"@GCRTA: Fri 8/16 8p-end of serv Sun 8/18, Blue Line btwn Shaker Sq & Van Aken, rail service replaced w/ shuttle buses due to constructn @ Drexmore."

^KJP, yes, that has been on our Web site since Monday, and is linked to a Service Alert.

 

The ash tray?  They just grabbed it because their might be a roach or pot residue mixed in there is my guess.

 

Except we don't smoke anything.  It was clean.  They even left the spare change. 

^^ Why can't they take my terrible 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe!  The car still runs and doesn;t have quite as many miles as your did, but it would not be the worst thing to have that car disappear. 

 

Try using a sun shield.  That's what I did-- the first time I'd ever done that at an RTA lot (and I won't again), but it may have given the thief(thieves) the cover they needed. 

 

Our car was recovered somewhere on W. 33rd street.  At the impound lot on Quigley, where they towed it to, there were 3 or 4 other people picking up their stolen cars.  I wonder how many cars get stolen in Cleveland every day? 

Are new Healthline buses apart of the anticipated new rolling stock?

 

^ they are already starting to look bad

^ they are already starting to look bad

Yes they are that's what 24 hour service mixed with large amounts of ridership does to a bus. I've seen a few with 80,000 miles it's time for new buses. This is where a streetcar would have come in handy, to hold the heavy ridership much better than the Healthline.

Moved the Red Line/HealthLine extension study post to:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26445.0.html

 

And when GCRTA tweeted the following......

 

Greater Cleve RTA ‏@GCRTA 17 Aug

"Sat 8/17, Red Line rail service btwn Tower City & Windermere to be replaced w/ shuttle buses due to construction @ Cedar-University sta."

 

All Aboard Ohio ‏responded with:

"With #Feast of the Assumption in #CLE Little Italy, today isn't good day for @GCRTA to shut down Red Line for Cedar-University station work."

 

To which GCRTA responded with:

"@dcaja @AllAboardOhio the HealthLine is another great alternative close to the feast."

 

It's not a great alternative to the Red Line as the HealthLine doesn't have dedicated bus-only lanes near the Feast and gets stuck in Feast traffic. This was a bad decision to shut the Red Line down on the day of the Feast -- of all days. It sure doesn't help to dispel RTA's undeserved "anti-rail bias." Perhaps that is why GCRTA's tweet was deleted? Was the Red Line actually shut down??

 

https://twitter.com/search?q=GCRTA&src=typd

Moved the Red Line/HealthLine extension study post to:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,26445.0.html

 

And when GCRTA tweeted the following......

 

Greater Cleve RTA ‏@GCRTA 17 Aug

"Sat 8/17, Red Line rail service btwn Tower City & Windermere to be replaced w/ shuttle buses due to construction @ Cedar-University sta."

 

All Aboard Ohio ‏responded with:

"With #Feast of the Assumption in #CLE Little Italy, today isn't good day for @GCRTA to shut down Red Line for Cedar-University station work."

 

To which GCRTA responded with:

"@dcaja @AllAboardOhio the HealthLine is another great alternative close to the feast."

 

It's not a great alternative to the Red Line as the HealthLine doesn't have dedicated bus-only lanes near the Feast and gets stuck in Feast traffic. This was a bad decision to shut the Red Line down on the day of the Feast -- of all days. It sure doesn't help to dispel RTA's undeserved "anti-rail bias." Perhaps that is why GCRTA's tweet was deleted? Was the Red Line actually shut down??

 

https://twitter.com/search?q=GCRTA&src=typd

 

The tweet wasn't deleted.  I still see it up.

All Aboard Ohio's is still there, but this one from RTA is not:

 

"Sat 8/17, Red Line rail service btwn Tower City & Windermere to be replaced w/ shuttle buses due to construction @ Cedar-University sta."

Lots of Board meeting action today...

 

* Awarded a $8.6 million contract to the Perk Co. for the Clifton Blvd. project, Groundbreaking is Sept. 13.

* Bought 23 low-floor 60-foot articulated vehicles from New Flyer of America for $16.3 million, to arrive by mid-2014. Most are for use on Clifton.

* Approved 2014 Caplital Budget.

* Released systemwkide ridership numbers, up 5.2 percent in June, 1.5 percent year-to-date.

* Trolley ridership up 38 percent, thanks to National Senior Games. This points out the importance of the trolleys to major events.

 

All Aboard Ohio's is still there, but this one from RTA is not:

 

"Sat 8/17, Red Line rail service btwn Tower City & Windermere to be replaced w/ shuttle buses due to construction @ Cedar-University sta."

 

It shows up right on their profile:

 

Lots of Board meeting action today...

 

* Awarded a $8.6 million contract to the Perk Co. for the Clifton Blvd. project, Groundbreaking is Sept. 13.

* Bought 23 low-floor 60-foot articulated vehicles from New Flyer of America for $16.3 million, to arrive by mid-2014. Most are for use on Clifton.

* Approved 2014 Caplital Budget.

* Released systemwkide ridership numbers, up 5.2 percent in June, 1.5 percent year-to-date.

* Trolley ridership up 38 percent, thanks to National Senior Games. This points out the importance of the trolleys to major events.

 

 

Good news. Thanks!

 

For others, all items on the board agenda:  http://www.riderta.com/news/aug-20-agenda-rta-board-meeting

* Released systemwkide ridership numbers, up 5.2 percent in June, 1.5 percent year-to-date.

 

RTA Ridership has been going up a lot the past three or so years, hasn't it? I'm not sure what the numbers are and I'd look it up but I'm on my phone now, but I remember hearing that the rapid ridership has especially increased from year-to-year. Sounds like a excellent trend that's only going to get better as we develop more.

* Released systemwkide ridership numbers, up 5.2 percent in June, 1.5 percent year-to-date.

 

RTA Ridership has been going up a lot the past three or so years, hasn't it? I'm not sure what the numbers are and I'd look it up but I'm on my phone now, but I remember hearing that the rapid ridership has especially increased from year-to-year. Sounds like a excellent trend that's only going to get better as we develop more.

 

Ive been meaning to reply to this but havent been able to get to my computer in days. Things have been busy. Anyways here are some ridership stats.

 

Systemwide

1976 115,292,977

1977 121,621,862 5.49%

1978 122,864,475 1.02%

1979 125,890,860 2.46%

1980 129,691,743 3.02%

1981 120,865,879 -6.81%

1982 110,622,417 -8.48%

1983 89,083,949 -19.47%

1984 89,341,174 0.29%

1985 86,156,907 -3.56%

1986 80,688,287 -6.35%

1987 78,035,640 -3.29%

1988 75,206,868 -3.62%

1989 68,516,771 -8.90%

1990 72,869,669 6.35%

1991 67,906,688 -6.81%

1992 64,320,599 -5.28%

1993 60,085,236 -6.58%

1994 60,289,244 0.34%

1995 58,266,246 -3.36%

1996 58,657,764 0.67%

1997 60,901,337 3.82%

1998 60,557,584 -0.56%

1999 59,303,747 -2.07%

2000 59,191,175 -0.19%

2001 57,752,620 -2.43%

2002 52,706,142 -8.74%

2003 53,515,066 1.53%

2004 55,498,840 3.71%

2005 57,097,400 2.88%

2006 57,246,000 0.26%

2007 57,322,600 0.13%

2008 57,977,574 1.14%

2009 49,870,000 -13.98%

2010 44,680,000 -10.41%

2011 46,200,000 3.40%

2012 48,152,700 4.23%

 

As for the Red Line, I have back to 1995 and it is currently at its highest during that time period. Still not as high as a rail line should be, but its a start I suppose.

 

* Released systemwkide ridership numbers, up 5.2 percent in June, 1.5 percent year-to-date.

 

RTA Ridership has been going up a lot the past three or so years, hasn't it? I'm not sure what the numbers are and I'd look it up but I'm on my phone now, but I remember hearing that the rapid ridership has especially increased from year-to-year. Sounds like a excellent trend that's only going to get better as we develop more.

 

Ive been meaning to reply to this but havent been able to get to my computer in days. Things have been busy. Anyways here are some ridership stats.

 

Systemwide

1976 115,292,977

1977 121,621,862 5.49%

1978 122,864,475 1.02%

1979 125,890,860 2.46%

1980 129,691,743 3.02%

1981 120,865,879 -6.81%

1982 110,622,417 -8.48%

1983 89,083,949 -19.47%

1984 89,341,174 0.29%

1985 86,156,907 -3.56%

1986 80,688,287 -6.35%

1987 78,035,640 -3.29%

1988 75,206,868 -3.62%

1989 68,516,771 -8.90%

1990 72,869,669 6.35%

1991 67,906,688 -6.81%

1992 64,320,599 -5.28%

1993 60,085,236 -6.58%

1994 60,289,244 0.34%

1995 58,266,246 -3.36%

1996 58,657,764 0.67%

1997 60,901,337 3.82%

1998 60,557,584 -0.56%

1999 59,303,747 -2.07%

2000 59,191,175 -0.19%

2001 57,752,620 -2.43%

2002 52,706,142 -8.74%

2003 53,515,066 1.53%

2004 55,498,840 3.71%

2005 57,097,400 2.88%

2006 57,246,000 0.26%

2007 57,322,600 0.13%

2008 57,977,574 1.14%

2009 49,870,000 -13.98%

2010 44,680,000 -10.41%

2011 46,200,000 3.40%

2012 48,152,700 4.23%

 

As for the Red Line, I have back to 1995 and it is currently at its highest during that time period. Still not as high as a rail line should be, but its a start I suppose.

 

 

Do those numbers include the high school kids CPSD dumped on the rapids?  I believe that is what happened between 1982 and 1983.  I rode daily then.  I started taking the 9 back and forth from downtown myself.  I recall a lot of people saying they weren't going to ride anymore because of that fiasco.

Four big reasons why GCRTA's ridership took a dive after 1980:

 

1. The end of the reduced 35 cent fare that was instituted when GCRTA began in 1975;

2. The end of the 1970s high gas prices which, in 1980/81, was at its highest level ever (and, adjusted for inflation, wouldn't be surpassed for another 25 years);

3. The 1981-82 recession was the worst since the Great Depression and either reduced or eliminated many inner-city manufacturers and plants;

4. The 1980s saw the surge of sprawl into counties not named Cuyahoga, which GCRTA could not serve.

Four big reasons why GCRTA's ridership took a dive after 1980:

 

1. The end of the reduced 35 cent fare that was instituted when GCRTA began in 1975;

2. The end of the 1970s high gas prices which, in 1980/81, was at its highest level ever (and, adjusted for inflation, wouldn't be surpassed for another 25 years);

3. The 1981-82 recession was the worst since the Great Depression and either reduced or eliminated many inner-city manufacturers and plants;

4. The 1980s saw the surge of sprawl into counties not named Cuyahoga, which GCRTA could not serve.

 

A 44% drop in ridership during the 80s.  During that time city population dropped 12% but county only dropped 6%.

 

Nevertheless, RTA continued a very downtown-centric service pattern, despite the fact that downtown is very much not centrally located in its service area. 

 

I’m going to say they chose not to serve those areas is more accurate that saying they couldn’t.

 

The economic effects were likely a late seventies increase in ridership that was temporary reversing itself.

 

Finally, I really don’t think the impact of those schoolkids can be ignored.  I rode RTA daily during the school year, they were undeniably disruptive.  If these numbers include them (and their reduced fares), RTA may have made a conscious decision to get CPSD to help boost their ridership numbers.  This would mean the drop actually was more precipitous early on.  I’m going to say anecdotally that it also sped and deepened the drop among adult riders. 

 

What it boils down to is RTA took its middle class riders for granted, believing they had a captive audience.  It declined to respond to the decentralization of the county (indeed, as it absorbed Maple Heights Transit it phased out its non-radial routes) and dumped unruly school kids on rush hour commuters.

 

Yes, your reasons are valid, particularly the decline of city and inner ring industry (exacerbated by environmental issues), but are IMO incomplete.

 

I’m going to say they chose not to serve those areas is more accurate that saying they couldn’t.

 

RTA is expressly forbidden from servicing areas outside of Cuayhoga County I believe.

Erocc, You overlooked the fare increase. Fares were, are and will always be the biggest factor in transit ridership.

 

BTW, the year before RTA started, the CTS has 81.5 million riders. I don't remember what its fare was nor can I find any information about it. But the countwide sales tax for RTA was passed because it promised a reduced fare that would not be allowed to rise for five years.

 

 

RTA is expressly forbidden from servicing areas outside of Cuayhoga County I believe.

 

Transit agencies in Ohio can operate outside of the counties in which they are chartered, but they must get a service agreement approved by the county they will service. They cannot get tax revenues from that county (so they have to charge extra to pay for that lack of financial support) nor can they carry passengers between two points in those counties outside their service area.

I’m going to say they chose not to serve those areas is more accurate that saying they couldn’t.

 

RTA is expressly forbidden from servicing areas outside of Cuayhoga County I believe.

 

Whoops, I meant the suburban areas where the population growth was taking place. 

 

Maple Heights, for example, had a "local" line that made it very transit friendly despite qualifying as "suburbia" at the time....to the point that my mom never bothered to get a drivers licence.  It was phased out not long after RTA took full control of Maple Heights Transit, which was autonomous for quite awhile after the merger.  Ironically, this line became more useful after the merger because it connected with the Shaker Rapid.

 

It seemed to many suburban politicians during the era that RTA was, in one of their words "too downtown oriented".

Erocc, You overlooked the fare increase. Fares were, are and will always be the biggest factor in transit ridership.

 

BTW, the year before RTA started, the CTS has 81.5 million riders. I don't remember what its fare was nor can I find any information about it. But the countwide sales tax for RTA was passed because it promised a reduced fare that would not be allowed to rise for five years.

 

I didn't overlook it, I didn't disagree.  :)

 

Remember, I lived in an area where there was significant opposition to the merger, even after the fact. The opponents speculated on a fare increase, "I told you so"'d it big time when it happened, and even speculated that it was being used to subsidize the reduced fares for CPSD kids being shipped across town (fighting words in a town where crosstown busing was about as popular as gonorrhea even though the MHSD had a small and voluntary desegregation plan).  They also predicted the demise of the Dunham Road line, something city officials who supported the merger said would not happen.

And the fares didn't rise for five years, as promised in the ballot issue. When they did rise, that's when ridership fell -- coupled with the other, lesser factors. Although I believe the 1981-82 recession and the permanent loss of urban industrial jobs was a close second. The Coit Road Fisher Body, TRW, Diamond Shamrock, Jones & Laughlin and others all closed plants during this time laying off thousands of workers at EACH plant. I'm sure you remember. Most of those plants are still vacant or their land cleared with nothing since taking their place. Transit ridership won't return to those RTA highs until this happens. And forget the historic highs of 1946 when CTS carried nearly 500 million. Even though some cities (Toronto, Washington DC, Denver, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, etc) are carrying ridership at historically high levels.

Greater Cleve RTA ‏@GCRTA 41s

Blue Line service btwn Shaker Sq & Van Aken has been temporarily interrupted & replaced w/ shuttle buses until further notice.

And the fares didn't rise for five years, as promised in the ballot issue. When they did rise, that's when ridership fell -- coupled with the other, lesser factors. Although I believe the 1981-82 recession and the permanent loss of urban industrial jobs was a close second. The Coit Road Fisher Body, TRW, Diamond Shamrock, Jones & Laughlin and others all closed plants during this time laying off thousands of workers at EACH plant. I'm sure you remember. Most of those plants are still vacant or their land cleared with nothing since taking their place. Transit ridership won't return to those RTA highs until this happens. And forget the historic highs of 1946 when CTS carried nearly 500 million. Even though some cities (Toronto, Washington DC, Denver, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, etc) are carrying ridership at historically high levels.

 

The permanent loss of industrial jobs was indeed huge for this area.  In the past, those sites would see new companies when the economy turned around, but that didn't happen after CERCLA meant potentially inheriting someone else's cleanup costs.

 

However....I'm not so sure those companies were big contributors to the ridership base.  Most of them were automotive suppliers, at at least a Tier II level.  That meant their employees got huge discounts on new cars. 

 

When I was riding daily during the early 80s, one didn't see many blue collar workers.  It was mostly lower or middle level white collar people, working downtown or UC.  Of course I was going from downtown to UC (from home), so that may color my viewpoint.  But I was living in a largely blue collar town and few if any of them were taking the bus to work. 

 

In 1946, the first new cars since the 1942 models were just coming out, and rubber and gasoline had been rationed.  Plus, workers were scrimping to bring their families up from the rural areas.  Riding transit was a habit.

 

 

You lose one blue collar job, you lose several support jobs in the neighborhood (waitresses, store cashiers, repairmen, landscapers, etc). And some clerical workers at these local manufacturers weren't making much money, including my mother.

 

Anyway..... Anything going on with RTA?

You lose one blue collar job, you lose several support jobs in the neighborhood (waitresses, store cashiers, repairmen, landscapers, etc). And some clerical workers at these local manufacturers weren't making much money, including my mother.

 

Anyway..... Anything going on with RTA?

 

It’s relevant in terms of the idea that a big part of RTA’s decline is its probably  obsolescent business model.  Certainly the shutdowns didn’t help, especially since some of those white collar jobs were downtown.  Here’s another contributor:  a trend  (which I consider positive) towards moving offices into close proximity to manufacturing facilities. 

 

By the way, Diamond Shamrock closed Painesville early enough to have pre-CERCLA successor companies on that site.  I should know, I worked for one.  But that quit happening once people started getting hit for successor liabilities.  That made a big difference too.

 

The merger may have played a role in the lack of reaction as well.  It put all of Cuyahoga County’s transit eggs in one basket.   

 

I’m not sure you can really boost ridership without radical changes.  It’s easier to keep people in the habit than get them to change (back).

 

And the fares didn't rise for five years, as promised in the ballot issue. When they did rise, that's when ridership fell -- coupled with the other, lesser factors.

 

I don't believe paying an extra quarter or so led to the steep rider drop-off RTA experienced.  It was the loss of jobs downtown, I believe, led to the huge drop.  Ridership isn't that fare sensitive.  DC Metro, with it's zone mileage charges among the nation's highest and, yet, has the 2nd highest patronage outside of NYC... I worked downtown in summer college jobs into the early 80s... downtown was bustling with jobs, commerce and retail.  And since nobody lived down there in those days, RTA trains and buses were packed during rush hour.  The buildup of then (in 1980) rundown neighborhoods like Ohio City and residential Univ. Circle, as well as more downtown residents have recovered some of that lost ridership -- and it continues to grow.  But the huge collapse of downtown jobs, and corporate collapse and flight is what hammered ridership...

 

E Roc is right, RTA's hub/spokes, downtown-oriented transit facilitated this loss in many ways... Where E Roc is wrong is to characterize this as an RTA problem... Almost all American big-city transit systems are designed this way.  And the freedom to sprawl to the suburbs, as E Roc advocates, makes such transit all the more difficult to be successful... Thankfully young adult's return to American cities, including Cleveland, is boosting transit use everywhere.

 

 

Ridership isn't that fare sensitive. 

 

You just lost me there. A frequently-used rule-of-thumb, known as the Simpson – Curtin rule, is that each 3% transit fare increase reduces ridership by 1%.

 

E Roc is right, RTA's hub/spokes, downtown-oriented transit facilitated this loss in many ways... Where E Roc is wrong is to characterize this as an RTA problem... Almost all American big-city transit systems are designed this way.  And the freedom to sprawl to the suburbs, as E Roc advocates, makes such transit all the more difficult to be successful... Thankfully young adult's return to American cities, including Cleveland, is boosting transit use everywhere.

 

I didn't mean to say it was just a Cleveland issue.  It's not.  However, because Cleveland was so manufacturing intensive and because downtown is (for rather obvious geographic reasons) not centrally located within the area, it likely hit here harder.  I'd be interested to see how our experience compared with Detroit or Chicago.

 

I do buy the idea that the fare increase decreased ridership.  For those without other options, it's analogous to gas prices reducing miles driven.  For those that have them, at some point there's a tradeoff between saved money and saved time.  In DC and NYC, parking costs and traffic congestion make that tradeoff different.

Totally digging the new signage

 

 

Another (better) example - shows old vs. new:

 

 

Wow huge upgrade! Both visually and its more informative! Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the pics!  Those look great.  Sooooo much more useful than the old signs, given the destination info and hours of operation.

 

I'm a bit of a luddite and have been without a smart phone since I gave up my crackberry in 2007.  If I'm at that busstop and want to know when the next bus #11 is supposed to arrive, how fast can I do it?  Would it be easier if the busstops were numbered so I could just punch the number into an app?  Or can the phone GPS take care of that somehow, maybe by linking into google transit?

I like it!

Laketrans posts actual schedules at most stops.

Thanks for the pics!  Those look great.  Sooooo much more useful than the old signs, given the destination info and hours of operation.

 

I'm a bit of a luddite and have been without a smart phone since I gave up my crackberry in 2007.  If I'm at that busstop and want to know when the next bus #11 is supposed to arrive, how fast can I do it?  Would it be easier if the busstops were numbered so I could just punch the number into an app?  Or can the phone GPS take care of that somehow, maybe by linking into google transit?

 

Routing Apps like HopStop just use your location and do it all for you.

^^ I like the new signs.  The more information, the better imho.

did anyone see this yet

 

http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2013/08/rtas_waterfront_line_is_slow_t.html

 

RTA's Waterfront Line is slow to attract new passengers: "Hey, Taxpayer! with Mark Naymik" (Video)

 

It bull#$_ but someone needs to explian why dead ending the green and blue lines at the muni lot makes sense. 

 

Although I'm not sure how ridership is, I'm sure he rode on a Sunday. He skipped over the "day and date?" portion of a question that he responded to. Only gave the time of day and said the 7 riders were tourists or people taking kids for a train ride. Sounds like a Sunday to me

The comments below the article make me want to move.  Quickly.  I'm surrounded by idiots.  (Though the comments about the fare machines are dead-on).

The comments below the article make me want to move.  Quickly.  I'm surrounded by idiots.  (Though the comments about the fare machines are dead-on).

 

Never read the comments below any article in any web-based publication in any city. If you base your view of a city or nation or civilization on these anonymous comment sections, you will surely start digging your survivalist shelter ASAP.

Mark Naymik is a far too-typical Cleveland glass-half-empty journalist.  He recently penned a very negative article about Shaker Square... Yes, I've observed a number of empty WFL cars.  I have seen some riding during rush hour and on weekends, but there are some empty cars.  I applaud RTA for bringing the WFL back to regular service and implore that they stick with it and try and build passengers.  A couple months isn't enough time to judge service.  And even before, when RTA cut back the service, I think they saved a couple hundred thousand dollars per year -- that's not going to catapult a resurgent RTA into the red.

 

I would like to see RTA engage in more advertising and promotions to highlight the WFL (hint: maybe sub some information-laden radio commercials rather than those annoying, overly cutsey, Info-empty spots with that deep-voiced guy spouting about “The Ride” – funny how some would rather cut the WFL rather than cut the big bucks spent on such useless commercials that I’m sure influence nobody).  It takes one literally to the door of the new FEB complex.  You mean this wouldn't be super convenient (and cheap) for hotel/airport visitors?  Cleveland Joe, a few years ago, began promoting an RTA Bar Crawl.  Right now, there are several bars in the FEB complex, including the uber-hip WXYZ bar in the Aloft Hotel (love their lounge area and patios overlooking the Flats (and the WFL) which stay crowded, at least during my few visits there.  Why can’t RTA help foster such fun social, transit –friendly activities for people.  And why can’t/shouldn’t there be some kind of hotel-to-casino promo for Aloft visitors… This past weekend both the casino and the Aloft were both very busy, yet few, if any, Alofters were using the trains to get to the casino despite the quick, direct shot (and the 15-min intervals are pretty good throughout the day).

 

There were a number of office workers who did stroll over to the FEB/WFL station during evening rush.  Unfortunately, there seemed to be more who flooded across the tracks into the $6/10 buck surface parking lot to saddle up their Tin Lizzies... You can't tell me that it wouldn't be more convenient for at least half or more of those car drivers to either walk, bus or park (for FREE) at an outer Rapid stop and take the train in ... esp. those who are convenient to the Blue and Green Lines who are afforded a direct shot to the E & W complex... If RTA could either promote the WFL and or get corporate sponsors to promo it, I think they could jostle some commuters out of their auto-comfort zone to ride the rails (I'll be many will when the 1st big snow storm hits in a few months...

 

... Maybe Naymik may want to highlight these points and promote the mass transit that many more Clevelanders are availing themselves of rather than sitting back and taking cheap potshots....

 

Four big reasons why GCRTA's ridership took a dive after 1980:

 

1. The end of the reduced 35 cent fare that was instituted when GCRTA began in 1975;

2. The end of the 1970s high gas prices which, in 1980/81, was at its highest level ever (and, adjusted for inflation, wouldn't be surpassed for another 25 years);

3. The 1981-82 recession was the worst since the Great Depression and either reduced or eliminated many inner-city manufacturers and plants;

4. The 1980s saw the surge of sprawl into counties not named Cuyahoga, which GCRTA could not serve.

 

always another reason for 'drops' of any kind:

 

cle population

1980   573,822

2010   396,815

 

I would like to see RTA engage in more advertising and promotions to highlight the WFL (hint: maybe sub some information-laden radio commercials rather than those annoying, overly cutsey, Info-empty spots with that deep-voiced guy spouting about “The Ride” – funny how some would rather cut the WFL rather than cut the big bucks spent on such useless commercials that I’m sure influence nobody).  It takes one literally to the door of the new FEB complex. You mean this wouldn't be super convenient (and cheap) for hotel/airport visitors? 

 

During All Aboard Ohio's TOD On Tap event in August, FEB's developers noted that many people are using the Rapid to get to Aloft from the Airport.

 

Cleveland Joe, a few years ago, began promoting an RTA Bar Crawl.  Right now, there are several bars in the FEB complex, including the uber-hip WXYZ bar in the Aloft Hotel (love their lounge area and patios overlooking the Flats (and the WFL) which stay crowded, at least during my few visits there.  Why can’t RTA help foster such fun social, transit –friendly activities for people.  And why can’t/shouldn’t there be some kind of hotel-to-casino promo for Aloft visitors… This past weekend both the casino and the Aloft were both very busy, yet few, if any, Alofters were using the trains to get to the casino despite the quick, direct shot (and the 15-min intervals are pretty good throughout the day).

 

Another good point.

 

... Maybe Naymik may want to highlight these points and promote the mass transit that many more Clevelanders are availing themselves of rather than sitting back and taking cheap potshots....

 

 

The BEST point of all!!

Mark's gotten better about getting both sides of the story, as he emphatically did not do during his "Sweethearts" stories.  But he still harps on the negative.

 

That can build one quite a career in Cleveland media though.  Look at Bill Livingston and Roldo Bartimole.

I know there is a lot of interest on the heavy rail vehicle overhaul, so here's an update:

 

40 rail cars...$2.2 million project...completed by mid-2015

I know there is a lot of interest on the heavy rail vehicle overhaul, so here's an update:

 

40 rail cars...$2.2 million project...completed by mid-2015

Wow that's a lot longer than I thought it would take

The comments below the article make me want to move.  Quickly.  I'm surrounded by idiots.  (Though the comments about the fare machines are dead-on).

 

Never read the comments below any article in any web-based publication in any city. If you base your view of a city or nation or civilization on these anonymous comment sections, you will surely start digging your survivalist shelter ASAP.

 

In a lot of cases it's people venting, or even trolling.

I know there is a lot of interest on the heavy rail vehicle overhaul, so here's an update:

 

40 rail cars...$2.2 million project...completed by mid-2015

Wow that's a lot longer than I thought it would take

 

I too, am disappointed for the long timeframe.  Baltimore's Metro cars, which are roughly contemporary with the current Red Line cars, have been rehabbed for nearly a decade...

 

Meanwhile, I sure hope we don't have to wait for the total rehab of cars in order to get those gunky/foggy, shredded insulation windows on the Red Line replaced.  There are Red Line cars in service whose entire bank of windows are is foggy that everything seen through them outside is a blur...  RTA, pre-car rehab, has smoothed out rapid transit wheels with (according to KJP) and new lathe, and the positive effect on ride quality has been tremendous.  Can we similarly get those awful Red Line windows replaced Jerry?  JetDog?