Greater Cleveland mass transit (Euclid, Green: hotel, neighborhood, theater)

[WRnative]

Laketran reports a pick-up in ridership on its commuting lines from Lake County to downtown Cleveland, attributing the increase to higher gasoline prices. I wonder if parking prices downtown also are up as Sherwin Williams construction reduces the supply of downtown parking.


<<[Laketran CEO Ben Capelle] said the company pays for fuel a year ahead of time and it just rolled out a new electric fleet.

“We have multiple contracts to protect ourselves from things like this,” said Capelle. “We have a couple other contracts for fuel that will protect us from the spike. Overall if gas prices stay high, we would expect to be hit like most people, it just takes a bit longer for it to hit us because we protect ourselves in advance.”>>


https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...igh-gas-prices


While RTA expects a surge in ridership, no numbers have yet been reported. Interestingly, RTA has paid for its fuel through 2023!


<<But, while RTA predicts a lot more business coming its way, the agency also does not expect to be hurt by the soaring gas prices. RTA said it has already paid for most of its fuel for this year and next.


It’s not too hard to find room on an RTA bus or rapid train right now, but the folks in charge expect to see a growing number of commuters turning to mass transit, trying to save money on gas by not driving to work.>>


https://fox8.com/news/i-team/rta-exp...ng-gas-crisis/


I'm surprised by the degree of competency shown by these two agencies in their hedging programs. This was an obvious decision given depressed fuel prices due to lessened demand during the pandemic, but I wonder how many Greater Cleveland governments and agencies took similar steps.


Price pressures still will mount on transit agencies as well as governments, especially through higher labor costs as the inflation surge will necessitate higher labor wages.

[ferraris]

The push for 'back to the office' may lead to an increase in ridership too. I don't know how successful that push is going to be though -- there may be no putting the genie back in the bottle when it comes to remote work.

[WRnative]

After seeing "To Kill a Mockingbird" at Playhouse Square, bought a $2.50 senior RTA pass and used the Healthline downtown for the first time in several years (for years, used the free downtown trolley that served Playhouse Square, but it has been discontinued, hopefully only temporarily). I haven't been on the Healthline in at least three years. The ticket vending machine at the Playhouse Square station worked well. After boarding, you're now expected to walk up to the driver where a machine reads your ticket/pass. Very enjoyable short trips overall.

[TheProf]

Originally Posted by WRnative

After seeing "To Kill a Mockingbird" at Playhouse Square, bought a $2.50 senior RTA pass and used the Healthline downtown for the first time in several years (for years, used the free downtown trolley that served Playhouse Square, but it has been discontinued, hopefully only temporarily). I haven't been on the Healthline in at least three years. The ticket vending machine at the Playhouse Square station worked well. After boarding, you're now expected to walk up to the driver where a machine reads your ticket/pass. Very enjoyable short trips overall.

Glad you had a nice experience downtown -- and "To Kill a Mockingbird" is certainly worth the trip -- I'd love to see a stage version of Harper Lee's classic novel and, then, Gregory Peck early 1960s film. RTA can't implement the fare "ambassadors" program on the HL fast enough... Having to walk up and pay the driver makes the Healthline no better than the old no. 6 bus the HL replaced. And, yes, RTA should definitely bring back the full, pre-pandemic free Trolley routes throughout downtown. They esp need the C route to the Flats, esp now that it's getting warm and weekend FEB crowds are growing again -- plus Jade and the other cluster of restaurants along the Boardwalk are now open.

Why the public and pols are not pushing RTA on this, I have no idea. At the very least, at the last board meeting, the transit agency did note it had budgeted several $Millions in Fed money to rebuild the Waterfront Line bridge to hopefully restore service ... someday. And now with Bobby George's (I know, hold your nose...) proposal to convert the Samsel hardware store/warehouse into a high-end, mixed-use (apt-over-ground level retail) development on the southern portion of Old River Road (south of the Main Ave Bridge), FEB interest and traffic is likely to skyrocket. It seems local mass transit has become so unpopular among pols and developers, these days,... again, I don't get it. I know plenty of folks -- WR included -- who are willing to give transit a try.

[WRnative]

What homeowner would want a bus stop on their tree lawn? This story doesn't address whether RTA has any restrictions on where it can locate bus stops.


https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...-front-of-home


If it's true that only one RTA rider is on the RTA Community Advisory Committee, it raises the question of how members are selected. This website provides no biographical information about current members, the length of their terms, etc.


Community Advisory Committee | Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

[WRnative]

Here's an article about the new Healthline buses. I wonder if the signalization capability finally is raising route speeds nearer their original design levels, when it was expected the Euclid Ave. corridor would be synchronized to provide right-of-way priority for the Healthline buses.


<<
The new buses have a new blue wrap on the outside but also a long list of upgrades, some COVID-inspired, to modernize the fleet.
Upgrades include:

• Powered by compressed natural gas instead of diesel or diesel/hybrid engines
• Easy-to-clean plastic seats
• Hand-sanitizer dispensers at each door
• Plastic door for drivers
• Bike and stroller storage inside the bus
• Windows that can be opened for fresh air
• Wifi
• New 360-degree radius, 4K, HD security cameras
• Screens inside the bus showing the route and next stop

The buses will also have signal prioritization, meaning they will trigger traffic lights to allow the buses to move along Euclid quicker than if they were waiting for lights to turn on their own.>>


https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...ccessful-route

[TheProf]

Even though a few months old, I totally feel Sam Allard's Scene Mag's cover story about why he's less interested in the Cleve Int. Film Festival now it's moved from Tower City to Playhouse Square; see:

https://www.clevescene.com/movies-tv...tival-38646553

Allard's main beef, as is mine that, despite my love and admiration for Playhouse Square as the seat of our amazing theater district, it is away from Tower City's rail transit hub. Why? At Tower City we had a great, massive, self-contained, enclosed complex that was directly located on the main rail Rapid terminal. The synergy was fantastic and crowded, and yet with Tower City's tremendous overall size, CIFF was never claustrophobic. One year during our Saturday day-long movie watching, we came up to the street level in the Terminal around 8p only to find a flash blizzard of 6+ inches of snow in late March (never beyond the realm in Cleveland). ... but no matter, we sauntered over, indoors, to the Renaissance Hotel for dinner and drinks and sat in the big chairs and watched the Currier & Ives scene on the Square...

Why this City continues to thumb its nose at our wonderful (though not perfect) rail system is beyond me. We seem more intent on moving activities away from Rail Station hubs (ie - discontinuing the Memorial Day Rib burn-off while, instead, uniting in car-centric Berea 13 miles away). Beerhead, a fave Flats East Bank sports bar packed up and moved away from the transit-friendly FEB (near the now-rebuilding Waterfront Line Rapid and (for some reason discontinued) Trolleys, to an isolated spot in a converted warehouse distant on the Scranton Peninsula -- where you have to have a car to get there.

... and the beat goes on. At least we have booming transit TOD in University Circle-Little Italy, the Van Aken District and, (especially) in explosive Ohio City. The new mixed-use INTRO (sporting 3 brand new eateries including outdoor plaza tables) is a massive complex -- practically a neighborhood in itself, but at the base of booming Ohio City ... and directly adjacent to the RTA Red Line Rapid Station.

... that's not-nothing I s'pose.

[216facts]

Anybody ever been to the Northern Ohio Railway Museum?
Northern Ohio Railway Museum

Looks pretty good.

[OyCrumbler]

I've got a question--what parts of Cleveland offer at least 15 minute frequency mass transit routes even during off-peak service?

As I understand it, the part where the Blue Line / Green Line jointly run together offer 15 minute headways and the Red Line by itself does as well. Are there bus lines whether by themselves or jointly (like a portion of a bus route where multiple buses ply the route and stops for a certain span) offer at least 15 minute frequencies during off-peak service? If so, where and what are they?

I've read things about how 15 minutes and less (though preferably ten minute or less) frequencies (so a less than ten minute average wait) is around the time where people can just show up to a bus stop and wait a bit without consulting a transit schedule and I'm curious about where Cleveland's bus network stands on this. Also, was there a time when the Blue Line and Green Line *each* ran 15 minute or less headways during off-peak hours? If so, when was the last time that occurred?

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

I've read things about how 15 minutes and less (though preferably ten minute or less) frequencies (so a less than ten minute average wait) is around the time where people can just show up to a bus stop and wait a bit without consulting a transit schedule

I can attest to this. The worst case scenario with 15 minute intervals is that you miss the bus or train by seconds, even seeing it take off without you, and then you wait 15 more minutes. It's annoying, but your day's schedule can recover from it. If you don't consult the schedule, on average you'll be waiting 7-8 minutes, which is acceptable in most cases.

I am glad that the blue and green lines exist, but I think the 30 minute frequency beyond Shaker Square really does hamper them quite a bit. I think the same problem existed with the Waterfront line when that was still running, with only some blue/green trains traveling the extension.

As for your question, RTA's website answers it https://www.riderta.com/systemmap. Just filter for 15 minutes or better on the system map.

I had some trouble loading the website, so I will transcribe the 15 minute routes here:

• Red Line
• HealthLine
• Blue/Green thru Shaker Square (the website incorrectly labels this as the Waterfront line)
• 1
• 3
• 10
• 14
• 15
• 19
• 22
• 26
• 28
• 51

I filtered on Weekday Midday, but you can select other times on the website.