^ I'm pretty sure the Sources and Uses of Funds for the Cincinnati Streetcar and Metro's buses will be kept separate.

 

The arrangement will probably be something like the relationship between a cargo ship owner and its crews. The ship owner (read "the city") had the ship built, owns it, sets the rates, collects the revenue from the shippers, and decides where the ship goes and where it stops to take on more cargo.

 

The crew (Metro) staffs and pilots the ship.

 

Something like that.

  "land values near transit shows that values tend to fall off with increasing distance..."

 

  Allow me to spin this another way. Land values tend to fall of with increasing distance from other things. Look at the apartment ads around U.C. They say "5 minute walk from U.C., 10 minute walk from U.C., etc."

 

    One could calculate the time to get from U.C. to any place in Over-the-Rhine. There are two components: the streetcar ride and the walk. For example, 2 minute walk and 8 minute ride, or simply, 10 minutes from U.C.

 

    The streetcar zig zag through OTR is 10 blocks longer! Plus it has 10 ninety-degree turns! I don't know how much time it will take to travel this route. Just say 4 minutes more for all the zig-zagging. 

 

    Now your 10 minute ride is a 14 minute ride. Over-the-Rhine is now 4 minutes farther from U.C. than it would be with the straighter alignment. What does that do to your anticipated property value increases?

 

    On top of that, 90 degree turns increase construction and operations cost.

 

 

  Map modified from one made by David Cole<br>

  "But even if you drove a straight line from A to B, it would still be blown out of the water by LRT, which I hope we get someday."

 

  Do you have a proposed route for LRT? Does it go anywhere near U.C.?

 

 

"land values near transit shows that values tend to fall off with increasing distance..."

 

  Allow me to spin this another way. Land values tend to fall of with increasing distance from other things. Look at the apartment ads around U.C. They say "5 minute walk from U.C., 10 minute walk from U.C., etc."

 

One could calculate the time to get from U.C. to any place in Over-the-Rhine. There are two components: the streetcar ride and the walk. For example, 2 minute walk and 8 minute ride, or simply, 10 minutes from U.C.

 

  The streetcar zig zag through OTR is 10 blocks longer! Plus it has 10 ninety-degree turns! I don't know how much time it will take to travel this route. Just say 4 minutes more for all the zig-zagging.

 

Now your 10 minute ride is a 14 minute ride. Over-the-Rhine is now 4 minutes farther from U.C. than it would be with the straighter alignment. What does that do to your anticipated property value increases?

 

On top of that, 90 degree turns increase construction and operations cost.

 

 

  Map modified from one made by David Cole<br>

 

I'm not quite sure why you are commenting from the perspective of mobility when I already qualified what I said as being from the perspective of land value, or more accurately, access. (Since the two components of transportation are mobility and access.) The staggered route will increase access to more blighted parcels.

 

I think another way to look at it would be that a solution that was 100% skewed towards access (and thus land value) would be a tangle of streetcar line that hit as many blighted parcels as possible. While a solution that was 100% skewed towards mobility would be a grade-separated toboggan from the zoo to the banks. 

 

You could definitely argue that part of the value brought by the streetcar is in the mobility, but it could likewise be said that the * perceived* value will be in its ease of access, its predictability and its permanence.

   "But even if you drove a straight line from A to B, it would still be blown out of the water by LRT, which I hope we get someday."

 

   Do you have a proposed route for LRT? Does it go anywhere near U.C.?

 

 

 

I don't. It was entirely hypothetical. But not unrealistic.

Civvik, you showed very well how focusing entirely on mobility over access, and vice versa, would lead to completely bastardized results in both cases.  The tangle of overlapping and zig-zagging lines in the access-only scenario would fail because of it's huge costs and limited ridership, since it would take forever to get anywhere.  The toboggan ride in the mobility-only scenario from the zoo to the banks would be enormously fun, at least inbound, but it would also fail for missing out on all potential riders between those two points.  A sweet spot has to be found on the spectrum in between the two. 

 

This is where the criticism of the proposed route comes in.  It's obvious that the focus is on access, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that approach.  The thing is, it's pretty clear that a huge amount of mobility is sacrificed without really gaining a whole lot of access for it.  Look at the map in Eighth and State's post above, and you can't help but see the logic and simplicity of that route.  It's easy to understand and follow, especially when giving directions to someone.  The actual proposed route is really quite confusing, even for someone who's familiar with the street grid and which roads go which direction.  Also, the vastly simpler to understand, and cheaper (both to construct and to operate) route, still has great access!  It's only a block and a half to Findlay Market and is no farther than that from the farthest reach on Henry Street of the original route.  Yes, it's a bit farther from Music Hall and Washington Park, but these aren't big distances.  What you lose there you gain by serving the fantastic Main Street corridor and Pendleton, and it's close enough to serve some of the people on Liberty Hill.  Even if the route was shifted entirely to Vine Street at Central Parkway it would be significantly better than the current plan, and it would play into the Washington Park and Music Hall area better. 

 

The key benefit however is that either change makes the route to Uptown real, as opposed to the joke of an afterthought that it is now.  As it stands, the access focus makes the Uptown connection so mobility-impaired that it could really cast a dark cloud on the project.  A little simple unraveling of the route would improve mobility significantly without hurting access much, while at the same time making the project less expensive, easier to understand, and more palatable to everyone.  The current route is so access focused that everybody can see the mobility impairments, and this perpetuates the notion of the system as a toy that's not to be taken seriously, since it really CAN'T be taken seriously for moving people around.  Remember, a big benefit of a streetcar is that it can carry more people per vehicle, but if it has so much trouble getting around a circuitous route, then those cars aren't going to fill to capacity and the whole thing could fail. 

^ I think the only point of contention in this entire convo is how fast value falls off from the line. I would argue, at least based on the TOD research that I have done, that it falls off rather quickly for streetcar. Especially in the scenario of OTR, where the tracks in the ground have a huge impact on the perception of value. But, I have seen studies that go both ways, so it's certainly open for debate.

 

One thing I definitely would do is eliminate that little detour north of Findlay Market. Except that it might be the location of the car barn, or whatever they call it. I'm not sure what benefit that piece of track has otherwise.

 

I have driven the entire route many times now. The detour is noticeable, but I didn't think it was THAT bad. Just my opinion. What IS noticeable is the HUGE potential of lighting up Elm and Race with streetcar track. Main and Elm are basically in two different countries right now.

^ I think the only point of contention in this entire convo is how fast value falls off from the line. I would argue, at least based on the TOD research that I have done, that it falls off rather quickly for streetcar. Especially in the scenario of OTR, where the tracks in the ground have a huge impact on the perception of value. But, I have seen studies that go both ways, so it's certainly open for debate.

 

That's exactly right.  I think the fall off in value is overstated.  Even if the route was a straight shoot up the Main/Walnut axis, things would creep over to Findlay Market and Music Hall relatively fast because both places are well known and unique destinations that are and have been receiving investment from other sources.

 

I also don't think the jog to Elm/Race is that much out of anyone's way, but I think the split between CP and 12th is confusing and doesn't add value.  The potential benefit from that split is on Vine Street, but that area has already been redeveloped by 3CDC.  Double-tracking CP also gives you the perfect potential tie in between the Streetcar system and the old subway line.

 

  ^I don't doubt that the value falls of quickly lateral to the line. But it also falls off transverse to the line from activity points.

 

  A streetcar rail in the ground that is 10 minutes from U.C. is worth more than a streetcar rail in the ground that is 14 minutes from U.C.

   

    "Double-tracking CP also gives you the perfect potential tie in between the Streetcar system and the old subway line."

 

    One of the former subway plans had ramps from the subway to grade on Central Parkway. The ramps would take an entire city block in length and make for some awkward traffic patterns.

 

    Look at the remaining streetcar ramps at the west end of the Western Hills Viaduct for an example of what they might look like.

 

   

I think LK is just referring to having them in the same location for transfers and the like rather than actually dropping the streetcars into the subway - though I do wonder if we took the top off part of the CP subway, if we could save some money on re-establishing rail as a trench rather than a subway.

^Yes, I was referring to having them in the same location for transfers.

I think LK is just referring to having them in the same location for transfers and the like rather than actually dropping the streetcars into the subway - though I do wonder if we took the top off part of the CP subway, if we could save some money on re-establishing rail as a trench rather than a subway.

 

Let the posting in the "Capping the Central Parkway Trench" thread begin!

^ I think the only point of contention in this entire convo is how fast value falls off from the line. I would argue, at least based on the TOD research that I have done, that it falls off rather quickly for streetcar. Especially in the scenario of OTR, where the tracks in the ground have a huge impact on the perception of value. But, I have seen studies that go both ways, so it's certainly open for debate.

 

That's exactly right. I think the fall off in value is overstated. Even if the route was a straight shoot up the Main/Walnut axis, things would creep over to Findlay Market and Music Hall relatively fast because both places are well known and unique destinations that are and have been receiving investment from other sources.

 

I also don't think the jog to Elm/Race is that much out of anyone's way, but I think the split between CP and 12th is confusing and doesn't add value. The potential benefit from that split is on Vine Street, but that area has already been redeveloped by 3CDC. Double-tracking CP also gives you the perfect potential tie in between the Streetcar system and the old subway line.

 

I would point you to this 2005 study of Portland's line. Especially pages 4 5 and 6 of the Powerpoint.

 

http://www.reconnectingamerica.org/public/show/pstrtcrhovee

 

I'm with you on the Central Parkway thing though. The only reason I can think that they go up 12th is to avoid the left at Central. Maybe some signalization issues, IF they are trying to coordinate signals with streetcars.

 

Here's an interesting blog post about streetcar rider behavior. Nothing too relevant to routing but some good conversation.

 

http://www.humantransit.org/2010/04/streetcars-and-spontaneity.html

For those who are worried about 90° turns, this is Maxmonument in Munich. The streetcars basically do a 90° S-turn twice in a row. The vehicles travel extremely slowly through it, creak and squeal, but they do just fine. Sure there is more wear and tear, and sure it's not as fast as not doing 90° turns. But in the end it doesn't ruin the viability of the line or the system. It's not a showstopper and definitely not anything out of the ordinary.

 

edit: for clarity, I mean the line coming from the south then turning right then left into the circle. 

 

The point, CincyInDC, is that those things do add up.  An extra 30 seconds here and there, more wear and tear, a few more million dollars in construction cost, and then the route is only good for 4 miles instead of 5 or it attracts 10% fewer riders, or whatever.  We have the opportunity to avoid those things, providing a large benefit for little cost (and even by reducing the cost). 

I think more important than keeping the route straight is keeping the cars out of the route's way as much as possible.  Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but if it's a matter of prioritization, I'd worry more about the other traffic. 

^too far apart

Think about it from a user's standpoint Johio.  If you get off on one block, you don't want to have to walk 3 blocks to go back the way you came.  Having the two directions a block apart already reduces ridership compared to having both on one street, but there's at least some logic to it considering one-way streets.  Splitting the route beyond that makes it more and more useless for actually getting around.

^It seems like you could eliminate the OTR portion of the route and lump most of it into Phase 2.  If you stretch Phase 2 from CUT to the new casino, it runs near Music Hall and crosses Phase 1.  So maybe you could trim from Phase 1 and add to Phase 2 in order to get routes that make more sense.  I think Findlay Market is still the odd man out in that scenario though.

^It seems like you could eliminate the OTR portion of the route and lump most of it into Phase 2. If you stretch Phase 2 from CUT to the new casino, it runs near Music Hall and crosses Phase 1. So maybe you could trim from Phase 1 and add to Phase 2 in order to get routes that make more sense. I think Findlay Market is still the odd man out in that scenario though.

 

Perfect summary of my thinking. Also, I would add that Findlay Market is possibly the landmark you'd most desire a nearby stop for, since it is the place you're most likely to be carrying a bundle when you leave, and not want to walk far. Particularly for older folks.

Race and Walnut would work if the direction of one of them was changed or made two-way.

 

I appreciate the simplicity of the Walnut Main route, but damn, the current route serves Findlay so beautifully and that is most critical to daily living in the basin.

Does anyone know where the existing subway stations are between Ezzard Charles and Reading on Central Parkway? I'm trying to envision a streetcar route between CUT and the casino, which doesn't overlap potential lightrail service too much.

 

Central Parkway could keep its current greenspace, and afford another two lanes of road diet, I am thinking, giving lanes reserved for streetcars. However, this wouldn't make much sense if there are more than a couple subway stations along this route.

The stations are at Race, Liberty, Linn, and Brighton. More info

The subway tunnels end abruptly at Walnut Street, with a major station at Race Street.  There's another station at Liberty Street, Linn Street (sort of, it's unclear whether it was fully built or not), and at Brighton Corner. 

Beat me to it Living in Gin.  Here's a nice map of the route under Central Parkway that shows where the various turnouts and stubs are located. 

 

Thanks, guys.

 

I think I'm starting to favor the Main/Walnut line, because of what Jimmy_James said. I definitely think there needs to be a future phase, however, which services Findlay Market directly. Certainly no easy task, though, given the way the streets are around there.

 

Another reason I am leaning away from Race/Elm is wires obstructing views of Music Hall. I think a stop behind Music Hall, on Central Parkway, would perhaps be a better way of serving MH. Making Race two-way would perhaps be another way to solve this. Northbound visitors to MH would then have the pleasant walk through Washington Park on their way to performances which southbound visitors were already going to have.

The challenge with serving Music Hall is that the streetcar will have two big stretches with lots of gov't owned land - Washington Park and Innwood Park along Vine.

At this point, there's no chance the streetcar's route between The Banks and Findlay Market will change other than the westbound leg on 12th may switch to Central Parkway. Personally, I'd prefer to have both directions of travel on 12th. Central Parkway has the scale for light rail, not streetcars.

 

They're too far along with the underground mapping and the lane assignments to make any major changes now.

 

I think it's a terrific route. It cuts diagonally across the basin from SE to NW, leaving hardly any flatland destination more than three blocks away from the alignment.

 

 

Okay, I am too lazy ATM to draw a map. However, I have an idea for future phases.

 

First, use Eighth and State's Main/Walnut line. Call this Route 1.

 

Route 2: From CUT onto Ezzard Charles, right on Central Parkway, turns onto Route 1's tracks to go to the banks and back.

 

Route 3: Same as Route 2, but continues on Central Parkway to the Casino. Perhaps continues past the Casino and up Gilbert, to make John Schneider happy.

 

Route 4: Starts at CUT, goes on Ezzard Charles, turns left on Central Parkway. Turns right onto Findlay, which is made to be two-way between McM/Vine. Turns onto Vine and joins Route 1 to Uptown.

 

Banks, CUT, Casino, Findlay Market, Music Hall, and Uptown are all connected either directly or by transfer (could all be made direct by adding routes, if demand supports it). This also connects the streetcar network to the subway at Race and Liberty -- though it duplicates the service between the two.

 

I would suggest using median lanes reserved for streetcars and buses, on Central Parkway. Stops could exit into the existing greenspace. A little bit like this:

http://bit.ly/ckV4Ty

Except with the streetcars towards the outside, with the existing greenspace running between the tracks.

 

Edit: I realized left-exiting is probably impossible. So making room for a stop between the tracks and the traffic on the right, with stylistic handrails preventing people from just jumping into traffic, is probably the way to go.

At this point, there's no chance the streetcar's route between The Banks and Findlay Market will change other than the westbound leg on 12th may switch to Central Parkway. Personally, I'd prefer to have both directions of travel on 12th. Central Parkway has the scale for light rail, not streetcars.

 

They're too far along with the underground mapping and the lane assignments to make any major changes now.

 

I think it's a terrific route. It cuts diagonally across the basin from SE to NW, leaving hardly any flatland destination more than three blocks away from the alignment.

 

 

 

John once told me the distance of the average trip taken by a streetcar in the US was about a mile.  So when you look at the route, instead of picturing a straight line, picture a series of loops about a mile long like a chain that represent the various sub-trip markets that you will be serving.

The first people to think up this streetcar idea envisioned it running the whole length of Elm.  It is the longest street and the idea was to get to the hard to reach northern parts of OTR that are in the worst shape, expecially the market.  It made lots of sense, and switching over to Walnut and Main also makes sense for the CBD part.  It only got complicated when the uptown link was determined to be Vine, which I still don't like because of it's unpleasantness.  Face it Vine Street hill is ugly and not a good way to have a visitor enter the city.

 

And the place where most people will have lots of packages to carry is Findlay Market.  I don't think Schwartz's point is close enough to serve the market properly.  If there is one place that really needs the streetcar up close, it is Findlay Market.

Central Parkway has the scale for light rail, not streetcars.

 

I disagree. It has the tunnel underground for light rail. Above ground, it lends itself to having bus/streetcar exclusive lanes.

How expensive is the incremental cost to lay rail for other routes? If the city planned out a basin system, would it make sense to begin to lay rail when roads come up for wholesales fixing, even if it takes a few years to add the wires and get cars to run along the rails?

3 Negative letters for the day so far...Up to date totals are the following:

 

 

65 letters total (61 against the project, 4 in support)

 

The enquirer is publishing 69.2% of the letters regarding the streetcar(positive and negative) from outside of the 52 Cincinnati neighborhoods.  In addition to that, there is only 1 letter from someone who lives along the route(The person who wrote it from downtown - I believe Brad Thomas).  No letters from uptown or OTR.  So 98.4% of the letters are from areas that aren't in the neighborhoods affected by the streetcar route(including a majority that aren't even close to the projected route)

 

Of the 45 letters from outside of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 43 were negative for a 95.5% negativity rate. 

 

Of the 20 letters from within Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods, 18 were negative for a 90% negativity rate. 

 

Combined, the 61/65 negative letters equal a 93.8% negativity rate.

 

Also I might add that some of the letters and comments are quite hilarious.  If you have a weak stomach, I suggest you stay away.  But it is absolute chaos in some of those letters/articles 

 

 

 

  "They're too far along with the underground mapping and the lane assignments to make any major changes now."

 

  Any work done so far is a sunk cost. It should have no bearing on selection of alternatives.

 

  I wasn't aware there was any underground mapping being done. Could you share with me who is performing the underground mapping?

"For those who are worried about 90° turns, this is Maxmonument in Munich.  The streetcars basically do a 90° S-turn twice in a row."

 

Not to be picky, but those turns in Munich, judging from your picture, are more like 120 degrees. A 90 degree turn in OTR will be much harder.

"The first people to think up this streetcar idea envisioned it running the whole length of Elm.  It is the longest street and the idea was to get to the hard to reach northern parts of OTR that are in the worst shape, expecially the market.  It made lots of sense, and switching over to Walnut and Main also makes sense for the CBD part.  It only got complicated when the uptown link was determined to be Vine, which I still don't like because of it's unpleasantness.  Face it Vine Street hill is ugly and not a good way to have a visitor enter the city."

 

    The original OTR loop was a workable plan. When the uptown extension was added, it became unworkable.

 

  Vine Street hill is ugly? It's no worse than I-75 at Hopple, I-71 at Taft, I-471 at Pendelton, I-71 at Reading, or a number of other gateways. Plus, I thought the idea of the streetcar was to make it better!

 

    The reality is that Vine Street is one of the very few possible routes up the hill. If you want to drop the uptown extension, then the routing will be another discussion entirely.

 

 

 

  "No letters from uptown or OTR."

 

  I have a comment on that story. Some years ago, the Hamilton County Park District held a series of election campaigns disguised as public information meetings. There were about 12 meetings scattered all over Hamilton County, plus one special meeting for elected officials.

 

    One in Farifax drew about 30 people. One in Whitewater Township drew 50. One in Anderson Township drew 30.

 

    The one in Bond Hill drew 1.

 

    The involvement in the suburban communities was invariably strong, but the involvement in urban communities was almost non-existant. You can draw your own conclusion as to why, but the fact is that the urban communities had the lowest participation rates by far.

Central Parkway has the scale for light rail, not streetcars.

 

I disagree. It has the tunnel underground for light rail. Above ground, it lends itself to having bus/streetcar exclusive lanes.

 

Aside from the obvious benefits of not directly engaging with traffic, another major advantage to this approach is that separate traffic signals can be created for streetcars(/buses). Using a light-changing mechanism, the streetcar can then run continuously for this stretch of the route, stopping only for passengers. This could do wonders for making travel times more competitive.

 

  ^--- All of the downtown traffic signals are coordinated and timed for continuous progression at 25 mph in both directions. This is only possible because of the square grid. You can see this for yourself by driving at 25 mph and watching all the lights turn greet ahead of you. However, if you try to circle around the block, you will get all red.

 

    Of course, if traffic is really heavy, the system breaks down.

 

    Anyway, the signals are ALREADY timed for continuous progression for all vehicles.

 

    Farther north, I'm not sure if Liberty Street is connected to the system. I always seem to get a lot of red on Liberty.

Liberty isn't coordinated, but the traffic lights -- seemingly if you only go north/south, are coordinated, but just not with their respective Liberty intersections.

But the streetcars will not be going a constant 25 mph, they will be stopping frequently. Additionally, whenever they make a turn, the timing will be thrown off.

 

I remember reading upthread about the streetcars using a system put in place for emergency vehicles to change lights. I think someone was saying that is intended to happen, so someone must think traffic lights will be an issue.

 

Main/Walnut was chosen because:

 

-most employment is east of Vine St.

-the first phase of The Banks is east of Vine St.

-Walnut and Main overpasses over FWW can be easily fitted with streetcar tracks whereas the other three would have to be rebuilt

-Towne Properties owns the Groton Lofts, Garfield Place, and maybe other properties along Race St., creating a conflict of interest for Bortz

 

Everything worked out perfectly.

 

Elm/Race was chosen north of Central Parkway for what should be obvious reasons -- it emphasizes strengths while also helping improve Race St. and especially Elm, which is the most depressed street in OTR. There is also little vehicular traffic and even less on Elm. 

 

People are blind -- that's why bracketing Findlay Market with the tracks needs to happen.  Schwart'z Point doesn't cut it -- people who aren't already comfortable with the area won't venture east even one block.  This means both residents and tourists.

 

Everybody realizes a continuation of Race/Elm to McMicken, then northwest at least to Mohawk is the next step.  I think connecting to CUT is a total ROI bust because Ezzard Charles Drive is already built out with the exception of one City West superblock.  If that block could be separated from the City West project and the free market allowed to take its course, with higher-density development, then maybe it could make sense, but even if the public housing west of Linn is bulldozed and turned over to Bill Butler ala what just happened in Newport, that property will suffer from its proximity to I-75. 

 

>I wasn't aware there was any underground mapping being done. Could you share with me who is performing the underground mapping?

 

Welcome to a year ago.  It was mentioned an entire 10-12 months ago on this thread that the utility work was being designed.  Can we shut up now about the 90 degree turns?  I spent upwards of 1,000 of my own dollars to visit Portland and Seattle more than a year ago specifically to look at these streetcars.  Out of the many Skoda streetcars I rode or watched make turns, only one squeaked.  It just so happened to be the very first one, which caused me to think it was a common problem when it turns out it's exceedingly rare and seems to depend on the individual streetcar, since I watched another streetcar on the same curve and it didn't squeak. 

 

Also, the Portland route follows a "braided" route through its downtown grid in getting diagonally down to the South Waterfront section. There are two single track sections, which no doubt, if proposed here, would have people going bonkers.  Go there and you will see that it's a total non-factor. 

 

The continuous green light system in Cincinnati has been in place since 1927, which replaced the earlier police officer at every intersection system. 

 

I think connecting to CUT is a total ROI bust because Ezzard Charles Drive is already built out with the exception of one City West superblock.  If that block could be separated from the City West project and the free market allowed to take its course, with higher-density development, then maybe it could make sense, but even if the public housing west of Linn is bulldozed and turned over to Bill Butler ala what just happened in Newport, that property will suffer from its proximity to I-75. 

A CUT connection is a good idea if and only if some sort of passenger rail service is coming to CUT.

 

I think it is prudent to take into account that there will be, especially since 3C is in the works. I know that could blow up, but I like to think passenger service is an inevitability.

But the streetcars will not be going a constant 25 mph, they will be stopping frequently. Additionally, whenever they make a turn, the timing will be thrown off.

 

I remember reading upthread about the streetcars using a system put in place for emergency vehicles to change lights. I think someone was saying that is intended to happen, so someone must think traffic lights will be an issue.

 

You mean, something that was implemented in Cleveland for their BRT along Euclid?

 

^Well, how does it work? Smooth? Wonky? This is something I have absolutely no experience with!

I don't know what I am seeing there. Did they take it out?

 

  "Everybody realizes a continuation of Race/Elm to McMicken, then northwest at least to Mohawk is the next step."

 

  I don't get it. I thought the city was already set on a route up Vine Street to Uptown. Are we talking about the same thing?

 

   

I've been on the Cleveland, Oh. Bus Rapid Transit line along Euclid a few times, with no major hiccups. The bus will travel down Euclid on schedule, and when it approaches an intersection, it will activate a sensor to turn the traffic signal. The auto lanes will turn red, and the bus lane will feature a different marking (can't remember what, off the top of my head), and it will continue through like a streetcar, except that the BRT has rubber wheels.

 

It is generally as fast as a streetcar but has more long-term costs. It was cheaper in the short run but works for Cleveland, considering it connects downtown to its major hospital to the east (Cleveland Clinic) and drives through a university and some serious bombed out neighborhoods.