money in your budget, how do you advertise/market?  It's one of the first things cut.  At a state run agency where you budget must be balanced, how would you affectively market? How would you formulate a plan?  It's easy to sit back and critize but it's really hard to put a extensive omni media plan together with only X dollars and not a cent more. It's happening everywhere, not just at RTA.

 

As a transit authority in a state with insanely low levels of state funding for public transit, increasing ridership/fare collections is a critical revenue stream. It doesn't take a marketing or management genius to know that. If RTA thinks that cutting or eliminating marketing costs is a smart or effective way to control expenses, they have bigger problems than they probably have the capacity to solve.

 

And all marketing doesn't have to cost alot of money. American Airlines and Amtrak both have Facebook pages with 1000s of fans. My bet is its a pretty low cost but very effective way of attracting and retaining customers. A RTA Facebook page with just a few hundred fans would probably more than pay for itself.

 

If you don't have money in your budget, how do you advertise/market?  It's one of the first things cut.  At a state run agency where you budget must be balanced, how would you affectively market? How would you formulate a plan?  It's easy to sit back and critize but it's really hard to put a extensive omni media plan together with only X dollars and not a cent more. It's happening everywhere, not just at RTA.

 

As a transit authority in a state with insanely low levels of state funding for public transit, increasing ridership/fare collections is a critical revenue stream. It doesn't take a marketing or management genius to know that. If RTA thinks that cutting or eliminating marketing costs is a smart or effective way to control expenses, they have bigger problems than they probably have the capacity to solve.

 

And all marketing doesn't have to cost alot of money. American Airlines and Amtrak both have Facebook pages with 1000s of fans. My bet is its a pretty low cost but very effective way of attracting and retaining customers. A RTA Facebook page with just a few hundred fans would probably more than pay for itself.

 

Honey, you're preaching to the choir.  I'm a fan of using facebook/twitter as a cheap way to reach your customer/consumer base and get real time information.

 

However, I have enough money to pay people to monitor those sites.  Does RTA have the man power and money in the budget to affectively cover social media?

And if they did have someone doing that, and the public or press found out about it, they'd be all up in arms.  RTA is paying someone to "play on the Internet!"  I can hear it now.

And if they did have someone doing that, and the public or press found out about it, they'd be all up in arms.  RTA is paying someone to "play on the Internet!"  I can hear it now.

 

exactly or they would complain that RTA is not monitoring the site enough.  Luckily we have Jerry and JetDog here and I'm sure this is outside of their "defined" roles and responsibilities.

 

If they got an intern that person wouldn't be able to monitor the site fulltime.

 

It's an excellent idea, but a failure unless you have 24 hour coverage.  Social networks - as used by a business - are all about execution and accessibility!

 

If there is a train breakdown, there should be a tweet.  When operations resume, there should be a tweet.  If you don't have the man power (in the communications department) to do that 24 hours, what is the point.  That person needs to also have autonomy to interact with other divisions/departments and solve problems on the spot and use those real time examples to improve service across the board.

 

So any talented folks out there want to design a decent looking "I ride RTA" t-shirt to provide RTA some free gorilla marketing? I'd buy one if it looked good.  Sad but true.

Actually an "I Ride RTA" marketing campaign would be really great. You could have mothers with their children, school kids with books, nicely dressed working men and women, maybe some hot college-aged kids, some kindly looking elderly folks, etc.  If those faces/ads were plastered everywhere, that would be a great campaign.  And each one could have a different tagline at the bottom.  Like they all say "I Ride RTA..." at the top, and the working man one could say "and I save $4000 a year on parking costs."  Or the mom one could say "I Ride RTA...to my children's doctor appointments."  Or the school kids' ones could say, "to class," the elderly ones "to the grocery."  Etc.

BTW, I think you mean "guerilla" marketing, not gorilla, like the animal.  LOL.

"I ride RTA and save $4000 for sign language lessons"

 

Thanks R&R, sometimes the typing hands work faster than the brain.

 

I like your marketing ideas, by the way.  A lot.  Could directly confront the perception that RTA is only for the very poor and only for non-white people.

 

Next step would be a guerilla laminated schedule posting campaign.  I remember a few years ago when an UO-er recounted telling Calabrese that in NYC the bus schedule is posted at nearly every bus stop and Calabrese refused to believe it.  Not a "wow, we should do that" but instead a "no, that can't be right" [though it is].  Ugh.

Maybe a student from CIA could do a series of T-shirt designs promoting RTA.

I think RTA uses Brokaw (http://www.brokaw.com), the ad agency in the Warehouse District for all their outside marketing (what little there is.)  Perhaps they could save a helluva lot of money by using some of the people on this board!  :yap:

Who do I speak to if I get injured while riding an RTA bus?  (Sadly enough that's a serious question.)  I jacked my knees pretty badly during a sudden stop tonight, and while I'm about 95% sure I'll be okay, I'd rather report it now than have to bring it up later when it's not fresh in the driver's mind.

 

SPEAKING of the driver, she needs to go to drivers' ed.  I was on the #9 on bus 2833 (headed westbound, passing Mayfield and Superior at 5:23pm).

 

Incident #1 - A guy was erroneously stopped at a green light at Euclid and Stokes.  The bus driver lays on the horn for a solid 5 seconds (at least) and starts screaming at the dude.  Now, that's something I might do in my car, but not as a professional driving a busload of people!

 

Incident #2 - We approached the light at Euclid and E. 40th (or somewhere around there - I don't remember exactly), and the light for cars was green, the green left turn arrow for cars was lit, and the bus signal was on stop......  except for the fact that this woman went right through it.  Luckily no one was trying to turn left.

 

Incident #3 - We were stopped at the light at E. 17th and Euclid.  When it turned green, the driver started to accelerate without noticing that the people in front of her weren't.  She eventually slammed on the breaks, which is when I went flying forward and whacked my knees on the barrier in front of me (I was sitting in the first row at the top of the stairs on the door side of the bus).

 

Incident #4 - The reason for the cars not moving on Euclid was because the CSU parking garage on E. 17th was causing a back-up (as it does quite often).  Instead of sitting in traffic, the driver decides to drive all the way down E. 17th on the wrong side of the road honking her horn the whole way.

 

UPDATE:  JetDog hooked me up through PM.

I have seen the E-line trolley blow through flat out red lights (not even TURNING red, but already red for awhile) 4 times in the past week.  WTF?  Do they not have to obey traffic signals?

I have seen the E-line trolley blow through flat out red lights (not even TURNING red, but already red for awhile) 4 times in the past week. WTF? Do they not have to obey traffic signals?

 

Of course they have to obey traffic signals. You may not be at a position to catch the vehicle number, but you know which line it is by where you are standing, and you know the time and the place. Report it, and the driver will be reminded of the law.

I remember a few years ago when an UO-er recounted telling Calabrese that in NYC the bus schedule is posted at nearly every bus stop and Calabrese refused to believe it.  Not a "wow, we should do that" but instead a "no, that can't be right" [though it is].  Ugh.

 

I think Joe was just thinking logically (not a bad trait for a GM to have). Cleveland has some 7,000 bus stops, and bus schedules (in Cleveland) can change up to four times a year. If you estimate that NYC is 6 times larger than Cleveland, then that is 49,000 bus stops. Changing schedules "manually" four times a year at 49,000 bus stops would certainly employ a lot of people. Of course, there are many factors which we do not know, so everything is open to speculation.

I see my quote marks are misplaced in the posting above. The second "quote" belongs to me.

<<Does RTA have the man power and money in the budget to affectively cover social media?>>

 

RTA is now actively looking at several forms of social media. Actually, blogs and forums are considered social media, and here we are! First you walk, then you run. Your patience is appreciated.

I remember a few years ago when an UO-er recounted telling Calabrese that in NYC the bus schedule is posted at nearly every bus stop and Calabrese refused to believe it.  Not a "wow, we should do that" but instead a "no, that can't be right" [though it is].  Ugh.

 

I think Joe was just thinking logically (not a bad trait for a GM to have). Cleveland has some 7,000 bus stops, and bus schedules (in Cleveland) can change up to four times a year. If you estimate that NYC is 6 times larger than Cleveland, then that is 49,000 bus stops. Changing schedules "manually" four times a year at 49,000 bus stops would certainly employ a lot of people. Of course, there are many factors which we do not know, so everything is open to speculation.

 

At the time Joe was confronted with this, there were indeed many things we did not know.  But what has been done since then to investigate?  Lack of schedule info is a big barrier to transit use if you have other options, and "look it up online" is simply another barrier.  As far as physically changing the schedules, I'd like to point out that every transit system has employees driving right by each of its stations on a daily basis.  It's not like RTA would need 7000 vans and 7000 temps just to post schedule info

And if they did have someone doing that, and the public or press found out about it, they'd be all up in arms. RTA is paying someone to "play on the Internet!" I can hear it now.

 

Solitaire is "playing on the Internet." Talking with your customers is just good business sense. FYI, got a letter last week from the PD, thanking RTA for posting intelligent views on cleveland.com. Just a plug for that blog -- they have done a lot to clean it up, and a lot of aimless posters seem to have gone elsewhere. If you have not been there lately, I encourage you to check it out. End of commercial.

 

I didn't even know RTA had a marketing department. Other than the buses driving around town, I don't see much in the way of "getting the word out."

 

Content on the Web site. Printing more than 1 million timetables a year. Overseeing vendors Brokaw and CBS Outdoor. Handling 1,000 calls a year from media. Advertising in radio, TV and print. Producing an annual report. Coordinating all public hearings and special events. Producing information and publications for employees, customers and special audiences. Monitoring blogs like this one, and responding to posts like this one.

 

I could go on and on and on, but I believe I made my point.

^I certainly don't doubt you guys are crazy busy and would love to have more resources to broaden your outreach. 

 

I think Joe was just thinking logically (not a bad trait for a GM to have). Cleveland has some 7,000 bus stops, and bus schedules (in Cleveland) can change up to four times a year. If you estimate that NYC is 6 times larger than Cleveland, then that is 49,000 bus stops. Changing schedules "manually" four times a year at 49,000 bus stops would certainly employ a lot of people. Of course, there are many factors which we do not know, so everything is open to speculation.

 

I hear you- I'm not really suggesting it would be practical for every stop to have a current schedule posted by RTA, but refusing to believe that NYC is able to make this happen was a pretty lame and lazy response by Joe.  Laying bare ignorance about our country's biggest transit system wasn't exactly confidence inspiring either.  But anyway, back to substance:

 

I think 327 is right- making schedule info easier to access would certainly make transit a lot less mysterious to the uninitiated.  I realize RTA probably can't itself post schedules on all 7000 stops, but has it thought about posting schedules at certain key stops, such as those around public square?  Has it considered recruiting volunteers to attach an RTA-sanctioned/standardized laminated schedule on key stops outside of downtown?  Or investigated the mechanics of how one could be attached?  Would RTA object if an unsanctioned group attached schedules to RTA stops (provided it did so without damaging the post or sign)?

 

To me, this sounds like an absolutely perfect project for a summer intern to figure out.

To me, this sounds like an absolutely perfect project for a summer intern to figure out.

 

Certainly your luck would be better with the intern than having the ATU member drivers hang signs.  I'm quite certain they would flat out refuse such a duty.    Even picking up a candy wrapper next to their seat is usually out of the realm of the job description.  :)

I like what I'm hearing.  More "how can we," less "why we can't."

^I certainly don't doubt you guys are crazy busy and would love to have more resources to broaden your outreach. 

 

I think Joe was just thinking logically (not a bad trait for a GM to have). Cleveland has some 7,000 bus stops, and bus schedules (in Cleveland) can change up to four times a year. If you estimate that NYC is 6 times larger than Cleveland, then that is 49,000 bus stops. Changing schedules "manually" four times a year at 49,000 bus stops would certainly employ a lot of people. Of course, there are many factors which we do not know, so everything is open to speculation.

 

I hear you- I'm not really suggesting it would be practical for every stop to have a current schedule posted by RTA, but refusing to believe that NYC is able to make this happen was a pretty lame and lazy response by Joe.  Laying bare ignorance about our country's biggest transit system wasn't exactly confidence inspiring either.  But anyway, back to substance:

 

I think 327 is right- making schedule info easier to access would certainly make transit a lot less mysterious to the uninitiated.  I realize RTA probably can't itself post schedules on all 7000 stops, but has it thought about posting schedules at certain key stops, such as those around public square?  Has it considered recruiting volunteers to attach an RTA-sanctioned/standardized laminated schedule on key stops outside of downtown?  Or investigated the mechanics of how one could be attached?  Would RTA object if an unsanctioned group attached schedules to RTA stops (provided it did so without damaging the post or sign)?

 

To me, this sounds like an absolutely perfect project for a summer intern to figure out.

 

this is a key part of the TWE project that was completed a couple of years ago.  rta has dedicated 200k the past 2 years to transit waiting environment improvements, including schedule information.

 

imo, the rollout has been way too slow, but there were 3 "pilots" tested with bus schedule and map information posted at a stop in buckeye, market square, and one by city hall.  not sure where the program is now, as this was supposed to role out on a wider scale in Q4 of 2009.

 

i'll see if i can find a pic of one of the signs, otherwise maybe someone else can post one.

 

rta is also currently testing a sms based schedule information tool for mobile devices, and has made data available in google transit format, which makes it widely available to outside developers as well as google maps.  if anyone knows a developer, it would be great to get someone to extend one of the existing transit apps for smart phones to the cleveland system. 

 

EDIT: attached photos from the fall @ w25 and lorain

SPEAKING of the driver, she needs to go to drivers' ed. I was on the #9 on bus 2833 (headed westbound, passing Mayfield and Superior at 5:23pm).

 

Incident #1 - A guy was erroneously stopped at a green light at Euclid and Stokes. The bus driver lays on the horn for a solid 5 seconds (at least) and starts screaming at the dude. Now, that's something I might do in my car, but not as a professional driving a busload of people!

 

Incident #2 - We approached the light at Euclid and E. 40th (or somewhere around there - I don't remember exactly), and the light for cars was green, the green left turn arrow for cars was lit, and the bus signal was on stop...... except for the fact that this woman went right through it. Luckily no one was trying to turn left.

 

Incident #3 - We were stopped at the light at E. 17th and Euclid. When it turned green, the driver started to accelerate without noticing that the people in front of her weren't. She eventually slammed on the breaks, which is when I went flying forward and whacked my knees on the barrier in front of me (I was sitting in the first row at the top of the stairs on the door side of the bus).

 

Incident #4 - The reason for the cars not moving on Euclid was because the CSU parking garage on E. 17th was causing a back-up (as it does quite often). Instead of sitting in traffic, the driver decides to drive all the way down E. 17th on the wrong side of the road honking her horn the whole way.

 

 

All these things are unacceptable behavior for any driver....and ESPECIALLY a supposed "professional" driver. I have witnessed on numerous occasions 'bully-like' driving of RTA buses. I have also been a potential crash victim of one and if had not been for me watching, this driver would have caused a big accident. I wrote and called RTA about this and NO reply. While I know eyes cannot be on them all the time and for every little thing..the general philosophy on this should be a zero tolerance.

 

RTA... Are you reading this?

 

These incedents (accountability) described above, to me, are the kind where no amount of funding will fix them...or prevent inconsiderate manners and plain stupidity in bus drivers...But rather, supervisors who do not tolerate such behavior can help the issue--and such a character need be in the make-up of the people who are hired to enforce better/safer driving. If not...then hire someone who takes it seriously and can demonstrate so. 

 

Safe driving philosophies need be instilled in the character of the people of RTA from the top on down. I often see evidence suggesting the opposite. Show me an effort that you are taking these issues seriosuly (among others) and I may consider riding public transport more often, and I will do al I can to encourage others to do the same. (as I used to in the 90's)

 

On another note, I really like Rock and Roller's idea for trying to reach a broader customer base in ideas to attempt to better promote ridership. I am in Sydney at the moment...and have noticed, (like in many places in North America) the well done and atractive advertising lit up signs on the bus shelters at night. I know there was some talk about this earlier in the thread. 

"I wrote and called RTA about this and NO reply. While I know eyes cannot be on them all the time and for every little thing..the general philosophy on this should be a zero tolerance.

 

RTA... Are you reading this?"

 

Looks like a bad circle.

While Jerry seems to be reading some, he can only say (above) to report such drivers.. Is there any point if there is no response??  Do we know if it does any good? 

If RTA doesnt care then why should anybody else? 

 

 

urbanlife those pictures look great.  Let's do that.  I wonder if we could classify it as a capital expense and throw it onto a funding request.

Good luck with that.  Ive also had no luck in getting a response from RTA or from anyone on here about funding that was available that could have been used for track/corridor cleanup and beautification among other things. 

If RTA doesnt care then why should anybody else? 

 

You care because it's the right thing to do.

 

You care because doing the right thing isn't predicated on whether or not you're the only one who's doing it.

 

You care because you want to see viable, sustainable public transit in Cleveland.

If you want to see bus drivers not knowing traffic rules, just watch them in the traffic circle (aka Vortex of Death) at I-71 and Steelyard and West 14th.  They routinely take the outside lane off I-71 around to 14th north.  Vary dangerous since the inside lane is allowed to head onto Steelyard, crossing directly in path of reckless bus operator.

If you want to see bus drivers not knowing traffic rules, just watch them in the traffic circle (aka Vortex of Death) at I-71 and Steelyard and West 14th.  They routinely take the outside lane off I-71 around to 14th north.  Very dangerous since the inside lane is allowed to head onto Steelyard, crossing directly in path of reckless bus operator.

 

Thanks. I have just reported this. Operators will be reminded of the "rules of the road" in this area.

<<While Jerry seems to be reading some, he can only say (above) to report such drivers.. Is there any point if there is no response?? Do we know if it does any good?>>

 

I am not certain what kind of response you want. Operator who are targets of complaints ares called in front of a supervisor and reminded of the rules and policies. So yes, your complaints "do good".

<<While Jerry seems to be reading some, he can only say (above) to report such drivers.. Is there any point if there is no response?? Do we know if it does any good?>>

 

I am not certain what kind of response you want. Operator who are targets of complaints ares called in front of a supervisor and reminded of the rules and policies. So yes, your complaints "do good".

 

When drivers are called in front of a supervisor, is the incident in question written into their employee file?  Or do they just get a little slap on the wrist and then forget about the whole thing?

I've unfortunately run into similar unsafe driving on both the 9 and the 7 (although I unfortunately have not been recording bus numbers, etc.). I believe part of the problem is that, particularly during rush hour, these buses tend to run 5 minutes late eastbound out of the downtown, and the drivers then appear to feel pressure to catch up to the scheduled times. I don't want to suggest that RTA drivers, which I generally find good to exceptional, are all driving around recklessly, but I have been on several 7 and 9 buses where the driver appears to be driving significantly above the speed limit and then braking suddenly at lights and at stations. I haven't noticed this on the Healthline at all.

I guess it would help to have clarification. 

Do you report things from here as in the one case above, or are incidents to be directly reported to RTA as you also mentioned above?  Or both? 

 

Are you able to answer my "grants" question that I have asked numerous times through RTA and on here, about the availability of seperate grants for various things that RTA does not have money for.  Have not gotten any response either way. 

I've unfortunately run into similar unsafe driving on both the 9 and the 7 (although I unfortunately have not been recording bus numbers, etc.). I believe part of the problem is that, particularly during rush hour, these buses tend to run 5 minutes late eastbound out of the downtown, and the drivers then appear to feel pressure to catch up to the scheduled times. I don't want to suggest that RTA drivers, which I generally find good to exceptional, are all driving around recklessly, but I have been on several 7 and 9 buses where the driver appears to be driving significantly above the speed limit and then braking suddenly at lights and at stations. I haven't noticed this on the Healthline at all.

 

They run late going westbound too, especially when they get stuck behind Healthline buses.  Some Healthline drivers are aware if a 7, 9, or 32 is behind them and pull into the car lane (if there are no cars coming) to let the other bus pass.  Otherwise, the drivers play leapfrog with the Healthline buses.  I've been on several "rollercoaster" trips as I call them.  The speeding doesn't bother me as much as running reds or driving the wrong way down a road to get around traffic.  I would suggest to extend the scheduled times between stops, but seeing as the 7,9, and 32 are probably gonna disappear anyway, I guess there's no point.

Re: signs at all stops

 

Seattle's Metro system also does this.  It doesn't have to be fancy- all they had were small metal frames nailed to the nearest utility pole with the time schedule inserted.  The frames were small, less wide than the pole, so that they weren't a tempting target to rip off.  This was at ALL stops, and it made the system much more easy to use.  One reason I've all but stopped using RTA is because I am tired of not being able to know when or even if a bus was coming when I haven't been able to secure a pamphlet ahead of time.

not being able to know when or even if a bus was coming

 

I've lost hours upon hours of my life in this way.  It would be nice to know, for example, that a certian route that's typically hourly takes a 3-hour break at midday.  Or that the bus you're waiting for-- on Saturday-- will not arrive till Monday morning.

 

Leadership at RTA simply must change.  That could mean different people doing the leading, or it could mean a change in the way the current leadership views its responsibilities... both the nuts & bolts aspect and the visionary aspect.  There needs to be a clean break from the way things have progressed over the last decade.  This community cannot accept any more substandard offerings, embarassing blunders, or missed opportunities.  There is no excuse for refusing to ACCEPT THE EXISTENCE of clear national standards, when our system falls so ridiculously short of them.  Shameful. 

Regarding schedule posting at stops:  it'd help if, whenever possible, buses could run on regular intervals that are divisible by 60.  Much easier to say, "10:30, 10:50, then every 20 min. until 3:50, then...." as opposed to having to list each time separately.  If a bus doesn't run frequently enough for such a scheme, then it probably won't be as big a deal to just list all the times separately (there won't be as many of them).

 

 

Not that it opens up the information to everyone, but I do have to commend RTA here for making their routing information available to Google. In addition to RTA's decent Trip Planner and the Google Trip Planner, I can now get advised routes wherever I am on the iPhone. Another car-free friend and I were just talking about how amazing it is to have this ability now; it's completely revolutionized my ability to use public transportation extensively, particularly in places I frequent that don't always have great evening service (e.g. Tremont and the Heights). Previously, I would have just. I also heard that another app is testing out the potential for providing real-time GPS-linked information about bus and train service and that the area around Case is to be one of the national test sites.

 

All that being said, I don't want to suggest that this detracts from people's arguments that route information should be more readily available, given that a sizable portion of the RTA ridership doesn't have Smartphone capability, at least not as of yet. But for those that do, it's turned a difficult system into one that's completely manageable.

<<When drivers are called in front of a supervisor, is the incident in question written into their employee file? Or do they just get a little slap on the wrist and then forget about the whole thing?>>

 

Yes, it is part of their employee file. If patterns show up, one or more employees may go in for re-training so a given policy or procedure can be further stressed.

Do you report things from here as in the one case above, or are incidents to be directly reported to RTA as you also mentioned above? Or both?

 

When I learn of an event that needs reporting, I take it upon myself to report it. That is called "pride of ownership." However, I also have a list of other duties from holding down two jobs, and it would be best if you reported a problem thru established lines.

 

Another thought: the existing RTA AnswerLine could be a much more useful resource, and eliminate much of the need to post schedules everywhere, if it were easier to figure out a stop number, for instance by looking at it.  I'm not sure how the AnswerLine works now if you know that number, but ideally, you'd give that, and it would figure out everything else it can (your location, route number(s) serving that stop, probably your direction of travel unless the stop serves both directions, etc.).  It'd ask for whatever it needed to know and didn't, and then immediately give you the next few departure times, possibly with a few additional options afterward such as arrival times for major destinations, transfer/connection information, return trip information, information for a different date/time, or maybe even the ability to request that a connecting bus wait for you (within reason) if your bus is running a few minutes too late for the connection.

 

I'm not sure how much of this the system already does, but I know it'd be far more useful if the stop numbers were posted someplace easy to see.  Then instead of a schedule that might frequently change, you just post something like this.  I'm using for my example the 34/94 stop at Shaker & Green since it has both multiple routes and multiple directions - most would be much simpler.

 

  Dial 216-621-9500 anytime for Departure/Arrival Information and more!  For fastest service press 8 and then immediately enter one of the following Stop Numbers:

 

      34990 for General Information or one of the following for the next few Departures:

      34991 for 34 (Green/E.200) Northbound

      34992 for 34 (Green/E.200) Southbound

      34993 for 94 (E.260/Richmond) Northbound

      34494 for 94 (E.260/Richmond) Southbound

      34495 for 67A (Shaker Blvd.) service to Downtown

 

  Thank you for choosing RTA!

 

Probably, all you'd need to do would be to start phasing in the stop numbers, and reprogram the VRU a bit.

 

Note that as in my example above, stops with many routes or possible destinations could have multiple stop numbers, to save time.  Most stops would have just one or two.  The system should be smart enough to figure out what it can from the stop number, and ask the caller only for whatever information it doesn't already know.

 

You want to make this experience as fast as possible, to minimize not only user time and frustration but also your phone expenses.  So don't make people pick a language; instead publish separate numbers for English and Spanish.  Probably a separate # for paratransit as well.  Don't make anyone navigate a complex menu if all they want to do is get the next few departure times.  Answer with, "Welcome to RTA!  If you know your stop number enter it now, or press 0 for more options."

 

Also, there should be a # that people can text the stop number to, and get a response back by text.

Are you able to answer my "grants" question that I have asked numerous times through RTA and on here, about the availability of seperate grants for various things that RTA does not have money for.

 

It has been quite a while since we talked about this. If you have a specific question, please send it to me directly, and I will check into it. I am not even sure where to begin checking, so it may not be an instant response.

If you want to see bus drivers not knowing traffic rules, just watch them in the traffic circle (aka Vortex of Death) at I-71 and Steelyard and West 14th.  They routinely take the outside lane off I-71 around to 14th north.  Very dangerous since the inside lane is allowed to head onto Steelyard, crossing directly in path of reckless bus operator.

 

I don't know why so many call this a death trap. I use it all the time and never have a problem. If people would learn how to use a round-a-bout, they would have little if any issues with this. I have driven on far more complicated ones. But what is really scary is a bus driver not knowing how to use it! YIKES!!!  :-o