Great Lakes Green Pages

I wrote a post the other day about public transportation and who uses it to get to work.  I railed against RTA for some of its shortcomings.  I got a lot of feedback, especially about the Healthline.  I admit that I haven’t ridden the bus in a long while (since I do not commute), so I went on a little trip on the RTA yesterday to find out whether I was right or wrong.  Turns out, I was both.  Let’s start with the wrong:

I first rode the Healthline for a short trip right after it opened.  It was slow, the dispensing machines did not work, and the buses seemed cramped.  Having ridden the bus down Euclid from University Circle to downtown, I didn’t think it was a big improvement.  Fast forward a couple of years, and things are vastly improved.  I was downtown and found the nearest Healthline stop, just east of public square.  I was surprised to see that during the day the bus comes every 10 minutes (every 5 during peak periods).  I used the pay kiosk and it was easy to use, and I conveniently used my credit card.  The instructions were a bit cryptic, so I could see how the first few times using it could be a little frustrating, but as anyone who has ridden a major subway line can tell you, automated fare kiosks are not friendly the first few times.  But prepaying for fares meant that loading at stops went quickly and efficiently.  The bus arrived within minutes, and although they run often, the bus was already nearly full.  The bus ran from downtown to E 55th in a matter of minutes.  The only thing that actually slowed the bus down were the motorist who insisted on cutting off the bus to turn left, or who didn’t understand the bus lanes at all.  Between downtown and E55th, there were some challenges that affected this part of downtown.  While restrictions surrounding access during the Euclid corridor project played a big role in the demise of some businesses, I think that overall the economic downturn played a bigger part, and blaming RTA was easier.  Lots of developers planned on property developments, only to be stopped short by financing and lending issues.  Now there is new life being breathed into Euclid Ave.  I saw new businesses, new renovations, and restoration of some buildings.  I was disappointed to see some things being torn down rather than renovated, but as student housing and expanding campuses are likely to have a rejuvenating effect on the neighborhood, I can cut the colleges some slack.  Besides, I do not know the condition of some of these buildings, and it may not have been possible to save them.  Between E55th and the Cleveland Clinic is still pretty sad to see.  Huge old buildings sit empty with sad windowless eyes staring out onto the street.  The Eagle grocery store still sits empty after more than a decade.  But as you approach the Clinic, development and revitalization begins again.  This continues all the way to East Cleveland, where the money and investment seems to run out.  I rode all the way to the end of the line, and ridership didn’t seem to slow during the entire route.  I was under the impression that the line ended at the hospitals, and I was wrong in a big way.  It extends all the way to the rapid station in E Cleveland at Stokes/Widmere.  This area had some of the highest ridership in any area of the city.

The buses use a hybrid technology, and emissions are drastically reduced.  The buses are higher, but when they arrive at the stops, they are at level with the stops, making them easy to board.  While the seats seem small and the overall bus narrow, they do have quite a lot of seats and will hold quite a few people.  The stations are nice, with plenty of cover, and there seems to be ample lighting (being 3 pm, I cannot really judge).  The center lane boarding seems a little awkward at first, but when you think about how easy it makes the access for buses, it makes sense.  It also sets the public transportation apart from the street traffic, something often seen in larger cities.  The trip back from the end of the line to downtown took me just over 30 minutes.  If I lived along the line and had to commute to downtown, I would not hesitate to leave the car at home and skip the parking and driving nightmare.  I asked some of my fellow riders and they all agreed that the line was nicer, and easier to use.

So, I was terribly off base about the Healthline.  It is vibrant, quick, and easy to use.  If the development that I saw is any indication, then Euclid Avenue is off to a great start at revitalization.  The Euclid corridor project was an investment in the city, and an investment that looks like it will pay off in big rewards.  This part of the city will likely become vibrant and healthy once more, especially with new retailers and investment by Playhouse square in its neighboring blocks.  Far from being a failure, the Healthline is turning out to be a huge success.

Outside of the Euclid corridor, I wonder how far from the mark I was.  I will say this, riding the bus in Cleveland is not easy.  If you are trying it out for the first time, you have to do some planning from home before you go.  I know that the 20 line runs up W 25th and I can disembark at Metro Health.  I think that there is a line that goes up Scranton Ave, a line that goes near Metro and turns a few blocks from Marvin Ave, and a line that goes up Fulton.  However, there are NO maps or schedules at any bus stops.  I could have taken any of the other lines that I mentioned, but since I did not know what numbers they were, I had to wait for the line I knew about.  I also don’t carry a schedule.  Had I known that I had just missed my bus, I might have gone into Tower City and had a coffee.  Others might even do a little shopping or have a meal.  Money would likely be spent more at this downtown mall, if riders knew when their next bus would come along, or how often their line ran.  Instead, I was stuck at that stop waiting in the snowfall.  A simple map with a phone number to the schedule line would have made my day.

I also still think that the RTA needs to expand its lines rather than curtailing them.  While cutting lines with low ridership makes sense in the short term, increasing ridership is the only answer for the long term.  Making other lines as convenient as the Healthline, adjusting routes to connect neighborhoods to each other (rather than mostly just in and out of downtown), and bringing back transfers are all good starts.  As I said, it is easier for me to walk to Detroit Shoreway than to ride a bus.  Furthermore, any trip that involves more than one bus means an all day pass is involved.  RTA hs no transfers, so anyone wanting to take a trip to the airport (or anywhere else that is not direct) msut spend the same amount as someone who is going to visit several neighborhoods in a day, or who is going to and from somewhere 10 hours apart.  This limits single ridership.

In summary, the Euclid Corridor project is a success, and we should be thinking of ways to expand on that example.  We need to make sure that RTA is properly funded, so that we are not cutting line, but rather expanding ridership.  And lastly, we need to work at making public transportation across the city more convenient and usable.  Say what you want, but how much longer would the I-90 bridge have lasted if half of our daily commuters that use it were taking the bus, instead of driving all alone in big cars?  How much cleaner would our city be?