Riding the Rapid downtown to work today I noticed it was much less crowded then it normally is and wondered if people were hesitant taking the Rapid with all this news about potential violent protests in response to the Brelo verdict *maybe* this week.  Curious if anyone knows what RTA would do if things do get out of hand and they have to close down Tower City for safety/security reasons - do you think there will be a plan to get commuters home - or is it best to just plan alternate transportation and hope for the best vs. finding yourself stuck?  I'm sure RTA has discussed this but is one of the few organizations that haven't put out some sort of public announcement - even our building mgt put out a letter indicating what their plans are "in case". 

 

There has already been a thread on "potential" issues, which was locked down.  I'm sure RTA has a contingency plan in place, but I don't think this is the right time to put out anything.  It just adds to the "hype" and "hysteria" for no reason.  Once something happens, then hopefully we will hear from one regional voice.

 

I agree, but I'm not trying to add to the "hype" and I hope all this news and announcements isn't encouraging the activity.  I still think my question is valid on will there be a way to get home "IF" things happen or do people think its best to be proactive and not risk getting stuck downtown.  There has been other situations where Tower City had to be closed due to security concerns and was hoping someone could give some information on how RTA assisted with those that could not get to the Train Station.

Riding the Rapid downtown to work today I noticed it was much less crowded then it normally is and wondered if people were hesitant taking the Rapid with all this news about potential violent protests in response to the Brelo verdict *maybe* this week.  Curious if anyone knows what RTA would do if things do get out of hand and they have to close down Tower City for safety/security reasons - do you think there will be a plan to get commuters home - or is it best to just plan alternate transportation and hope for the best vs. finding yourself stuck?  I'm sure RTA has discussed this but is one of the few organizations that haven't put out some sort of public announcement - even our building mgt put out a letter indicating what their plans are "in case". 

 

There has already been a thread on "potential" issues, which was locked down.  I'm sure RTA has a contingency plan in place, but I don't think this is the right time to put out anything.  It just adds to the "hype" and "hysteria" for no reason.  Once something happens, then hopefully we will hear from one regional voice.

 

I agree, but I'm not trying to add to the "hype" and I hope all this news and announcements isn't encouraging the activity.  I still think my question is valid on will there be a way to get home "IF" things happen or do people think its best to be proactive and not risk getting stuck downtown.  There has been other situations where Tower City had to be closed due to security concerns and was hoping someone could give some information on how RTA assisted with those that could not get to the Train Station.

 

I don't think that you are adding to the hype, but local media is.  As one person on a talk show noted yesterday, people are much more on edge about the Tamir Rice decision than they are about Brelo, even though imho, Brelo & Co. were outrageous in their own right.  I understand the Cleveland School District entertained closing school today which is a gross overreaction. 

NOTE: MissinOhio already picked up this article a few days ago.  I just wanted to reemphasize and make it more visible, because it's pretty well written ... and important.

 

I get Freshwater Cleveland emails at work every now and then.  I caught one that talked about growing ridership, improvements to existing stations and how this is spurring growth in Uptown, as well as projects like Intesa.

 

http://www.freshwatercleveland.com/features/RTA051315.aspx

 

Features

RTA facing challenges as it grows ridership alongside communities

douglas j. guth | Thursday, May 14, 2015

 

Cathy Poilpré may be the quintessential transit rider. She lives in Lakewood near the recently upgraded 55 bus route that whisks her to her job as director of marketing and communications at Cleveland Public Library. Poilpré also rides the rapid and uses the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) free trolleys to attend lunchtime concerts at Trinity Cathedral or meetings at Cleveland State or Playhouse Square.

 

Having a dedicated bus line available during rush hour is a convenient alternative to dealing with morning gridlock or mushing through snow and ice supplied by a typical Cleveland winter, Poilpré declares.

 

"I get dropped off right in front of my job," she says. "I actually get to work faster since we glide past all of the cars sitting in traffic."

 

Though Poilpré is mostly satisfied with her riding experience, Cleveland's public transportation system, and its rapid service in particular, suffers in comparison to the other cities she's called home.

 

The CPL director, a veteran of the Washington D.C. metro during her four years in the nation's capital, calls out RTA's limited destinations and small parking lots as factors that could curtail those interested in giving public transit chance.

 

"If the system was easy and practical, tourists and residents alike would use it instead of driving," says Poilpré. "With downtown Cleveland developing, more young people would be prone to do without a car if they could get anywhere, anytime."

 

Although there's been a steady uptick in ridership over the last several years, RTA is facing financial and public policy obstacles that are slowing the growth process, officials note. As part of its effort to draw in commuters, RTA is seeking to foster connections between new or existing transportation infrastructure and mixed-use neighborhood growth, an approach area transit watchers believe would help the authority build off its successes and become more competitive.

 

This summer, RTA will open its $17.5 million Little Italy-University Circle station, a venture that planners say will spur the $200 million Uptown and Intesa  developments while boosting the overall vibrancy of the surrounding neighborhoods.

 

http://freshwatercleveland.com/features/RTA051315.aspx

 

 

 

 

Got a question, and the RTA site seems a little confusing.

 

I will be taking the bus to work every day from Edgewater. If I buy a monthly pass, it's good for ONLY that month, correct? I have to purchase a new pass every month ($85)?

Got a question, and the RTA site seems a little confusing.

 

I will be taking the bus to work every day from Edgewater. If I buy a monthly pass, it's good for ONLY that month, correct? I have to purchase a new pass every month ($85)?

 

That's right, you need a new pass every calendar month.  The passes have the month they're valid for printed on the front, and the color changes from month to month (probably to make enforcement easier)

Got a question, and the RTA site seems a little confusing.

 

I will be taking the bus to work every day from Edgewater. If I buy a monthly pass, it's good for ONLY that month, correct? I have to purchase a new pass every month ($85)?

 

As already mentioned, that is correct, passes are issued per calendar month.

 

You'll want to ask your employer if they participate in the Commuter Advantage program. If so, you can purchase your pass through pre-tax payroll deduction and save a few dollars.

 

If they don't currently participate in the program, let us know at [email protected], and we can work to get them set up. I know a guy... ;-).

RTA is hiring bus drivers.

 

Any U-O contributors want to take a stab at the process and report back?  Might be entertaining?

 

http://www.riderta.com/sites/default/files/pdf/hr/OperatorOpenHouseFlyer.pdf

RTA is hiring bus drivers.

 

Any U-O contributors want to take a stab at the process and report back?  Might be entertaining?

 

http://www.riderta.com/sites/default/files/pdf/hr/OperatorOpenHouseFlyer.pdf

 

You shoulda said "Take a swing."

Every time they post their advert to Twitter I'm all "I should totally do that," but then I remember I'm horrible driving anything larger than a mid-sized sedan, and they probably wouldn't go for flex scheduling.

This past weekend, I rode out to the airport on the Red Line to meet a buddy flying into town... Although he was impressed by our train service, the ride itself was not the most pleasant experience.  Although it's nice to see more of the rehabbed trains now online, what's up with all the Slow Zones on the Red Line.  The trains were slowing, stopping and starting much of the route.  I thought these were fixed as of all the rail maintenance single-tracking and shutdowns RTA ballyhoos.  What's the point if serious corrective action isn't being taken?

 

Even on the short trip I often take from TC to Ohio City, the "Slow" section just outside of the Tower City tunnel has been that way now for several years.  What is RTA doing!?  ... or not doing?  Calling the Red Line a rapid transit is almost an oxymoron these days. 

FYI: Attention Transit Users: This weekend, buses replace trains for rail service east of Tower City Station. @GCRTA http://t.co/1tYomNxukP

Looks like Crains has jumped on the anti-rail train....

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150605/BLOGS03/150609841/rail-service-operations-are-brutal-business-for-rta-u-s-public

 

Rail service operations are brutal business for RTA, U.S. public transit systems

June 05, 2015

 

SCOTT SUTTELL 

MANAGING EDITOR

 

The rail side of public transit is a pretty brutal business.

 

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority earns a spot on this list from the Brookings Institution of the 10 U.S. metro rail systems that lose the most money per passenger.

 

“Though many public transit systems across the U.S. have increased fares in recent years, chances are your local transit system still isn’t breaking even on your ride,” Brookings says. “According to a Hamilton Project post, of the more than 1,800 mass transit systems in the United States — including those running trains, buses, or other transport modes — only about two percent reported that fare revenue exceeded operating expenses in 2013.”

 

And when it comes to metro rail systems across the country, which include heavy rail, such as subways and elevated trains, and light rail, which operates at street level, “all U.S. systems reported operating at a loss,” according to Brookings.

 

How much are they losing? Riders in the five largest rail systems — New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area — “pay about a dollar less than the actual cost of each trip,” Brookings notes. “But when it comes to the smaller systems in cities like Seattle, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, riders end up paying approximately four dollars less than the cost of each trip.”

 

RTA is No. 7 on the list, with an average loss per rail passenger ride of $3.23. In Pittsburgh, the Port Authority of Allegheny County loses $5.20 on each rail passenger ride, good for No. 3 on the list.

 

+++++++++++++

 

My response followed his blog.....

 

Texas recently discovered that some of its urban freeways were covering only 16% of their costs of construction, operation, maintenance and eventual life-cycle replacement from gas taxes and other user fees. A number of other states have attempted to privatize their highways with tolls, resulting in those highways or their operators to promptly go bankrupt. If we don't like rail subsidies, then we need to get rid of all transportation subsidies first including those which distort the marketplace by artificially reducing the cost of driving like those for oil industries, defense of oil shipping lanes, free parking, the huge amount of impervious surfaces like roads & parking lots and their demands on stormwater management etc. (40% of land use in USA cities in devoted to the car). One modal subsidy doesn't exist without the other. Do a google search on "highway tax gap analysis" and you'll discover just how heavily subsidized highways are.

Looks like Crains has jumped on the anti-rail train....

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150605/BLOGS03/150609841/rail-service-operations-are-brutal-business-for-rta-u-s-public

 

Rail service operations are brutal business for RTA, U.S. public transit systems

June 05, 2015

 

SCOTT SUTTELL 

MANAGING EDITOR

 

The rail side of public transit is a pretty brutal business.

 

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority earns a spot on this list from the Brookings Institution of the 10 U.S. metro rail systems that lose the most money per passenger.

 

“Though many public transit systems across the U.S. have increased fares in recent years, chances are your local transit system still isn’t breaking even on your ride,” Brookings says. “According to a Hamilton Project post, of the more than 1,800 mass transit systems in the United States — including those running trains, buses, or other transport modes — only about two percent reported that fare revenue exceeded operating expenses in 2013.”

 

And when it comes to metro rail systems across the country, which include heavy rail, such as subways and elevated trains, and light rail, which operates at street level, “all U.S. systems reported operating at a loss,” according to Brookings.

 

How much are they losing? Riders in the five largest rail systems — New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area — “pay about a dollar less than the actual cost of each trip,” Brookings notes. “But when it comes to the smaller systems in cities like Seattle, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, riders end up paying approximately four dollars less than the cost of each trip.”

 

RTA is No. 7 on the list, with an average loss per rail passenger ride of $3.23. In Pittsburgh, the Port Authority of Allegheny County loses $5.20 on each rail passenger ride, good for No. 3 on the list.

 

+++++++++++++

 

My response followed his blog.....

 

Texas recently discovered that some of its urban freeways were covering only 16% of their costs of construction, operation, maintenance and eventual life-cycle replacement from gas taxes and other user fees. A number of other states have attempted to privatize their highways with tolls, resulting in those highways or their operators to promptly go bankrupt. If we don't like rail subsidies, then we need to get rid of all transportation subsidies first including those which distort the marketplace by artificially reducing the cost of driving like those for oil industries, defense of oil shipping lanes, free parking, the huge amount of impervious surfaces like roads & parking lots and their demands on stormwater management etc. (40% of land use in USA cities in devoted to the car). One modal subsidy doesn't exist without the other. Do a google search on "highway tax gap analysis" and you'll discover just how heavily subsidized highways are.

 

I'm not surprised.  Crain's anti-transit mentality is long standing.  They attacked the Dual-Hub subway-surface rail plan as "extravagant" while going All In on the Opportunity Corridor damn-the-taxpayers money pit.  This article on transit, like others by Crain's, could have been drafted by the Buckeye Institute or the Heritage Foundation.

 

Awesome response, KJP, in coming strong with the statistics.  I'd love to see Mr. Suttell (Crain's managing editor, no less) try and tap dance a rebuttal.  I also love Mark W. Schumann's response where he raises Crain's strong support for the OC... a man after my heart.

^ The article read to me like a case for modernizing our rail system and more TOD, not necessarily "anti-rail". It should be no surprise that the profitable rapid lines are in dense areas with high ridership.

No rail lines, roads, airports, etc make a profit.

Transport subsidy double-standard hits again

kjprendergast on June 9, 2015

 

For some reason the Brookings Institution and Crain’s Cleveland Business recently singled out for criticism rail transit fares not covering the operating costs of rail systems. This just in: “No form of transportation covers their operating costs.” This selective criticism was extracted by Brookings from a Hamilton Project report which addressed government subsidies for multiple forms of surface transportation. Crain’s then shared Brookings’ selective criticism in a recent blog.

 

Such criticism of rail is regrettable. Sometimes this double-standard against rail is the result of the need for more education by nonprofit associations such as All Aboard Ohio. Other times the double-standard is is the result of drive-or-die special interests (petroleum, tire makers, automakers, highway builders, etc.) who have sought to destroy trains and transit for decades. Even more frightening is a new brand of ideologues who deride public transportation as a symbol of a feared central government. Instead they want government to prescribe only the individual autonomy of private cars while ignoring the inconvenient reality that they require massive subsidies from a central government.

 

Fact is, public transit is a cost-effective investment, even in a moderate-density transit system like Greater Cleveland’s. If the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s (GCRTA) buses and trains disappeared tomorrow and all of its passengers had to use cars (not realistic since 25 percent of Cleveland households have no car available because they can’t afford the $10,888 annual cost), it would require the construction and maintenance of 200 miles of new lane-miles of highway, according to the League of Women Voters.

 

MORE:

http://allaboardohio.org/2015/06/09/transport-subsidy-double-standard-hits-again/

^Excellent stuff... I'm kinda surprised Brookings would use this phony double-standard to attack rail transit.  I always perceived them as center-left leaning.

^Excellent stuff... I'm kinda surprised Brookings would use this phony double-standard to attack rail transit.  I always perceived them as center-left leaning.

 

Thanks. I think someone at Brookings went off the reservation. And just because an organization is pro-transit, doesn't mean they're pro rail transit. Some transit folks view rail as siphoning resources away from offering more bus service. But abandoning rail means abandoning a lot of transport capacity. When we abandoned streetcars for buses, many neighborhoods lost their capacity of remaining so densely populated. Most of the principal streetcar lines (St. Clair, Euclid, Superior, Woodland, Broadway, Pearl/25th, Lorain and Detroit) in Cleveland were carrying 50,000 to 100,000 riders per day. One streetcar doesn't equal one bus. It's equals multiple buses. So when streetcars were abandoned, CTS didn't triple the frequency of the bus services. Instead, it kept the frequency the same. If we ever are tempted to abandon our remaining rail lines for bus, many of the neighborhoods (including downtown) along the rail lines would be eviscerated although not as badly as what we saw in the 1950s because our current rail lines aren't carrying as many people as the streetcars did.

Hello anyone esp KJP:

I "heard" (from the sibling of an RTA engineer) that newly manufactured rail cars kickback electricity from their brakes, and RTA's substations are not equipped to capture and store this power...comment?

Yes, I believe that's correct in that the Breda's had regenerative braking all along. But they are not newly manufactured. They were cosmetically modernized but mechanically they were not. So as parts wear out on them, GCRTA has to cannibalize part of the fleet to keep the rest of it running. And because the Breda cars don't have stainless steel car bodies (unlike the heavy rail Tokyu fleet) the Breda's don't have much longer to run. Maybe 5-10 years.

Crains errs on its initial thesis and it's all downhill from there.  Public transit is not a business, so there's no sense in framing it or analyzing it as a business.  The purpose of public transit is not to make money, it's to provide a service which allows the public to make money.  A profitable business is a success, regardless of what services it provides.  But a profitable transit system that lacks necessary services is a failure. 

 

When fire department services are cut back, "profitability" of the fire department improves, yet nobody ever views that as a positive development.  Not even Crains.  The same should be true for public transit.

The purpose of public transit is not to make money, it's to provide a service which allows the public to make money.

 

True, but not everyone riding transit does so to make money. But I think it's safe to say most ride to preserve or improve their quality of life.

^ The article read to me like a case for modernizing our rail system and more TOD, not necessarily "anti-rail". It should be no surprise that the profitable rapid lines are in dense areas with high ridership.

 

I totally disagree.  This  is a typical anti-rail hit piece.  People like Suttell know full well that rapid transit is rarely, if ever, "profitable" and hasn't been in this country since, at least, the 1920s and 30s.  That's why cites across the country created taxpayer-funded, municipal agencies to bail-out and run previously for-profit-run transit systems; agencies like CTS here in Cleveland, and CTA in Chicago.  The City of Shaker Heights took over the Van Sweringen-built and operated Blue and Green lines from a group of banks which had foreclosed on Van properties during the height of the Depression.  The banks had run the rail lines (even extending the Green line to Green road) for nearly a decade, but were very close to liquidating them, meaning the Blue and Green lines would have been abandoned...

 

... So all this rail transit profitability claptrap is just a rehash tired old anti-rail smokescreen.  Nobody ever demanded that the federal interstate system be "profitable." 

 

^It's funny how, with road-based transportation, pundits like to point to the growth they created.  Like with all the chest-pounding about how many billions of dollars of growth the Health Line, here, allegedly created, when it is well documented that most of the growth along Euclid (esp at places like CSU and Cleveland Clinic, for example) were already planned and even budgeted and would have been built anyway...

 

... in anti-rail hit pieces like Crain's, you'll  get no hint at the significant TOD that has sprouted (and will continue to sprout) along our Rapid rail lines: projects like FEB, East 4th, Intesa and Uptown (MRN's Ari Maron stated in Cleveland Jewish News that MRN specifically chose to develop properties within walking distance of the Red Line, including rehabbing the United Bank Building in Ohio City a block from the Rapid)... But you'll NEVER hear about this in media like the PD or Crain's since we know they have an anti-rail agenda ... at least Crain's actively does... The PD is just indifferent to transit and Allison Grant the transit reporter is very  weak imho.

Looks like Crains has jumped on the anti-rail train....

 

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20150605/BLOGS03/150609841/rail-service-operations-are-brutal-business-for-rta-u-s-public

 

Rail service operations are brutal business for RTA, U.S. public transit systems

June 05, 2015

 

SCOTT SUTTELL 

MANAGING EDITOR

 

The rail side of public transit is a pretty brutal business.

 

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority earns a spot on this list from the Brookings Institution of the 10 U.S. metro rail systems that lose the most money per passenger.

 

“Though many public transit systems across the U.S. have increased fares in recent years, chances are your local transit system still isn’t breaking even on your ride,” Brookings says. “According to a Hamilton Project post, of the more than 1,800 mass transit systems in the United States — including those running trains, buses, or other transport modes — only about two percent reported that fare revenue exceeded operating expenses in 2013.”

 

And when it comes to metro rail systems across the country, which include heavy rail, such as subways and elevated trains, and light rail, which operates at street level, “all U.S. systems reported operating at a loss,” according to Brookings.

 

How much are they losing? Riders in the five largest rail systems — New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area — “pay about a dollar less than the actual cost of each trip,” Brookings notes. “But when it comes to the smaller systems in cities like Seattle, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh, riders end up paying approximately four dollars less than the cost of each trip.”

 

RTA is No. 7 on the list, with an average loss per rail passenger ride of $3.23. In Pittsburgh, the Port Authority of Allegheny County loses $5.20 on each rail passenger ride, good for No. 3 on the list.

 

+++++++++++++

 

My response followed his blog.....

 

Texas recently discovered that some of its urban freeways were covering only 16% of their costs of construction, operation, maintenance and eventual life-cycle replacement from gas taxes and other user fees. A number of other states have attempted to privatize their highways with tolls, resulting in those highways or their operators to promptly go bankrupt. If we don't like rail subsidies, then we need to get rid of all transportation subsidies first including those which distort the marketplace by artificially reducing the cost of driving like those for oil industries, defense of oil shipping lanes, free parking, the huge amount of impervious surfaces like roads & parking lots and their demands on stormwater management etc. (40% of land use in USA cities in devoted to the car). One modal subsidy doesn't exist without the other. Do a google search on "highway tax gap analysis" and you'll discover just how heavily subsidized highways are.

Can't that be attributed to an old rail fleet with older rail technology when it comes to the electrical system, which leads to higher cost because of lower efficiency?

Can't that be attributed to an old rail fleet with older rail technology when it comes to the electrical system, which leads to higher cost because of lower efficiency?

 

Most older rail systems are less efficient as they lack the funding to modernize. But none of the contextual issues are raised in pieces like this. That makes them hit pieces, intended to guide readers toward a desired outcome such as raising public doubt regarding the efficiency of rail and thus causing euthanistic ideas to be seriously considered. If an asset under your charge is neglected and malnourished, you don't kill it. You look for ways to restore it to good health.

Can't that be attributed to an old rail fleet with older rail technology when it comes to the electrical system, which leads to higher cost because of lower efficiency?

 

Most older rail systems are less efficient as they lack the funding to modernize. But none of the contextual issues are raised in pieces like this. That makes them hit pieces, intended to guide readers toward a desired outcome such as raising public doubt regarding the efficiency of rail and thus causing euthanistic ideas to be seriously considered. If an asset under your charge is neglected and malnourished, you don't kill it. You look for ways to restore it to good health.

 

And for the editor of a newspaper that calls itself championing Cleveland development and in a city with a very good rail system, articles like this are inexcusable. 

Rode the green line from Shaker Square to Tower City. Got to Tower City and there was a 20 minute line to pay the ticket machine. Many people waited, then found out they could not pay with credit cards. One man who wanted to get off at Buckeye had to ride all the way to tower city because they wouldn't open the doors to let him off.

 

Heading back on the green line, then it was switched to the blue line and many passengers had to jump off to catch a blue line train. Then another operator came on and said it was the green line train again, before finally confirming it was in fact the blue line.

 

Overall a disheartening experience on the rapid.

 

 

A video I shot earlier this evening......

 

 

 

Along with some photos....

 

A still from the above video of some 400 fans pouring out of an eastbound Red Line train at Tower City station:

 

Glad to see GCRTA using three-car trains on the Red Line. They sure needed them! This was an inbound at West 117th Street station:

 

Usual rush-hour crowd from an outbound at West 117th:

 

 

 

 

BTW, this weekend is going to be fun.....

 

All Aboard Ohio ‏@AllAboardOhio

This weekend, Cleveland west-side @GCRTA Red Line trains replaced w/ buses 4 trackwork & I-90/71 bridge @ODOT_Innerbelt closed 4 roadwork.

Rode the green line from Shaker Square to Tower City. Got to Tower City and there was a 20 minute line to pay the ticket machine. Many people waited, then found out they could not pay with credit cards. One man who wanted to get off at Buckeye had to ride all the way to tower city because they wouldn't open the doors to let him off.

 

Heading back on the green line, then it was switched to the blue line and many passengers had to jump off to catch a blue line train. Then another operator came on and said it was the green line train again, before finally confirming it was in fact the blue line.

 

Overall a disheartening experience on the rapid.

 

 

Very disappointing... I hope, at least, they were using 2-car trains on the Blue and Green Lines.

I heard on the train there were also long lines to pay at fare machines on west side Red Line stations. There was a very long line at the fare machines at West 117th. I saw an RTA maintenance van pull up to the West 117th station as I was leaving, so I don't know if one of the fare machines broke or ran out of farecards or what. The parking overflowed from the station onto Madison and to sidestreets north of Madison. Tons of people were walking from the on-street parking into the station property shortly after 8 p.m.

 

There were track maintenance slow orders basically all the way from West Boulevard to Ohio City, but I was pleased that the train operator got on the PA and said why we were running so slowly and where/when it would end. A little information goes a long way toward customer service. Then as we came across the Cuyahoga Valley viaduct, we were stopping and going. The train operator said there were several trains ahead of us going into the station, and I could see one of the Shaker cars up ahead coming onto to our track from the rush-hour layover tracks on the viaduct. Again, having the announcement from the operator was helpful.

Not sure how much it would really help, but RTA should be pushing the 5 trip fare cards for occasional riders. Maybe even selling them outside high ridership stations before special events, hyping them as a way to bypass the TVMs and save money per trip. Smart cards can't get here fast enough.

JeTDoG[/member]  Is RTA's on-line fare sale website working OK?  I've tried a few times this morning to purchase a couple fare cards but the site rejects my city/state/zip combo as "incorrect" even though it's not.  Jet, I tried PMing you but your box is full.

They should be pushing six-trip fare cards for the occasional rider

When I last took the Green Line into Tower City over the Memorial Day weekend, a number of the fare machines weren't working properly.  Some weren't taking cash while others weren't taking credit cards.  People were frustrated, but the crowds weren't that big.  I can only imagine what it was like during the mob scene prior to last night's Cavs game.

These fare machines have been a consistent debacle from day one.  I remain curious what steps have been taken within RTA to identify the causes of this failure and prevent any future failures of such magnitude.

Rode the green line from Shaker Square to Tower City. Got to Tower City and there was a 20 minute line to pay the ticket machine. Many people waited, then found out they could not pay with credit cards. One man who wanted to get off at Buckeye had to ride all the way to tower city because they wouldn't open the doors to let him off.

 

Heading back on the green line, then it was switched to the blue line and many passengers had to jump off to catch a blue line train. Then another operator came on and said it was the green line train again, before finally confirming it was in fact the blue line.

 

Overall a disheartening experience on the rapid.

 

I was waiting for a westbound train at Shaker Square at around 7:30 last night. With 100+ people waiting at the platform, an already-full Green Line train passed by without even stopping. Another train was supposed to arrive less than 10 minutes later, however didn't show up for probably 20 or so minutes. Several people had left in the meantime, just deciding to drive or Uber. Some others said they had been waiting at the Green Rd station for 30+ minutes before trying their luck at Shaker Square. Cavs fans getting on board the packed trains gave a new meaning to "all in."

Rode the green line from Shaker Square to Tower City. Got to Tower City and there was a 20 minute line to pay the ticket machine. Many people waited, then found out they could not pay with credit cards. One man who wanted to get off at Buckeye had to ride all the way to tower city because they wouldn't open the doors to let him off.

 

Heading back on the green line, then it was switched to the blue line and many passengers had to jump off to catch a blue line train. Then another operator came on and said it was the green line train again, before finally confirming it was in fact the blue line.

 

Overall a disheartening experience on the rapid.

 

I was waiting for a westbound train at Shaker Square at around 7:30 last night. With 100+ people waiting at the platform, an already-full Green Line train passed by without even stopping. Another train was supposed to arrive less than 10 minutes later, however didn't show up for probably 20 or so minutes. Several people had left in the meantime, just deciding to drive or Uber. Some others said they had been waiting at the Green Rd station for 30+ minutes before trying their luck at Shaker Square. Cavs fans getting on board the packed trains gave a new meaning to "all in."

 

1 or 2 car train?

I believe that the train that passed without stopping was only 1 car, but the one I ended up getting on had 2 cars.

We all want increased ridership but during these types of events it seems that RTA can't handle it... They need to prepare much better

We all want increased ridership but during these types of events it seems that RTA can't handle it... They need to prepare much better

 

Thanks for the info... They should ALL have been 2-car trains during the peak travel period before the game.  If RTA was running 3-car trains on the West Side Red Line, they should have had 2-car trains on the Blue-Green Lines...

Can't that be attributed to an old rail fleet with older rail technology when it comes to the electrical system, which leads to higher cost because of lower efficiency?

Most older rail systems are less efficient as they lack the funding to modernize. But none of the contextual issues are raised in pieces like this. That makes them hit pieces, intended to guide readers toward a desired outcome such as raising public doubt regarding the efficiency of rail and thus causing euthanistic ideas to be seriously considered. If an asset under your charge is neglected and malnourished, you don't kill it. You look for ways to restore it to good health.

 

And for the editor of a newspaper that calls itself championing Cleveland development and in a city with a very good rail system, articles like this are inexcusable. 

 

Btw, although it was great that KJP quickly and eloquently responded to Crain's ridiculous anti-rail rant, wouldn't it be nice if Joe Calabrese, as RTA's transit chief, stand up for his rail system albeit diplomatically?  ... Of course, that presumes that Calabrese supports the rapid rail system and isn't actually in agreement with Suttell's/Crain's sentiments, and those are presumptions I'm not prepared to make.

 

We all want increased ridership but during these types of events it seems that RTA can't handle it... They need to prepare much better

 

Or at all.    Let's be real, major events like this are their chance to shine, and they usually end up dropping the proverbial deuce.

They should be pushing six-trip fare cards for the occasional rider

 

That would require recognizing that a typical trip is a round trip.....

KJP's # 10330. I can't get it to work on the facebook link. Any help to see it?

KJP's # 10330. I can't get it to work on the facebook link. Any help to see it?

 

No, as I said on personal message. If you can't see the video by clicking on it, then I don't know what to tell you. It's no big deal as it's just a 20-second shot of boisterous crowds coming out of a Red Line train at Tower City. You're not missing much.

 

EDIT: Breda cars are in short supply for what may well be a very preventable reason. I don't have all the details but the fact that GCRTA is looking for a new manager of rail equipment apparently has a little something to do with it.

CWRU offers parking, RTA discounts to employees earning less than $50,000/year

http://thedaily.case.edu/news/?p=40292

....."Given that some ride the bus and/or rapid trains to work, the option of half-price passes from the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority also was added for those earning $50,000 or less per year. Because of funding considerations, employees may choose only one of the two options"

^It's funny how, with road-based transportation, pundits like to point to the growth they created.  Like with all the chest-pounding about how many billions of dollars of growth the Health Line, here, allegedly created, when it is well documented that most of the growth along Euclid (esp at places like CSU and Cleveland Clinic, for example) were already planned and even budgeted and would have been built anyway...

 

... in anti-rail hit pieces like Crain's, you'll  get no hint at the significant TOD that has sprouted (and will continue to sprout) along our Rapid rail lines: projects like FEB, East 4th, Intesa and Uptown (MRN's Ari Maron stated in Cleveland Jewish News that MRN specifically chose to develop properties within walking distance of the Red Line, including rehabbing the United Bank Building in Ohio City a block from the Rapid)... But you'll NEVER hear about this in media like the PD or Crain's since we know they have an anti-rail agenda ... at least Crain's actively does... The PD is just indifferent to transit and Allison Grant the transit reporter is very  weak imho.

 

Not necessarily anti-rail.  Pro-business.  The target audience for Crain's are people who are part of Cleveland's business community, and who will generally support development, and especially downtown-focused development, that is *sustainable.*  The question I would pose for those trying to make the case for continued or possibly even expanded rail operations would be this:  what can be done, particularly right now when capital is dirt-cheap, to place these rail operations on a sustainable footing?  Meaning that as much as possible of both operating and capital costs, preferably all of both, are returned to the community in the form of (a) fares and (b) TOD, job growth, etc. that verifiably results from the presence of nearby rail transit.  If you want the support and cooperation of the business community, that is the case you will have to make.  I think it can be done.  I don't think it has been done to date, but I think it can be. 

They should be pushing six-trip fare cards for the occasional rider

 

Well, as one who has been both a regular rider and an occasional one over the years, I have a strong suggestion:  do that, but make sure that the n-fare passes do not expire quickly.  I used to keep 2 or 3 of the five-trip farecards in my wallet, but they expired, so I no longer do.  An expiration date of 3 to 5 years is reasonable I think, but nothing less.