Due to a "damaged pantograph," all rail service has been shut down as of this morning. No word on when it is expected to be back up.

Due to a "damaged pantograph," all rail service has been shut down as of this morning. No word on when it is expected to be back up.

 

This sounds like another RTA-ism. A damaged pantograph doesn't shut down a rail line. But a pantograph getting tangled in the overhead wires does. Heat causes wires to sag -- except on rail lines with modern, constant-tension wires that don't have to be constantly and manually tightened or loosened (at great labor expense) depending on Cleveland's changeable weather.

Reminds me of the time that "a loss of power to overhead lines" cause the blue and green lines to shut down on a Friday evening.

 

An LRV actually derailed going around blue/green line split in Shaker Square, which in turn caused RTA to turn of the overhead power, but the derailment wasn't exactly advertised.

This occurred while I was waiting at the West Park station so I tried to take a bus instead.  For the next hour, there was not one bus of any type heading eastbound.  I ended up walking.  On the good side, I donated $5 to the RTA cause. 

RTA's lack of straightforward, honest communication with the public furthers my feeling that they can't be trusted.

Is anyone collecting these RTA-isms? Maybe for a CSU communications class??

RTA's lack of straightforward, honest communication with the public furthers my feeling that they can't be trusted.

 

This didn't even rate a push notification on any of the local news aps either.  Hard to say if that's RTA's fault or the medias.

RTA needs new fresh blood in their. It's being run by people that were born in Auto Centric 50s. Let's get people that were born in the 70s and 80s in thier. Where are the great new ideals or city leaders that have a vision for the region. Let's make Cleveland great again.

RTA needs new fresh blood in their. It's being run by people that were born in Auto Centric 50s. Let's get people that were born in the 70s and 80s in thier. Where are the great new ideals or city leaders that have a vision for the region. Let's make Cleveland great again.

 

That would look awesome on a cheap hat haha!!

Haha, why not make Cleveland great again

RTA needs new fresh blood in their. It's being run by people that were born in Auto Centric 50s. Let's get people that were born in the 70s and 80s in thier. Where are the great new ideals or city leaders that have a vision for the region. Let's make Cleveland great again.

 

There are young and older people running RTA. Some of both are cautious/calculating/experienced while some of both are risk-takers/innovative/inexperienced. Don't judge someone by their age. It's prejudicial, mean and lazy. Judge people one at a time.

I'm not judging about thier age I'm judging about their perception of what they have done and what they believe in. I bet that Joe don't use the bus or Rapid pto get to work. It's always start from the top. If we do have some risk-taker, where are they

Drove my car to W. Blvd to check out the temporary westbound platform at 405. Arrive at the station at 405 then waited for 425 train. Slo zones from Detroit Ave bridge to  Lorain Ave bridge. Went fast till W 41 bridge then Slo to Tower city. Got to TC at 438. I could have drove away to downtown and park and still waited for the 438 train

Who cares if he takes the bus or train to work. You think Obama and Michelle, both huge public transportation advocates, take the blue line to Dulles? What difference does it make?

 

It's like some of the earlier criticism Jane Campbell got for not taking the rapid to work. Just a witchhunt for a scapegoat for funding problems.

Here's photos of temporary westbound platform after Indians game. Doors need to be open since you don't  know if it's backroom or a store

Yes we do care. How it it that you a leader of transit system but don't use it.

it's like a manager of McDonalds but haven't ate it's product. Bloomberg rode the subway to and from work when he was mayor of NYC

They have someone working the door informing people of the change both downstairs and by Victoria's secret.

 

Side note: It was so cool riding down there for some reason. Also very clean! Lol

 

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Yeah very clean indeed. Still RTA need a better Rapid station entrance. NYC have green subway entrance with Green globe.

I think the entrance is improved on. It's illuminated much better than what it was previously so it is more noticeable to me. But then again I'm a big transit user so I notice it more than the casual rider would.

 

 

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Why doesn't RTA pin their tweets to their profiles for major updates such as the westbound tracks being shut down.  It allows people to visit the page and see the major update immediately so they won't miss it. While the tweet is pinned they can still carry on with their usual tweeting. That method seems much more effective to me.

 

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While  leaving westbound on the Rapid from Tower City, there was a ramp right next to tracks heading to the surface. Have RTA ever consider bringing some healthline buses into Tower City

While  leaving westbound on the Rapid from Tower City, there was a ramp right next to tracks heading to the surface. Have RTA ever consider bringing some healthline buses into Tower City

.... or they could simply convert the Health Line to LRT and extend it through the Detroit-Superior lower subway deck out to the West Side... Why bring smelly buses underground?

 

Fact is though the Republicans that run Cleveland won't allow any more rail expansion.

Yeah I would love the Healthline being converted to a LRT but it's the RTA we are talking about. Those buses are hybrid electric and they won't be dirty

 

I'm not judging about thier age I'm judging about their perception of what they have done and what they believe in. I bet that Joe don't use the bus or Rapid pto get to work. It's always start from the top. If we do have some risk-taker, where are they

 

Joe Calabrese takes transit regularly to/from work and meetings.

Yeah I would love the Healthline being converted to a LRT but it's the RTA we are talking about. Those buses are hybrid electric and they won't be dirty

 

They are hybrid diesel - electric. They still pollute quite a bit, especially with particulates.

Considering how often they have to accelerate from a dead stop, I don't think the electric aspect comes into play very much. 

Any news on a rail shutdown kjp? How about railcar procurement? Any designs concepts for a new rail fleet? My design feature will be High platform car 40ft with 2 entrances near the ends , middle car 40 Ft low floor 2 sets of wide doors that look and configures like the old Cleveland streetcars and 40 Ft end car same as the first high platform car. Gangways between the cars easy for maintenance by pulling the cars apart and stainless steel for it can last another 35-50 years. Must be EMU/DMU for  future expansion on different corridors. How much did that high platform cost at track 7?

 

I don't know the cost of the high-level platform for Tower City station's Track 7. Its cost wasn't broken out from the rest of the $6.2 million budget for track 7/8 rehab. No matter. The platform isn't built to last. Its wear/tear means it is unlikely to last more than a few years. Hopefully it will last long enough for GCRTA to rehab tracks 10/13 too -- projected to cost $12+ million. GCRTA sought a TIGER grant for that work but didn't get it.

 

Assuming RTA is unable to acquire rail cars in time, the rail service won't "shut down." It will diminish. Right now it is at the minimum threshold for having enough LRT cars for crush capacity for big events like the championship parade, St. Patrick's day or when sold-out Browns and Indians games are on the same day. I haven't checked lately, but it's possible they might be below that minimum threshhold for big events (including extra cars cycling through routine maintenance/inspection). Next will be having enough cars for the current rush-hour service level on both the Blue and Green lines. I suspect that the Green Line's rush hour service will be reduced to regular off-peak schedules. Then the Blue Line's rush hour service will go. Then the entire Green Line will be put out of service. Then the Blue Line will end. Perhaps an hourly train service could operate at the end, just to keep the tracks, overhead wires, signals, etc. operational. Once the rust sets in, the rail system would decay to the point that the cost of bringing it back would be unaffordable. My prediction is the Shaker trains have, at most, 10 years left. The Red Line cars have stainless steel bodies and their guts can be refurbished again in 10-12 years. They could last 50+ years (to at least 2035). But I think RTA will split the new railcar purchase in two 20-car orders to spread the cost over two federal formula funding periods -- the first half might replace the Shaker fleet in 6-9 years and the second half, four years later, would replace the Red Line fleet.

 

A good example of the kind of standardized railcar that RTA could acquire for all of its lines is the Siemens S200 Light Rail Vehicle that were recently purchased by the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) and Calgary Transit. They serve high- and low-platforms on both of those systems......

 

Considering how often they have to accelerate from a dead stop, I don't think the electric aspect comes into play very much. 

 

These Health line buses are diesel electric like a locomotive, in that the diesel engine drives an alternator which provides electricity which powers an electric motor on the drive axle. In effect, the electric motor replaces the transmission that is used on conventional buses.

Can RTA buy the rest of Muni fleet at a discount when they get there cars and refurbish those cars?. Those cars are wide enough to run on the Red Line or they put in a order with Siemens.

Can RTA buy the rest of Muni fleet at a discount when they get there cars and refurbish those cars?. Those cars are wide enough to run on the Red Line or they put in a order with Siemens.

 

No, the prior Muni fleet are Bredas and they're even more crappy than our Breda cars. Breda cars are supposed to last 25 years -- it's a credit to GCRTA that they've managed to keep these pieces of junk running more than 10 years after they were supposed to be retired. San Francisco's Bredas were built in 1996 they're and already falling apart. They're so bad that Breda was prohibited from bidding on replacing them.

 

Thanks KJP. I don't like the design of the Siemen railcars. They look like they wont last. 25-30 years are tops for some LRT railcars. Plus door configuration of wide door and small door won't handle the crowds we have for our events

They "look like they won't last"? Ok.

 

If they can handle San Francisco Muni's 130,000 weekday riders (including big special event crowds), they can easily handle Cleveland's 40,000 weekday riders.

They look cheap, doors are made of glass, no no for NE Ohio( Cleveland area). What do you think about Health line being converted to LRT and Subway from PHS to Tower City- Huron subway . Any studies on that proposal recently

OKAY

 

So here's the math for anyone interested about buses that would run through Public Square during the weekdays according to newest schedules starting later this month.

 

http://imgur.com/XHkIWo9

 

According to the data, if buses could run through public square you would have frequency for a bus every 2 minutes from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. From 6:00 pm to 6:00 am it's less than that.

 

Why not let buses run through the square 12 hours from 6:00 am - 6:00 pm and then close it when there are less buses that need to be rerouted. That would save a lot on congestion woes which ARE very bad during rush hour when congestion is at its peak downtown -- let's be very clear about that.

 

Then in the evenings, programming can happen and people can relax in their nice downtown park with a bus every 4 minutes cycling around like a roundabout in a very happy pattern that we all can agree is a good compromise.

 

Compromise is good.

 

Read more: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6560.2730.html#ixzz4GBzh5Fu5

They look cheap, doors are made of glass, no no for NE Ohio( Cleveland area). What do you think about Health line being converted to LRT and Subway from PHS to Tower City- Huron subway . Any studies on that proposal recently

 

Get Cleveland City Council to pass a 50 percent parking tax for transit, Cuyahoga County voters to pass a half-cent sales tax for transit capital, and convert the county sin tax to fund a program of cleaning/clearing station-area properties. THEN something so dramatic as converting the HealthLine to light rail with a subway west of Playhouse Square to Tower City can be afforded.

 

The last studies on this were done 20 years when NOACA decided to go with the Transportation System Management option that included the bus rapid transit.

Ok. I wonder how Rush Hour crowd handle the new platform

Thanks KJP. I don't like the design of the Siemen railcars. They look like they wont last. 25-30 years are tops for some LRT railcars. Plus door configuration of wide door and small door won't handle the crowds we have for our events

Can you back up your opinion with real world experience? As one who has rode Siemens built railcars of various types, I can assure you that the do hold up VERY well. If cities like Pittsburgh, San Diego, Salt Lake City, Portland, Sacramento, Calgary, Edmunton, etc trust Siemens, well that should be good enough evidence of the quality of their products.

They look cheap, doors are made of glass, no no for NE Ohio( Cleveland area). What do you think about Health line being converted to LRT and Subway from PHS to Tower City- Huron subway . Any studies on that proposal recently

 

Get Cleveland City Council to pass a 50 percent parking tax for transit, Cuyahoga County voters to pass a half-cent sales tax for transit capital, and convert the county sin tax to fund a program of cleaning/clearing station-area properties. THEN something so dramatic as converting the HealthLine to light rail with a subway west of Playhouse Square to Tower City can be afforded.

 

 

OK, then let's get on it.  This is ultimately what Cleveland needs, and should have been built as early as the World War I era when the Subway Plan first was rejected by the voters.  Today we have a brand new, very nice central park (aka Public Square) that we want people/singles/couples/families to come to -- as they are now -- and enjoy.  This area also serves as Cleveland's main transit, bus/rail transfer hub that, is congested with buses, spews a lot of fumes, wastes a lot of money and, otherwise runs counter to the goals of the public park -- but we don't want to short change commuters.  The technology may have changed from 19-teens (streetcars and now buses), but the challenges and problems are parallel if not the same spanning nearly a century. 

 

For once, let's stop always searching for the cheapest solution but, instead, find the best one.  Stop kicking the can down the road, Man Up, Bite the Bullet (insert the metaphor) and build the damn subway -- in this case, convert the Health Line to LRT and, a la Boston's Green Line (only better) drop it into a subway.  My ideal would be to run it as a subway through Playhouse Square elevating between E. 17 and 18th streets (with a subway stop under Huron Rd. between E. 9th and PHS ... and then, of course, westbound along the Detroit-Superior Bridge subway), but your plan is a starting point and certainly would work for me.

They look cheap, doors are made of glass, no no for NE Ohio( Cleveland area). What do you think about Health line being converted to LRT and Subway from PHS to Tower City- Huron subway . Any studies on that proposal recently

 

Get Cleveland City Council to pass a 50 percent parking tax for transit, Cuyahoga County voters to pass a half-cent sales tax for transit capital, and convert the county sin tax to fund a program of cleaning/clearing station-area properties. THEN something so dramatic as converting the HealthLine to light rail with a subway west of Playhouse Square to Tower City can be afforded.

 

The last studies on this were done 20 years when NOACA decided to go with the Transportation System Management option that included the bus rapid transit.

 

I really hope something moves forward on the idea of a parking tax increase for transit, even if it isn't all the way up to the 50% they have in Pittsburgh, that's a lot of potential extra funds.

 

Another idea I like is a soda tax (pop tax as us Great Lakers should be saying) going towards transit. Even as reasonable as a cent per ounce would add up to an extra $1.44 per 12 pack sold. I have no idea how much is sold in the city or county, but for comparison, Philadelphia estimates raising $400M over 5 years with a 3 cent per ounce tax (which I think is a bit excessive as it comes close to doubling the price). I say this too as someone who drinks more Pepsi than anything other than water, at least a 12 pack a week not counting eating out.

It's a daunting backlog of unfunded state-of-good repair needs. Only significant increases in funding for transit at the city, county, regional, state and federal levels can address this backlog, the pending cuts, restore the recent cuts, and expand the system to address multi-county jobs-access goals. The total need is $3 billion, requiring some $200+ million/year to tackle it....

 

 

Regarding the new west bound track 7 at Tower City, I think RTA has done a great job with signage on the north side of Tower City, but there is nothing at all visible on the south side station entrance, nor down at the station level. The last couple nights I've noticed people coming back from the Tribe game via the Walkway to Gateway and going down to the station level to go west bound, and only realized they were in the wrong place when the RTA staff member at the turnstiles told them they had to go back up upstairs to get to the platform. Also, the elevator is currently not operational at the track 7 platform, so you have to climb three levels of stairs. I have noticed that the train conductors are not making announcements about 1) the platform relocation, or 2) the lack of an elevator (at least on the few trains I've been on going into TC).

 

No signs

 

 

Classy elevator outage signage. (Edit: to be fair, upon seeing this, ppl at HQ instructed a sign to be placed there). Not sure how people with disabilities are supposed to exit the station, but whatever (Edit: Didn't see this earlier @GCRTA

We apologize the elevator @track 7 is currently down. There will be a shuttle bus @ East 55th to transport ADA riders to tower city con'td)

The good old fashioned broom on the trashcan trick.

The good old fashioned broom on the trashcan trick.

 

They didn't try very hard on that one, did they?

^Communication with riders, including proper signage inside and outside of rail stations, has never been an RTA strong suit.

They were working on signage yesterday at Tower City and placing floor signage at the escalators and entrances showing people where to go

I see what people mean about the track platform not being built to last. It seems like something you would build a deck with.

 

They also finally wrote on a piece of paper to inform people that the elevator is out of service. The attendant told me that it is out of service because it wasn't built to withstand these constant usage.

 

Finally the same attendant told me that the stop will be in use until Thanksgiving. I don't know if that was known or not.

 

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...They also finally wrote on a piece of paper to inform people that the elevator is out of service. ..

 

A huge pet peeve of mine. Why is it so hard for some organizations to print professional looking signs? I could literally make one up and print it in color in less than two minutes.

^For real. Same issue as with the web site. RTA needs one midlevel person focused only on the rider experience, who can get in front of all the fairly easy stuff like this.

This is apparently the only sign notifying people of the change. The escalators by the public square side or the second level stairs by FYE don't have them according to the RTA worker. During my short time there I saw 3 people mistakenly swipe there cards trying to go westbound.

 

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