What are you guys opinions on public transportation in Cleveland?  As I said in my last post, I am relocating for work and will not have a car with me.  Unfortunately my job entails me going to colleges in North Ohio most likely - Case, Cleveland State, Kent, Akron, Toledo, Bowling Green, Oberlin, etc.  For the Cleveland colleges I don't think taking the rapid is that bad. 

 

What are your opinions on the buses Cleveland to Akron?  I have heard taking public transportation (or Amtrak) at night is not the best idea so the train to Toledo is out.  Is the Megabus a decent crowd?

 

Am I going to break the bank or go insane without a car going to a college once or twice a week?

I thought you got some pretty good answers in your other thread, not sure what additional info you're looking for.  My personal opinion is that you are setting yourself up for a not fun and pretty difficult time.  I know getting a car can be costly and prohibitive, but if you are required to travel for your job, can't your company pick up at least part of the expenses?  Or you could claim them on your taxes perhaps? 

 

Generally speaking, public transportation in NE Ohio is set up to run primarily between downtown and the suburbs during business hours.  If you are deviating from that in route or hours or whatever, you're just going to have a tough time.  Any job that requires regular travel to various parts of the area like your job will IMO requires a car here.  Again, that's just my personal opinion.

Here's a question for you - how much time is involved with your once/twice a week trips to colleges - specifically those not located in Cleveland proper? If you have a license but not a car, you may want to see if CityWheels http://www.mycitywheels.com could work for you. If you only need to visit those "further away" campuses for a short time, CityWheels charges $9 an hour (gas/insurance/etc. included). Everything I've heard about Megabus is basically that the crowd is more "upscale" than Greyhound but as with any bus service, timeliness can be an issue.

 

As with any relocation to anywhere, you'll need to learn to adapt to what's available. In some cases, that may mean paying EXTRA special attention to bus schedules that may be very sporadic, etc. That may mean signing up for a car-sharing service to supplement the times when public transportation isn't an option. I've lived in Cleveland car-free since 2002 (car-lite since 2007, sharing with my partner) and I've been fine. However, since you'll be needing to travel more for work than I do, you'll want to get as much info as you can so you know what options are out there.

Meetings at the different schools shouldnt take more than a few hours.  Since I do not have a car I will be scheduling meetings out of Cleveland all at once so I could stay overnight in a hotel. 

 

The car thing sounds like a good idea and maybe something I can look into if I am going on short trips to say Kent State.

 

The reason I bring this all up again is because the leasing agent I spoke to earlier gave me a bleak outlook if I didn't have a car and planned to take public transportation.  Saying I wouldn't be able to get anywhere and will not be able to go to any places at night.  Thats why I thought I was planning on living in downtown --- to be in close proximity to what I need to get around and get myself food.

I think it just depends on how much you'll have to sacrifice. If you're a major mass transit user already, and you've had lots of experience using it and prefer using it, then you already know what it's like. Cleveland has a great transit system for the size the city is. But it's not the same as having a car. It won't be nearly as convenient.

 

If you're okay with having to look up bus schedules every time you travel, then you'll be more or less okay.

"the leasing agent I spoke to earlier gave me a bleak outlook if I didn't have a car and planned to take public transportation."

 

If you don't mind sharing - what property does this agent represent?

 

To be honest, there's a mentality with some (many) Clevelanders that equate being car-free with having three eyes and a set of gills. The same people who rave about traveling to other cities and using their public transit often overlook or disregard what's in their own backyard. I'm not saying that being car-free in Cleveland is suitable for everyone, nor is Cleveland the easiest city to get around without a car, but it's more do-able than many would think - it just takes some adapting and planning. 

 

If you live downtown, you won't have a problem finding places to eat - and with two grocery stores (one smaller/specialty on West 9th, one larger/basic on East 12th) in the CBD, getting groceries is pretty easy. That doesn't even begin to include the grocery stores and markets that are in adjacent neighborhoods.

 

Meetings at the different schools shouldnt take more than a few hours. Since I do not have a car I will be scheduling meetings out of Cleveland all at once so I could stay overnight in a hotel.

 

The car thing sounds like a good idea and maybe something I can look into if I am going on short trips to say Kent State.

 

The reason I bring this all up again is because the leasing agent I spoke to earlier gave me a bleak outlook if I didn't have a car and planned to take public transportation. Saying I wouldn't be able to get anywhere and will not be able to go to any places at night. Thats why I thought I was planning on living in downtown --- to be in close proximity to what I need to get around and get myself food.

 

Sounds like your leasing agent has the same opinion as Cleveland exburbanites.  Don't be afraid of public transportation, whatever people tell you.  The schedules should be your restriction, not feelings against public transit.

Let me ask this question - is it possible for you to just give it a try for a couple of months and if it doesn't work out, then you could get a car?

These posts make me feel alittle less uneasy.  I hope to give it to at least mid-oct to use the public trans.  Like I said, I am only traveling once or twice a week so my other days will be spent in my apartment or if there is anything nice around my apartment, there.

 

I am used to the NYC subway but do not want to compare that to Cleveland and to northern Ohio.  If I can get around SAFELY then I don't care.  Since I won't know anyone in the area or have anything to do but work, time isn't really an issue as long as I know I am getting to my location safely.  I also don't mind taking a few cabs if needed when I am out of the city, as long as it doesn't get too pricey.

 

Moving to a new city without a car is just very stressful and the nature of my job just adds to that.  I appreciate all your help and understanding.

If you're accustomed to NYC, the other suggestion I have then is to keep phone numbers for the cab companies in your cell phone.  You can't always hail a cab around here when you need one, unfortunately.  It just depends on where you are.  Also, if you ever just want to rent a car for something you can't take care of through City Wheels, there's an Avis in Reserve Square, and I'm sure there are others that I just don't know about.

^Excellent suggestion with the taxi #'s in the phone.

 

"If I can get around SAFELY then I don't care."

 

The only thing I can say is that if you're fine in NYC, you'll be fine in Cleveland. Like any city, you have to have a nominal amount of "street smarts" but that goes without saying.

I agree, safety should not be an issue, particularly if you are used to NY.  I would suggest a good pair of waterproof boots and a warm, long coat.  Our winters are tougher than NYs and staying warm and dry can help a lot.

I think this might be the best way to help you. I'm going to take your list of colleges and provide you with the services available to them from downtown Cleveland. Then you can decide best what you want to do transportation-wise....

 

Case Western Reserve:  Greater Cleveland RTA route Nos. 6 (Health Line) and 66x (Red Line)

SEE http://www.riderta.com/pdf/20080824/6.pdf and http://www.riderta.com/pdf/66X.pdf

 

Cleveland State (um, you can walk there)

 

Kent State University:  Portage Area Regional Transit Authority "Cleveland Express"

SEE http://www.partaonline.org/pdfs/Cleveland_Express.pdf

 

University of Akron:  Akron Metro RTA route No. X61 North Coast Express

SEE southbound schedule

http://www.akronmetro.org/Schedule%20PDFs/April%202007/23884%20x60-61NthCst_1.pdf

and northbound schedule

http://www.akronmetro.org/Schedule%20PDFs/April%202007/23884%20x60-61NthCst_2.pdf

Or take GCRTA's No. 77F route to Akron Metro's No. 101 route (connect at Brecksville VA Hospital)

North/South GCRTA No. 77F:  http://www.riderta.com/pdf/20080824/77.pdf

Southbound Akron Metro 101:  http://www.akronmetro.org/Schedule%20PDFs/April%202007/23884%20101%20RichfldBath_2.pdf

Northbound Akron Metro 101:  http://www.akronmetro.org/Schedule%20PDFs/April%202007/23884%20101%20RichfldBath_1.pdf

 

University of Toledo:  Amtrak, Greyhound and Megabus link Cleveland and Toledo. Amtrak is in the middle of the night and not convenient (see www.amtrak.com).

Megabus stops only in suburban Toledo at Southwyck Mall, but there is a Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority bus route between Southwyck Mall. See:

Megabus to Toledo (3 buses a day each way):  http://www.megabus.com/us/

TARTA to downtown:  http://www.tarta.com/PDFs/31.pdf

TARTA to UT campuses: http://www.tarta.com/utroutes.htm

Greyhound has 6 buses a day westbound and seven eastbound, which serve the Cleveland Greyhound station near CSU at 1465 Chester Avenue, and downtown Toledo at 811 Jefferson Avenue (at Ontario St.).

TARTA to UT main campus: Take TARTA No. 5 route, which runs within block of Greyhound station. See map and schedule at:  http://www.tarta.com/PDFs/05.pdf

 

Bowling Green State University:  There is no intercity bus, rail or other transportation service to the city of Bowling Green. You may be able to get a taxi from Toledo, which is about 30 miles from Bowling Green. Yellow Cab, Checker Cab and others operate in Toledo. Google for contact info.

 

Oberlin College:  Fairly frequent and fast service is available. Take GCRTA Red Line No. 66X from downtown Cleveland to Hopkins Airport station, transfer there to Lorain County Transit No. 33 route to downtown Oberlin (has seven buses each way on weekdays, six each way on weekend days).

GCRTA Red Line 66X: http://www.riderta.com/pdf/66X.pdf

LCT No. 33 Route (Clevleand Hopkins Airport Express):  http://www.loraincounty.us/website/index.asp?webpageid={46AA5E5A-21E1-4D33-9FE9-182772C28263}

 

Got any other colleges/universities you'll be traveling to?

KJP really should be a leasing/real-estate agent for people relocating :-D.

LOL .. sheesh, man.

KJP,

 

wow thanks alot!  You made that seem just too easy!

 

  The only other 2 that I would want to check out would be Youngstown and Defiance.  They seem to be outside of the urban areas though.

^Youngstown is just under 70 miles from Cleveland (about an hour and 15/30 minute drive); it would probably be best to use CityWheels or rent a car for YSU.

KJP really should be a leasing/real-estate agent for people relocating :-D.

KJP,

 

wow thanks alot!  You made that seem just too easy!

 

  The only other 2 that I would want to check out would be Youngstown and Defiance.  They seem to be outside of the urban areas though.

 

I wrote part of a book "Car-Free in Cleveland" that was published in 2000 (it was the part of the book that explained how to get to various attractions in Greater Cleveland and nearby cities). Although the book is no longer valid today, I still know where to look for the information for various transit services.

 

As for Youngstown, you can get there on Greyhound. The station is downtown at the Western Reserve Transit Authority hub (called Federal Station) which has buses to/from the YSU campus. But you can walk there from the WRTA/Greyhound station (there's a picture of the Federal Station on the WRTA homepage http://www.wrtaonline.com/) which is less than a mile from the campus.

 

There is no bus or rail service to Defiance. However, Amtrak stops in Bryan, Ohio, about 15-20 miles from Defiance. The train schedule isn't the best in the world, but at least you arrive in Bryan in daylight hours, though the departure is at 2 a.m. .... http://www.amtrak.com/timetable/may08/P48.pdf  And there is a taxi service in Bryan.. L & R Taxi LLC, (419) 633-1001

 

If you're into adventures, it might be fun. If not, it might be better just to rent a car from Cleveland!

By the way, I realize I'm out of your age range (I'm 41, but a very immature 41!! LOL), but if you need any assistance around town, let me know. There is a personal message available here at UO, too.