I hate to add to the RTA hatefest, but I was on the E-Line Trolley, #2709 today:

 

 

 

That's not someone being cute and tagging their initials, those are the marks of some of the worst gangs in Cleveland. http://www.wcpn.org/WCPN/soi/4249 For what it's worth - these are on the seat directly across from the rear exit door and DIRECTLY under one of the security cameras.

I see a gang sign scribbled on a bus almost every day. It really sucks.

^ http://www.cleveland.com/tipoff/index.ssf/2010/02/regional_transit_authoritys_no.html

 

Spokesman Jerry Masek said Calabrese had forgotten that he'd agreed with the agency's marketing folks two weeks earlier that all of the stickers will start being removed from RTA vehicles.

 

Thank you Jerry (seriously).

 

 

 

Kinda makes them sound like bumbling idiots.

I ride the trolley about 4 times/day... I've been on that EXACT trolley and I have seen those markings on that seat.  I actually sat in the seat directly behind that back rest.  I saw that about two weeks ago!!!  I can't believe it hasn't been removed, regardless of its meaning.

 

Kinda makes them sound like bumbling idiots.

 

I sure hope you never have to work in a job where your mistakes are visible for thousands to see and criticize. Maybe your reactions to them would be a little more humane.

Is RTA still planning on rolling out the stupid talking buses?  I was walking down Adelbert yesterday when I heard "Wha wha wha wha wha" and thought to myself "Who's the dumb@ss proclaiming something on a loudspeaker on top of their car?"  It took until the bus got right next to me for me to realize it was talking and saying "Caution, bus turning" even though the bus wasn't turning - it just had its blinker on (I thought they were changing it to steering wheel activated?).  So seriously, I had no idea the bus was talking until it was all up in my business - at least with the beeping you know its a bus!

 

Talking buses...another overkill idea of technology run amuck! This simply adds more unnecessary noise which makes it difficult to hear things you NEED to hear---and actually makes things less safe, but to explain that would take another thread. As you experienced, the talking cannot be heard over the din of other noises anyway, and making them louder is not the answer. It just adds fuel to a  fire. What makes for safer buses and interaction between buses and people... is to START with better more competent drivers. Don't punish the rest of us because of cases where drivers bully the road or have no regard for pedestrians, then hit them...and then suddenly need to add all kinds of toots and whistles and voices.  Absurd, and it is not only in Cleveland this has been a problem. See www.noiseoff.org 

I ride the trolley about 4 times/day... I've been on that EXACT trolley and I have seen those markings on that seat.  I actually sat in the seat directly behind that back rest.  I saw that about two weeks ago!!!  I can't believe it hasn't been removed, regardless of its meaning.

 

Agreed... Who is in control here.. Gangs or RTA?

 

Kinda makes them sound like bumbling idiots.

 

I sure hope you never have to work in a job where your mistakes are visible for thousands to see and criticize. Maybe your reactions to them would be a little more humane.

 

You want us to be less critical of RTA simply because they are more visible than other organizations?

 

Kinda makes them sound like bumbling idiots.

 

I sure hope you never have to work in a job where your mistakes are visible for thousands to see and criticize. Maybe your reactions to them would be a little more humane.

 

You want us to be less critical of RTA simply because they are more visible than other organizations?

 

Can't take the heat... get out the kitchen.  A lot of us would love to have those jobs.  Public positions involve public criticism, in some cases an overwhelming amount.  This is America.  No one here has been inhumane toward RTA at any point.  We expect quality work, quality service, and above all good decisions for our future.  We are not wrong to expect these things.

 

Kinda makes them sound like bumbling idiots.

 

 

 

 

I sure hope you never have to work in a job where your mistakes are visible for thousands to see and criticize. Maybe your reactions to them would be a little more humane.

 

You want us to be less critical of RTA simply because they are more visible than other organizations?

 

 

CLE'79, I am not sure if you know this, but JMasek is a member of this forum and has spent many hours talking directly to us and answering countless questions on all things regarding RTA.  We really appreciate his involvement.

KJP was simply defending a fellow UOer from unfair criticism, even if the original comment was not intended to be directed at JMasek.

I must echo... can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.  It's a high profile job, it's a high profile organization in the city.

There's criticism, even harsh criticism - and then there's insulting someone who has made an effort to reach out to this forum, and helped resolve a lot of issues for a lot of people. No one's suggesting that criticism isn't welcome, but deliver it without the disrespect.

I really don't think the "bumbling idiot" thing referred to any forumer.  I think it referred to a forumer's boss, or more generally to the chain of command that put said forumer in said predicament.  And I don't think anyone here ever blames said forumer for any RTA policy.

Hi, long time lurker here and first post.  Just wanted to let everyone know the someone at RTA must be listening, when i got off the the red line at w117th transit police were checking fare cards on the way out.  They were positioned on the lower level so you couldn't see them until you go off the train.  Also, an officer checked fare cards on my way in this morning.  I think it's about time for them to step up enforcement.

Welcome, down4cle. Great first post! Glad to hear the news.

Agree with KJP, welcome, and great first post. And I'm SO glad to hear they weren't just standing right inside there on the 2nd floor where they would be visible.  ROCK ON.

Having a public position does indeed open one to public criticism, indeed even harsh or derogatory criticism.  UrbanOhio, however, is a private forum with a code of conduct regarding how members interact with each other.  This includes interaction with members who have public positions.  If there are any further questions about this policy, please PM a mod.  This thread needs to get back to issues regarding RTA, and not be further sidetracked.

The post had to do with a news story, doesnt really have anything to do with.... interaction with....... 

I guess if you didnt read the story you didnt get it :|. 

^I do wonder about RTA's counting techniques.  RTA was one of the only agencies that didn't provide average weekday ridership to APTA.  From past exchanges with RTA, they don't seem to have station-specific boarding info either.

 

Not surprising for the transit system which, until a year ago, lost (probably) 10s of thousands of dollars because of poor fare collecting techniques... Wait, what do I mean by a year ago, ... UOers, among others, are reporting many, many Red Line fare cheaters in light of the seeming total lack of roving RTA Transit Police enforcement under the new POP fare system.

 

As someone else had stated, the amount of transit police checking fare cards and passes has literally jumped by leaps and bounds the past few weeks. I might have encountered one instance last fall where someone boarded the red line to check passes. The past few weeks almost 1/3 to 1/2 of all red line trips had someone check fare cards. Not surprising, the amount of people being caught on the red line without proper fares was not low.

......................

I'm sort of new to this site, but I would like to comment that having been on most of the major public transit systems in the US, RTA does a pretty good job with what they have. I can leave my house and walk to the red line, get on a train to Hopkins, take the escalator up to ticketing, go through security and be at the gate in about 30 minutes from the time I left home without ever having to step foot in a car. Try taking public transit from mid-town Manhattan to LaGuardia, which is only about 4 miles away. A) the subway does not go there B) The M-60 takes about 1.5 hours C)The infrequency of the M-60 means that once it fills up, the bus drivers just go past each stop with confused and upset bus goers scrambling to grab a taxi to catch their flight.

I'll join the happy train.  My day to day life is based around RTA services, so I'm pro-RTA all the way.  The staff is friendly and professional at every level.  I especially like the ones who bring a little joy to it (sixty-fiiiiiiiiiiifffff), and I'm glad this kind of thing flourishes on RTA.  My beef is with the polices and the long term planning.  It's a top notch agency but it's out of control at the top.  This is not uncommon among government agencies.  Even so, RTA is still one of the best things about Cleveland. 

I'm dislike the current RTA administration, also, because of their small-minded approach to planning.  But I do enjoy using the system when it works -- and I mean, being relatively on-time and clean.  A tight operating dollar is 1 thing, I understand that, but there is absolutely no excuse for dirty buses, trains, stations and right-of-ways...

 

That said, RTA can never be fully successful so long as officials of the Mother City seemingly don't give a schidt about it.  I mean, aside from the new flava-of-the-month-- the Health Line, of course -- how much do you really see or hear local officials really talking up RTA, or considering utilizing what we have, esp the Rapid, in worthwhile city-building program, ie TOD?    We constantly gripe that our rail lines don't go close enough to population areas, but if you look at a newer system, like the St. Louis Metro, which is constantly expanding, it's connectivity to high population density areas, at least from a walk-ability, is worse than the RTA Rapid.  And, yes, St. Louis Metro does, like our RTA Rapid, mainly utilizes frieght rail right-of-ways for its high-speed cooridors.  But you don't hear the complaining and excuse making as we do around here.  It's all a state of mind.

 

I do get this sense among power brokers in this town, more and more, that RTA is for college students and poor people.  Even in Shaker Heights, home of the original Rapid lines, I'm hearing people talking about not wanting to deal with the Rapid to go to work-- even though, to Shaker Height's credit, they are about the only entity in the county these days that is at least talking and planning in TOD terms related to the Rapid -- Avalon Station (whatever its current success level is) and, of course, the massive TOD plan for the end of the Blue Line (see that related thread)...

 

Until local leaders take some degree of pride in the system we have and actually talk in terms of using it to enhance development and movement, I don't see things getting foreseeably better in the near term.

And, yes, St. Louis Metro does, like our RTA Rapid, mainly utilizes frieght rail right-of-ways for its high-speed cooridors.  But you don't hear the complaining and excuse making as we do around here.  It's all a state of mind.

 

They also have multiple downtown stations in a subway (again thanks the reuse of an old freight rail tunnel, and bridge, that were used as the local contribution to leverage the federal construction grant)....

 

 

 

 

Pictures are from a terrific publication in Jacksonville that does a great job of showing what the rest of the nation is doing with rail and transit....

 

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-apr-a-lesson-for-jacksonville-the-st-louis-metrolink

^ Downtown, you're right, St. Louis has very skillfully used the old frieght tunnell as well as access to SW Illinois over the ancient-yet-majestic (136-years-old to be exact) Eads Bridge and, yes, there are multiple downtown stations whereas we mainly have only 1 in TC (I actually count 2, including the much underappreciated E. 9th/North Coast WFL stop)...

 

I was mainly talking about Metro in the nieghborhoods -- it actually puts riders farter away (that RTA does) from core mix-use walking districts like Delmar Loop (in Univ City) or Central West End or the St. Louis University/college-town area near the Grand station.  Even in downtown, a core of St. Louis' retail and entertainment area is in its NW quadrant which is away from the Metro tunnel and route.  Compare the RTA Rapid viz-a-viz Shaker Sq and Larchmere, Ohio City or even University Circle and Little Italy, (where the problem is as much the low-quality, dangerous nature of the E. 120 station as it is its relatively poor location, even with some development now growing up around it).  And even our 1 Tower City downtown station lies wthin very easy walking distance of our core entertainment areas: E. 4th and Warehouse Dist... and things of course will get even better, rail connection-wise once the Flats East Bank development gets going.

So...St. Louis's rail system really isn't that similar to RTA's because St. Louis has a much more robust downtown distribution system, no?

 

I'm not terribly familiar with the St. Louis system, but clearly there's something pretty different about it compared to RTA (or something really different about St. Louis residents compared to Cleveland residents)-  St. Louis's system, in its current state, attracts about 2.5 times as many riders as RTA's rail system.  I don't think that difference can be explained by the condition of RTA's stations or differences in recent TOD development.  In other words, I don't think it has much to do with operations or "leadership", except, maybe, the failure to implement dual hub, which happened before Calbrese, no?

^ Downtown, you're right, St. Louis has very skillfully used the old frieght tunnell as well as access to SW Illinois over the ancient-yet-majestic (136-years-old to be exact) Eads Bridge and, yes, there are multiple downtown stations whereas we mainly have only 1 in TC (I actually count 2, including the much underappreciated E. 9th/North Coast WFL stop)...

 

What really should/should have been done with the Waterfront line is to make a red line connection to the track immediately after crossing over the Cuyahoga. In the morning the east bound Red Line trains that end their route at Tower City could instead have been diverted to the waterfront line. When you look at a map, the waterfront line stations are in close proximity to several major employers and downtown destinations. They are underutilized because it's just too inconvenient to get off the red line, wait for a waterfront line, and then get to your destination when you can a) take a trolley to where you  need to go or b)just get off and walk over to your final destination.

So...St. Louis's rail system really isn't that similar to RTA's because St. Louis has a much more robust downtown distribution system, no?

 

I think that's the big difference -- and that St. Louis' rail system goes out much farther. The longest "spoke" in RTA's rail system extending from the downtown hub at Tower City is the Red Line-West. It extends outward from downtown only about 11 miles to Hopkins Airport.

 

St. Louis' first line ran from East St. Louis through downtown to Lambert International Airport.

 

+ The downtown-Lambert section is about 18 miles.

+ The downtown-Shiloh/Scott section is more than 20 miles.

+ The shortest section is the newest -- the 7.5-mile branch to Shrewsbury. The branch diverges from the downtown-Lambert section about two miles from downtown, putting Shrewsbury almost 10 miles from downtown.

 

The Lambert-Shiloh/Scott "Red Line" alone is 38.5 miles long! That's more than double the length of Cleveland's Red Line -- 18.5 miles. Imagine if our Red Line was extended another 10 miles at BOTH ends! And it had a subway through downtown Cleveland with six stations in the downtown core.

 

Any wonder why St. Louis' rail system carries more people than all the city's 100 bus routes combined?

 

St. Louis' next rail line will be north-south and operate as a streetcar through the downtown core.

 

In other words, I don't think it has much to do with operations or "leadership", except, maybe, the failure to implement dual hub, which happened before Calbrese, no?

 

When Rob Tober was GCRTA's general manager, the GCRTA board initially selected the rail option as its locally preferred alternative from the Dual Hub alternatives analysis. NOACA's board overruled them, instead telling RTA's board that too much of the region's transportation funding would be going to this one project in the central city. The NOACA board also did not believe it could compete with other cities for such a large amount of money (probably true considering that the feds were cutting New Start funding and were increasingly interested in BRT -- the Euclid Corridor funding was tough enough to secure!). So it sent the recommendation back to GCRTA which then selected the BRT alternative in the Dual Hub alternatives analysis. NOACA concurred.

^Thanks, KJP!  I just find it awfully hard to blame current RTA leadership for not greatly improving RTA's rail ridership.  Dual Hub would have (would have made it more like St. Louis's), but NOACA squashed it dead before Calbrese arrived.  And even if not squashed by NOACA, sounds like it would have been a real long shot to win federal money.  So the biggest difference b/w St. Louis and Cleveland seems to be the fact that they had a pre-existing downtown subway tunnel and we didn't...

 

I understand that St. Louis's rail system extends much further out, but I'm a little skeptical that long extensions outside of Cleveland would really boost ridership so much for RTA given the lack of center city distribution.  The Blue line from Solon to TC would probably be a 40-45 minute ride compared to what I believe to be a much shorter car ride.  And it would only bring you to TC, not UC, not the Clinic, not CSU... 

 

To beat the dead horse, dual hub would have been a game-changer, delivering one seat rail rides to so much more than the current system does; if we had that, I'd be all about rail extensions and all over current management for not showing greater interest in them.

True, but my point was that if the Red Line had several downtown stations AND it was extended farther out, I'll bet it would generate substantially at least double its current ridership.

 

As it stands, the Red Line (especially on the west side) has more in common with the South Shore commuter rail service -- albeit a much shorter run!

While I do think RTA's lines are a bit on the short side, the Shiloh/Scott branch of St. Louis Metro is a bit ridiculous.  It serves mainly sparsely populated, even rural areas of SW Illinois.  The initial section serves East St. Louis, which is every bit as troubled as East Cleveland... St. Louis would have much better spent the  Shiloh/Scott branch $ on a line in the city, perhaps serving the economically troubled areas of North and South St. Louis.

When Rob Tober was GCRTA's general manager, the GCRTA board initially selected the rail option as its locally preferred alternative from the Dual Hub alternatives analysis. NOACA's board overruled them, instead telling RTA's board that too much of the region's transportation funding would be going to this one project in the central city. The NOACA board also did not believe it could compete with other cities for such a large amount of money (probably true considering that the feds were cutting New Start funding and were increasingly interested in BRT -- the Euclid Corridor funding was tough enough to secure!). So it sent the recommendation back to GCRTA which then selected the BRT alternative in the Dual Hub alternatives analysis. NOACA concurred.

 

When I say Cleveland's growth and progress has been stunted by its complete lack of vision and leadership, obviously, I'm not making it up.

When Rob Tober was GCRTA's general manager, the GCRTA board initially selected the rail option as its locally preferred alternative from the Dual Hub alternatives analysis. NOACA's board overruled them, instead telling RTA's board that too much of the region's transportation funding would be going to this one project in the central city. The NOACA board also did not believe it could compete with other cities for such a large amount of money (probably true considering that the feds were cutting New Start funding and were increasingly interested in BRT -- the Euclid Corridor funding was tough enough to secure!). So it sent the recommendation back to GCRTA which then selected the BRT alternative in the Dual Hub alternatives analysis. NOACA concurred.

 

This is why we fail... Tober was right and he got punked by parochial interests.  I call shenanigans on any report or analysis that allowed us to reach the result we ultimately did.  A misleadingly rosy picture was painted in favor of BRT.  That money should have been saved or invested for future rail projects.  If NOACA weren't so short sighted, we would probably already have rail service far outside the central city, a la St. Louis... and then their major complaint would be nullified. 

Except that the makeup of Congress had changed by the mid- to late-90s when Dual Hub came to the fore. Before that, a Democratically controlled Congress was urging the Federal Transit Administration (and before that, UMTA) to adopt project scoring criteria that favored rail projects. After that, the GOP-controlled Congress was pushing the FTA away from rail by urging more busway projects because they could also benefit highway construction contractors. And in fact, the highway lobby ultimately believed the busway lanes (especially along interstates) could be used for cars -- be they HOV/carpool lanes or not!

 

Had Dual Hub's planning begun earlier or progressed more quickly and became funding-ready at the same time St. Louis' Metrolink project had, we might have rail down Euclid today. But, stuff happens, and then you move on.

 

So please, let's make the most of this large investment that rebuilt Euclid from the sewers on up and move on.

Had Dual Hub's planning begun earlier or progressed more quickly and became funding-ready at the same time St. Louis' Metrolink project had, we might have rail down Euclid today. But, stuff happens, and then you move on.

 

So please, let's make the most of this large investment that rebuilt Euclid from the sewers on up and move on.

 

The point isn't about continuing to cry over spilt milk.  It's not about just taking shots at the Health Line.  I've learned to live with it and (while holding my nose), er, love it, well,  maybe not that... It's not about this particular project; it's done... The point is: when are we going to stop making the same stupid mistakes.  Fact is, we dragged our feet with Dual Hub until the winds were unfavorable in Congress to the point where, oh well, (thrown hands up) what could we do?  ... Ditto with Flats East Bank, where, instead of just building the thing, we had a protracted court fight until the economy tanked and, well, 5 years after Jane Campbell and Scott Wolstein cut the ribbon on FEB, nothing has been built yet... on even the scaled down version... Then MMPI ... and County Admin HQ (7 years and counting, ... and nothing)... and... and... It''s the same stupid-azz, small-minded, backwards attitude that threatens to kill the wonderful, Fed Gift 3-C Amtrak projecdt in this state...

 

When will we learn KJP?  We don't learn and are therefore poised to BRT ourselves into complete irrelevance.  And with each such failure we continue to lower our standards of what Cleveland as a city should be... As we've noted, in the "What other cities/states are doing with rail" Pittsburgh has caught and past us, and are probably not going to make the BRT mistake in their main corridor (and downtown-wise, Pittsburgh has past Cleveland by generally anyway)... Next we'll be thumping our collective chests because we're better than Dubuque, Iowa...

 

... wait, is Dubuque now planning rail transit?

In the end, as with everything, the answer to Why? is bad planning at the local level.  So when we see another bad plan coming down the chute-- this time we've got to stop it.  No, a bad plan is not better than nothing, because running with a bad transit plan demeans transit and it demeans planning.  That in turn makes future projects, good ones, harder to win support for.  Political capital doesn't grow on trees, nor does credibility, nor does goodwill toward a brand.

I will continue to say that the problem is not having a strong mayor who: i) has the business background to see the long term benefits of current investment and ii) the political power to knock heads together.  Chicago has that.  Cleveland does not. 

Dozens of transit-rail projects gain USDOT grants

 

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a new round of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for 191 transit projects in 42 states and Puerto Rico.

 

.....(among the projects)

 

• $10.4 million to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to rehabilitate track and stations;

 

Full report at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=22717

I had an idea that I wanted to toss out to the board and RTA.

 

If we want more mass transit riders, how can we make the experience better?  One way would be to improve the transit stops, and I'm thinking particularly of bus stops at the moment, since we're likely stuck with bus transportation for many years.  RTA can't afford to improve every bus stop in the city, but perhaps could partner with various neighborhoods, businesses, and/or municipalities to make upgrades.  I'm particularly thinking of building or incorporating coffee/sandwich/news shops into bus stops or very near bus stops, while providing a larger and more comfortable waiting area, and perhaps ultimately encouraging more development around the stops.

 

All this might require some significant investment, which cities seem reluctant to do when bus routes change, such as due to drops in revenue at RTA....

 

But some stops probably never change.  Won't there always be several stops near the Cedar-Lee intersection, for example? 

 

We can't know everything that will happen in the future, but perhaps looking back to the past would be instructive.  Is there a way to map transit stops, say in Lakewood or Cleveland Heights or any other neighborhood over time?  Say a snapshot from 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2010? I suspect we would find that some stops have been around for a long time.  Maybe RTA (or some enterprising student) could identify those stops that have been around forever or only moved minimum distance, and then work with cities to build some kind of "improved" bus waiting area/station with a coffee/sandwich/news stand and additional covered seating.

 

What do you think?

Actually, the best first step to improving the bus stops would be to clean up the areas around them. The stops along Lorain Avenue in Ohio City are usually surrounded by trash. Part of the problem is that the City doesn't empty their own trash cans often enough. Calls to the Mayor's Office have been effective in getting someone out to empty the cans but those calls need to happen every few days. There doesn't seem to be any coordinated strategy for clearing snow from the bus stops either.

By the way, in response to the 18 percent ridership drop at RTA last year, one stat was overlooked.... Driving in Ohio (measured by vehicle-miles traveled) fell by 10 percent. Was it more in Northeast Ohio? Could be. Point is, all traveled declined heavily in the recession -- although driving has been on the decline since 2005. Transit ridership was on the rise in Cleveland until last year.

^Good point.  Unfortunately that very steep drop in ridership (which may still be falling) probably wiped out the last few years of ridership increases.  And with the route cuts and population shifts, I don't think all of that lost ridership will be coming back when the economy recovers.  The driving might not either.

 

Foraker, dogsandcats, I think you both raise interesting ideas/make good points.  Improving transit waiting environments, even in very low tech ways, would be great.  Keep them clean, keep route information posted in clear, easy to formats; post easy to understand payment instructions; partner with local businesses, etc.  Buses in particular seem to intimidate a lot people because non-users don't know when they come or where they go or how to pay (that's not just in Cleveland) and it can be unpleasant waiting for them.  I know RTA is strapped for cash, but there must be some low cost room for improvement there.

Exactly.  Other second- and third-world transit systems provide a MUCH more friendly user experience, in all these respects, and often on a tiny fraction of a first-world budget.  Not every improvement needs to cost millions of dollars, and there is a lot we could learn from others that have been forced to do more with less, because the need to do so is not going to go away anytime soon, if ever.

The decline in ridership will probably be partially explained with the release of 2010 Census data. 

 

I get the sense our population loss was similar to the 1970's when thousands of families left this region for construction jobs in the sunbelt. 

We all know the population of this region is dropping, but I have a feeling this new census data is going to reveal a mass exodus.  I think RTA can fix a few things, but at the end of the day they're simply victim to our region which has been bleeding for decades.

I seem to remember a rapid stop in shaker square that had coffee, sandwiches, etc. I was done in an English Tudor style and on the right day, with the right light and Kodachrome 64 looked very bucolic. 

^ I think you're thinking of the Coventry stop of the green line, and I don't believe the little tudor thing is still open.  Still looks nice though.

Committee of the Whole

 

RTA Board highlights

.    .    .    .    .    .    .

 

Joe Calabrese, CEO & General Manager, presented RTA’s federal legislative priorities. RTA is seeking four earmarks in the 2011 appropriations cycle –

1.      $5 million for the construction of the proposed Mayfield Road Station rehabilitation in Cleveland near Little Italy.

2.      $4.5 million for the construction of a new Red Line station on Brookpark Road on the Cleveland-Brook Park border.

 

3.      $1.5 million to prepare the final design of a proposed .5 mile extension of the Blue Line in Shaker Heights.

 

4.      $5.0 million to construct the final design of the Clifton Blvd. Transit Enhancement Project in Lakewood and Cleveland.

http://www.riderta.com/nu_newsroom_releases.asp?listingid=1401

 

Expanding on on noozer's earlier post w/ the general grant to RTA... these projects, esp. the "Mayfield" station, contain the most impactful and positive for the rail system in many years.

Committee of the Whole

 

RTA Board highlights

. . . .   .   .   .

 

Joe Calabrese, CEO & General Manager, presented RTA’s federal legislative priorities. RTA is seeking four earmarks in the 2011 appropriations cycle –

1.   $5 million for the construction of the proposed Mayfield Road Station rehabilitation in Cleveland near Little Italy.

2.   $4.5 million for the construction of a new Red Line station on Brookpark Road on the Cleveland-Brook Park border.

 

3.   $1.5 million to prepare the final design of a proposed .5 mile extension of the Blue Line in Shaker Heights.

 

4.   $5.0 million to construct the final design of the Clifton Blvd. Transit Enhancement Project in Lakewood and Cleveland.

http://www.riderta.com/nu_newsroom_releases.asp?listingid=1401

 

Expanding on on noozer's earlier post w/ the general grant to RTA... these projects, esp. the "Mayfield" station, contain the most impactful and positive for the rail system in many years.

 

Hopefully the Clifton project will restore the soon-to-be-eliminated weekend service on Clifton.

I thought about that too.  I would hope that BRT service on Clifton would also include increased frequency and regular weekend service.  Otherwise it would make more sense to run BRT on Detroit if it is wide enough.

I'd like to think the survey crews I've seen on Clifton the past two days are a part of this, but it seems as if RTA is still seeking that design money in it's 2011 agenda. 

 

Anyone have inside information??

I'd like to think the survey crews I've seen on Clifton the past two days are a part of this, but it seems as if RTA is still seeking that design money in it's 2011 agenda.

 

Anyone have inside information??

 

Actually I think I just found the answer to my own question on this site:  http://enhanceclifton.digmob.org/?q=node/5

 

Field survey January 12 to April 12, 2010