June 8, 200718 yr could they have picked a more busy weekend (i.e. cavs). See also the repaving of lower prospect between E. 4th and Ontario. Also, I ride the train every day, you'd think they have something posted in the cabooses. (maybe I'm just not paying attention) um, pope, this IS the less busy weekend... the Cavs are out of town until the 12th, the Indians are on the road this weekend, and I'm unclear as to what bearing the repaving of lower Prospect would have on the need to transfer trains when passing through Tower City...
June 8, 200718 yr could they have picked a more busy weekend (i.e. cavs). See also the repaving of lower prospect between E. 4th and Ontario. Also, I ride the train every day, you'd think they have something posted in the cabooses. (maybe I'm just not paying attention) um, pope, this IS the less busy weekend... the Cavs are out of town until the 12th, the Indians are on the road this weekend, and I'm unclear as to what bearing the repaving of lower Prospect would have on the need to transfer trains when passing through Tower City... The Cavs are having a free watch party at the Q Sunday -- 20,000+ will be there (including me & the boys). The town is in a frenzy over the Cavs so the bars and restaurants downtown will be packed. It's a bad weekend for track repair... But that's not the point. Why is it that Cleveland closes its rail system even during minor repairs unlike any other system I know? Ever heard of single tracking? Answer: Joe Calabrese is a jerk who, once again, shows his contempt for rapid rail and its patrons. He does this again and again and the affect is it drives down confidence in and patronage of the Rapid. Stupid. Stupid.
June 8, 200718 yr I was pissed out about single track between 79th and the Sqaure last week. They were trying to squeeze it in between the two peak periods. They didn't do a very good job. Can't we have a maintenance shift that's 1230-4am or something?
June 8, 200718 yr could they have picked a more busy weekend (i.e. cavs). See also the repaving of lower prospect between E. 4th and Ontario. Also, I ride the train every day, you'd think they have something posted in the cabooses. (maybe I'm just not paying attention) um, pope, this IS the less busy weekend... the Cavs are out of town until the 12th, the Indians are on the road this weekend, and I'm unclear as to what bearing the repaving of lower Prospect would have on the need to transfer trains when passing through Tower City... The Cavs are having a free watch party at the Q Sunday -- 20,000+ will be there (including me & the boys). The town is in a frenzy over the Cavs so the bars and restaurants downtown will be packed. It's a bad weekend for track repair... But that's not the point. Why is it that Cleveland closes its rail system even during minor repairs unlike any other system I know? Ever heard of single tracking? Answer: Joe Calabrese is a jerk who, once again, shows his contempt for rapid rail and its patrons. He does this again and again and the affect is it drives down confidence in and patronage of the Rapid. Stupid. Stupid. Hold up folks......... NYC, Philly & Bmore single tracks as well. Many times NYC will completely suspend service (no 3 train service this weekend) or completely reroute (the 2 train will run on the 5 line and the 5 line only runs between X & Y). Which throws things out of whack seriously. When the 2/3 or 4/5/6 trains are rerouted, getting around is pure HELL! So lets say our system maintence is complete wrong. A problem with the Shaker lines is that the switches are not electronic between Shaker Square and the Rail Yard. and none of the eastern stations except warrensville & green are electronic. I do agree there could be more maintence & track cleaning during overnight hours.
June 8, 200718 yr could they have picked a more busy weekend (i.e. cavs). See also the repaving of lower prospect between E. 4th and Ontario. Also, I ride the train every day, you'd think they have something posted in the cabooses. (maybe I'm just not paying attention) um, pope, this IS the less busy weekend... the Cavs are out of town until the 12th, the Indians are on the road this weekend, and I'm unclear as to what bearing the repaving of lower Prospect would have on the need to transfer trains when passing through Tower City... The Cavs are having a free watch party at the Q Sunday -- 20,000+ will be there (including me & the boys). The town is in a frenzy over the Cavs so the bars and restaurants downtown will be packed. It's a bad weekend for track repair... But that's not the point. Why is it that Cleveland closes its rail system even during minor repairs unlike any other system I know? Ever heard of single tracking? Answer: Joe Calabrese is a jerk who, once again, shows his contempt for rapid rail and its patrons. He does this again and again and the affect is it drives down confidence in and patronage of the Rapid. Stupid. Stupid. calm down there, junior... first off, the rail system isn't "closed", the maintenance being done necessitates single-tracking, as you've stated... in other words, RTA is doing EXACTLY what any other transit agency would do in this regard; the single-tracking means no through trains, Tower City acts as a head-end/transfer point for the weekend (and if all folks are doing is coming downtown, the transfer becomes a non-issue)... second of all, if you think for one minute that Joe Calabrese consciously made, or was even involved in, this kind of a day-to-day operational decision, then you have a distorted view of the running of an agency like this.... bash where bash is appropriate, but this SO ain't the time or place... third of all, you want maintenance from 12:30-4:00, be prepared to skyrocket your labor costs (first shift vs. third shift, at union scale), and potentially screw up no small number of morning commutes if (when) something goes wrong; also, how does a 9:30-2:30 daytime period pack into a 12:30-4:00 overnight? you have access to a time-turner we don't know about? fourth of all, MTS hit it on the head as far as NYC... they will do complete service suspensions to perform maintenance, so count some small blessings that RTA is able to keep the system running, albeit at a reduced/delayed level
June 8, 200718 yr Author You would think London, England would operate its Underground/subway/tube system, or at least some of its routes like the Circle Line, 24/7. It doesn't. Why? Routine maintenance. I was shocked to learn the last routes on the system shut down at midnight each night. It starts up again at 5 a.m. London, England. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 8, 200718 yr after we left the bars saturday night AT 2:30 after the cavs conference finals victory it took us till 3:45a.m. to finally find some mode of public transit headed west. all the cabs were booked, the rapid was shut down, and after sitting at the corner of W.9th and Superior for an hour a bus finally arrived packed to the gills with many grumbling "why the hell isnt the rapid running late on a night like this". they wouldve made a small fortune that night.
June 8, 200718 yr You would think London, England would operate its Underground/subway/tube system, or at least some of its routes like the Circle Line, 24/7. It doesn't. Why? Routine maintenance. I was shocked to learn the last routes on the system shut down at midnight each night. It starts up again at 5 a.m. London, England. When I lived there, the system closed down at 1 AM an back up at 4:30 AM. Interesting.
June 8, 200718 yr ^^All right, fine, but I still don't see why this could not be done at night. If it's not done in time, they would not affect rush hour, they'd merely have to stop and string out the project and subject it to fines pursuant to most construction project. Indeed, the very reason why RTA and most rail systems don't operate at night (as RTA, Philly and many others once did) is because of the opportunity to perform maintenance -- mainly routine, but other types of maintenance as needed as well. Second, I don't buy the higher union fees for night work. RTA is a service not a for profit operation. No one is asking them to throw $$ away but, to seriously inconvenience thousands just to save a few union shift bucks simply doesn’t wash. At the very least, there will be trains to and from Tower City from both sides of town, I will give you that. This may not be the best example, but there are plenty where RTA has shut rail service completely when it seemed unnecessary to do so. Calabrese may not make all the ‘track level’ determinations on routing, closures and the like, but it happens under his watch. And don’t tell me the foolish rail determinations – like eliminating Summer late-night weekend trains and all-night New Year's Eve service and running single cars during rush hour or big events, which he’s wont to do (esp on the Shaker lines) do not bear his imprimatur and somehow don’t coincidently fit neatly into his anti-rail posture.
June 9, 200718 yr until the region regains the growth mentality, everything, including RTA will be viewed as a cost. is there a way to cut this cost? absolutely. service levels. now, if the system were being deployed to increase total ridership, lessen duis, offer later night transit to jobs, etc. we need to change the focus of RTA to economic development and not just basic transportation for the 25% of cuyahoga county who don't have cars.
June 9, 200718 yr Author after we left the bars saturday night AT 2:30 after the cavs conference finals victory it took us till 3:45a.m. to finally find some mode of public transit headed west. all the cabs were booked, the rapid was shut down, and after sitting at the corner of W.9th and Superior for an hour a bus finally arrived packed to the gills with many grumbling "why the hell isnt the rapid running late on a night like this". they wouldve made a small fortune that night. Sadly, we're the only city in Ohio with 24-hour transit service. If you had partied that late in another Ohio city and couldn't get a cab, your only other option would be to wait 'til dawn or get a hotel room (assuming you could on a night like that). That's the consequence of living in Ohio which spends 1/13th of what Michigan invests in transit. And Illinois and Pennsylvania invest much more than that... State Population Per Capita Funding Pennsylvania 12,400,000 $63.29 Illinois 12,700,000 61.25 Michigan 10,100,000 20.73 Ohio 11,500,000 1.58 From: http://www.ohiopublictransit.org/PPT/OPTA_7_2006.ppt "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 12, 200718 yr ^^All right, fine, but I still don't see why this could not be done at night. If it's not done in time, they would not affect rush hour, they'd merely have to stop and string out the project and subject it to fines pursuant to most construction project. exsqueeze me? how can you make the determination they'd "merely have to stop"? some projects, especially switch and/or signal maintenance, can't just be halted in the middle -- once started, they must be completed; this isn't like mowing your lawn... Second, I don't buy the higher union fees for night work. RTA is a service not a for profit operation. No one is asking them to throw $$ away but, to seriously inconvenience thousands just to save a few union shift bucks simply doesn’t wash. RTA is a not-for-profit agency, but that doesn't make them a charity, nor does it allow them to be fiscally irresponsible. They are REQUIRED to operate within a balanced budget. As far as not "buying" higher union fees for night work, shift differentials are a way of life. And don’t tell me the foolish rail determinations – like eliminating Summer late-night weekend trains and all-night New Year's Eve service and running single cars during rush hour or big events, which he’s wont to do (esp on the Shaker lines) do not bear his imprimatur and somehow don’t coincidently fit neatly into his anti-rail posture. Okay, I won't tell you, since you obviously have your mind made up, which is unfortunate, because your rant is doing nothing to work toward IMPROVEMENT of the situation.
June 12, 200718 yr is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest.
June 12, 200718 yr is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest. That would make too much sense.
June 12, 200718 yr is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest. That would make too much sense. is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest. Seems like an great thing idea! Have you called RTA, the PD transportation reporter, KJP, ONN, etc. and suggested this?
June 12, 200718 yr is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest. That would make too much sense. is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest. Seems like an great thing idea! Have you called RTA, the PD transportation reporter, KJP, ONN, etc. and suggested this? <snarkybastard>suggesting effort on the part of a UO user? how dare you!</snarkybastard> seriously, I agree, make the suggestion, although the logistics of the situation might not make it possible to happen... I have heard rumors that the vehicle will be on display during the Ingenuity Festival, for anyone who wants to know...
June 13, 200718 yr Author I wouldn't be able to get an article in the Sun until our next issue - June 21. By then, it looks like the Cavs will be out of the finals. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 13, 200718 yr is the new BRT vehicle going to be on display during the nba finals? seems like a good time to park it out on euclid, or around the Q and generate some interest. RTA had the vehicle on display during Parade the Circle, and damn did it look neat. That was a perfect opportunity to display the vehicle since about 45000 people attended the event. I agree with you at the NBA finals. What better time to get free publicity when Cleveland is in the national spotlight?? (not to mention all the suburbenites are in town!)
June 14, 200718 yr Author Aren't you on RTA's Citizens Advisory Committee? If so, that's why you weren't informed! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 14, 200718 yr I'm sensing you projecting your own situation onto mine... am I onto something? Even the ever-alert KJP was not notified? Bah!
June 14, 200718 yr Author I didn't hear anything either, but that's OK. I don't cover University Circle. But I've been told by past members of the CAB that they hadn't been informed about events such as this. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 15, 200718 yr So, MurrayHill, since you saw the BRT vehicle, where was it and what can you tell us about it?
June 15, 200718 yr apparently the RTA is close to finalizing the commercialization of the silver line. so the final package will likely be branded as the Cleveland Clinic Line or Key Bank Line or something, which may change the colors and styling. the vehicle that was displayed was silver and had a wavy white line down the side with the names of the different stops/key intersections. it looks pretty good, but still not quite as funtional as 1 redline car due to smaller aisle widths, bumpouts for the tires, etc.
June 15, 200718 yr How about the Progressive Line? ironically none of their employees could use it because it goes no where near their campuses.
June 18, 200717 yr How about the Progressive Line? ironically none of their employees could use it because it goes no where near their campuses. Or, one could say that they chose to locate their "campus" (I really HATE the fact that that word has been co-opted out of the academic world) environments in non-transit friendly locations. They are one of the worst offenders when it comes to suburban sprawl, with acre upon acre of parking lots and garages surrounding their buildings. Of course, since they live and die by the number of policies they sell, and fewer drivers means less business for them, it's no surprise.
June 18, 200717 yr and for anyone who isn't otherwise occupied on Thursday, the 21st at noon: http://www.riderta.com/jointheride/
June 19, 200717 yr Thanks for posting....I'll plan on going. Also, the 22nd is the official "ride day."
June 22, 200717 yr Fromt the letters to the editor in todays Cleveland Plain Dealer: When it comes to rail, other cities pass us by Friday, June 22, 2007 While recently visiting Seattle, a growing and vibrant city, I read in the Seattle Times that Seattle's Sound Transit will be building another 50 miles of light rail track at a long-term cost of $23 billion. The proposal was initiated by the agency's governing board in response to demands to expand the commuter-rail service to communities well outside of Seattle, including Tacoma, Bellevue and Lynnwood. How does this compare to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's pathetic rail service in Cleveland? Typical for Cleveland, we have fewer miles of commuter track now than we did 75 years ago. Countless cities have built modern light- and heavy-rail commuter systems in the last 25 years with more miles of track than what we have here. Meanwhile, Cleveland's RTA governing board is content to announce the remodeling of one rapid station a year and call it a day. Only a Cleveland-run mass transit system would fail to take advantage of the miles of abandoned railroad tracks throughout Northeast Ohio by putting together viable proposals for expanding a limited commuter-rail system that people often say "doesn't go anywhere." The RTA and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport respond to suggestions similarly: Officials ignore them. That's why cities like Seattle are Seattle, and cities like Cleveland are Cleveland. Kevin B. Hutson Cleveland http://www.cleveland.com/letters/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/opinion/118250182628430.xml&coll=2
June 22, 200717 yr Well, that's a bit grim! From what I hear, the Seattle projects are not all peaches... voters have been on the fence about them and funding is a little questionable. On the other hand, they are planning for rail and have been for years. Part of this could be the positive outlook on regional population and job growth and part of it could be that they have a more functional, progressive transit agency and political climate. They're also in Washington, where Seattle is the one big city (Tacoma is growing, but it's still small-ish), so they get a lot of attention. Cleveland is competing in a 3-city (not to mention all the mid-sized cities scattered around) state under a still conservative planning regime. So, we've got more than a few points against us. As has been cited on here several times before, transit funding in Ohio is atrocious. I'm not giving anyone local an "out." I'm just saying that it's easy to throw daggers when your not part of the solution... Then again, who knows? Kevin Hutson may be working on something right now.
June 22, 200717 yr In other news, this is the big event today: Join the Ride Day - June 22, 2007 On Friday, June 22, 2007, all Northeast Ohioans are encouraged to change their driving habits by biking, running, or taking RTA to work. The Join the Ride Day event is part of a national initiative supported by transit authorities across the country. The goal is to reduce the time commuters spend in their cars by incorporating other modes of travel, such as driving to an RTA Park-N-Ride and taking the train the rest of the way into town. Employers throughout the region are asked to support the challenge – reducing traffic congestion, ozone pollutants, and our dependence at the pump. Do your part by changing your driving habits. Commuter Facts According to a study conducted by the Brookings Institution, if Americans used public transportation for roughly 10 percent of their daily travel needs, the nation would reduce its dependence on imported Persian Gulf oil by more than 40 percent. The use of Public Transportation saves 45 million barrels of oil – the equivalent of 1.75 billion gallons of gasoline – every year, and removes 50,000 vehicles from the roadways of Northeast Ohio. The typical American family spends nearly 20 percent of its household income on driving costs - more than it spends on food. Based on AAA estimates, RTA riders save more than $7,500 on average per year by avoiding parking fees, gasoline costs, and car maintenance expenses. More than 200,000 people in Northeast Ohio commute to work riding RTA. RTA operates one of the cleanest bus fleets in the country, with buses utilizing natural gas and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel equipped with after-treatment filters that remove more than 90 percent of all particulate matter from the exhaust. RTA is one of the first transit authorities in the country to have its entire bus fleet bike-rack equipped. http://riderta.com/jointheride/ It sounds like RTA has launched a major media effort, but the only way I heard about this was through an email from a friend. It's now up on the GCBL calendar and universitycircle.org's site as well. I saw a big billboard near Dead Man's Curve this morning. Has anyone else gotten wind of this from a different source?
June 22, 200717 yr That letter to the editor has its heart in the right place but, can we go without the "Typical of Cleveland, XYZ is bad" and "that's why Place A is great and why Cleveland is Cleveland?" You want to talk about "Typical of Cleveland," that freaking woeful attitude is what's typical of Cleveland, ass.
June 22, 200717 yr That letter to the editor has its heart in the right place but, can we go without the "Typical of Cleveland, XYZ is bad" and "that's why Place A is great and why Cleveland is Cleveland?" You want to talk about "Typical of Cleveland," that freaking woeful attitude is what's typical of Cleveland, ass. I totally agree. We look for the negative way too often in this city. Unfortunately, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
June 22, 200717 yr That letter to the editor has its heart in the right place but, can we go without the "Typical of Cleveland, XYZ is bad" and "that's why Place A is great and why Cleveland is Cleveland?" You want to talk about "Typical of Cleveland," that freaking woeful attitude is what's typical of Cleveland, ass. I totally agree. We look for the negative way too often in this city. Unfortunately, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Only someone from Cleveland would say something like that.
June 23, 200717 yr Point of fact is, though its a very desirable and growing city, Seattle has been close to a disaster for rail transit planning. To date, they are the last major West Coast city without rapid transit (even Sacramento and San Jose have systems). Seattle built their downtown Metro tunnel for buses and rail in the early 90s (they did smartly hang on to their trolley bus sysemt), but the rail embedded in concrete was incorrectly placed and had to be dug up and relaid for the new LRT to the tune of 10s of $Millions, not to mention shutting the tunnel to buses and clogging downtown streets in the interim. Rail and buses will probably clog the tunnels and slow LRT -- let's see how that works out; I'm skeptical. The current Seattle LRT (SeaTac Airport to Univ. Washington) moving to completion (very soon) plus the projected extension, I think projected for completion (no sooner than 2012, if I recall) will still mean Seattle will have around 20-24 miles of rapid transit to Cleveland's 34. So I don't see how Seattle supposedly shames us. They do have a rush-hour (w/ no against-the-grain runs) commuter rail line from Tacoma to Everett via downtown Seattle, but Cleveland's working on the Lorain line as well as extending cvsr to Tower City plus the Ohio Hub Amtrak which would probably have a commuter rail portion. Again, I don't get Seattle's superiority, here. Kevin obviously didn't do his homework.
June 23, 200717 yr Though it's interesting and helpful to know what other cities are doing, comparing cities like Seattle and Cleveland is a bit of a pointless exercise. Very different cities with decidedly different politics, economy, geography, etc. That's not to say we can't learn lessons from other cities and sometimes we can even transplant certain ideas, but each city does things in their own time and their own way.
June 24, 200717 yr Though it's interesting and helpful to know what other cities are doing, comparing cities like Seattle and Cleveland is a bit of a pointless exercise. Very different cities with decidedly different politics, economy, geography, etc. That's not to say we can't learn lessons from other cities and sometimes we can even transplant certain ideas, but each city does things in their own time and their own way. Very true. Fact is it's quite a bit tougher to grow transit in a city where growth is stagnant or shrinking, as in Cleveland. That's not to give us a total bye, b/c I don't think we're doing all we can, transit-wise. But Seattle, as a growth region with a newer, white collar technical economic base as opposed to an industrial town, like ours, struggling to change over, is a different kettle of fish altogether.
June 24, 200717 yr OK, petty gripe time. I generally like the improvements of the Shaker Square rapid stop (including the electronic display with schedule info-the wait seems a lot shorter when you know how long it's going to be), but anyone else spot something wrong with this sign?
June 24, 200717 yr Author That no stops are shown east of Shaker Square? Regardless of whether that's what you're getting at, is there a sign on the eastbound platform showing those stops? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 24, 200717 yr ... how about the fact that the route sign, here as well as the outbound side, has the rapid lines designated in RED while these are the BLUE and GREEN lines as opposed to the existing RED line?... I too really dig the Shaker Sq improvements; its a warm, welcoming and safe place while remaining in architectural harmony with the historic Square. But the goofball color coding of the Rapid routes on the new signs have always struck me.
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