Help Us Save the Community Circulator

[Melissa Garrett]

The City of Lakewood will hold a Community Meeting on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 6:00 PM in the Lakewood City Hall Auditorium, 12650 Detroit Avenue to discuss RTA’s proposed elimination/reductions in service of the Lakewood Community Circulator #804. Mayor Ed FitzGerald and other city officials are opposed to these changes and want to work with residents to prevent these changes from going forward.

All Lakewood residents are encouraged to attend this important meeting and share ideas on ways to stop RTA from eliminating the Lakewood Community Circulator.

This meeting is a planning session to prepare arguments to present to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) at the Public Hearing they are holding on August 4, 2008 at 6:00 PM the Don Umerly Civic Center, 21016 Hilliard Road in Rocky River.

Petitions opposing the changes to the Lakewood Circulator will be available at the July 29 meeting and will be presented to RTA on August 4.

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Help Us Save the Lakewood Community Circulator!!!!

RTA has proposed changes which include eliminating/cutting service of the Lakewood Community Circulator #804.

What can you do?

Attend the Community Meeting at Lakewood City Hall on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 6:00 PM in the Lakewood City Hall Auditorium, 12650 Detorit Avenue. We will be discussing ways to save the
Circulator.

Attend the Public Hearing that RTA is holding on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 6:00 PM at the Don Umerly Civic Center, 21016 Hilliard Road in Rocky River. They are taking public comment on the proposed service cuts. Come tell RTA how important the Lakewood Community Circulator is to you!

Sign the petition asking RTA to reconsider their elimination/service reductions of the Lakewood Community Circulator #804. Petition forms will be available at the Community Meeting on July 29th.

Send and e-mail to public-comment@gcrta.org or a letter to RTA marketing & Communications Department, 1240 West Sixth Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44113.

[Danielle Masters]

I am just curious what the route of this circulator is. I know a lot of people that rely on the buses to get around town and I am curious how used this bus is thanks.

[Phil Florian]

Thanks for the tip. I will be there and will hopefully be able to get a chance to talk about the hundreds of people with disabilities who rely on this as a way to get around the City, too. This is a big deal. I apprecaite you getting the word out.

Take care,

Phil

[Jerry Ritcey]

I am just curious what the route of this circulator is. I know a lot of people that rely on the buses to get around town and I am curious how used this bus is thanks.

Basically it goes down Madison and Detroit, with a spur down Lake a bit.

The schedule and map are here:

http://www.gcrta.org/pdf/804.pdf

[Danielle Masters]

I am just curious what the route of this circulator is. I know a lot of people that rely on the buses to get around town and I am curious how used this bus is thanks.

Basically it goes down Madison and Detroit, with a spur down Lake a bit.

The schedule and map are here:

http://www.gcrta.org/pdf/804.pdf

Wow! I can't believe they are getting rid of this line. Of all the buses that travel through Lakewood that is one that seems to have people on it, as apposed to all the empty buses.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

I am just curious what the route of this circulator is. I know a lot of people that rely on the buses to get around town and I am curious how used this bus is thanks.

Basically it goes down Madison and Detroit, with a spur down Lake a bit.

The schedule and map are here:

http://www.gcrta.org/pdf/804.pdf

Wow! I can't believe they are getting rid of this line. Of all the buses that travel through Lakewood that is one that seems to have people on it, as apposed to all the empty buses.

This bus got me to and from middle school every day. I know several incoming high school freshmen who are using the circulators to get to and from school this upcoming school year. With the changes in middle schools and elementary schools, as well as the rise of gas prices, I'd expect this route to pick up a lot more passangers this year. Most of them being school kids.

[Will Brown]

Note that the proposal is to eliminate or reduce service on the line. The posters assume that elimination of the line is the proposal, which is not what the announcement said. I don't use the circulator, but a couple of years ago I was considering using it and the rapid to get to the airport, rather than paying the high parking rates at the airport. I recall when I researched the line that they appeared to have two vans on the line, travelling the same route, but one clockwise and one counterclockwise. That struck me as being very inefficient, but non inconsistent with government services, which often seem to be looking for silly ways to spend more of our money (so they can say they are in need of even more funds).

So if the proposal is simply to eliminate superfluous service, I say more power to them. And until someone can offer something more than hysterical conjecture that all service will be eliminated, I won't be signing any petitions.

Incidentally, the circulator was too slow and unreliable for my purposes, and didn't have space for luggage, so I just park at Triskett and take the rapid to the airport.i

[Brian Pedaci]

Will, to clarify, the proposal is to completely discontinue all the neighborhood circulators. There are a couple of other routes that go through Lakewood that are potentially cut outright as well (43/46/49/87F/96F)

Weekend service would be cut on the 70 (Bunts/W 150th) and 86 (Warren/Rocky River), among several others.

A full list of the proposed changes is available on this RTA webpage

Also, how do you propose servicing an eastbound loop and a westbound loop using only a single bus, in a way that keeps riders waiting no longer than an hour between trips? If you've got a good scheme for how to run the system cheaper, RTA is all ears.

My suggestion, made elsewhere as well, is for the city to purchase vans that run on fryer grease and run the circulators themselves. With all the bars and restaurants that serve fried foods in this town, it could turn into a money maker, and would be awesome PR.

[Mike Deneen]

This proposal is insane.

With high gas prices, now is the time that our society should be EMBRACING public transportation, not cutting it. If a fare increase is necessary to offset costs, so be it. If the schedule can be made more efficient, then that should be done as well.

However, to eliminate the line at a time when many people are considering RTA for the first time is absolutely backwards.

[Bret Callentine]

I probably wont make it to the hearing, but could someone find out the cost vs. ridership of our circulator as compared to the trollys they've got running downtown.

It seems like they've got five time as many downtown that rarely have anyone riding them. And, I'd love to hear them explain the difference in value.

While I don't ride the circulator, I do know that the bus I take to work is nearly always full. So I'm still having trouble understanding why RTA fails to even break even. Sounds like the problem is mismanagement.

[Mike Deneen]

I can understand why RTA loses money....most routes at most times of the day have few riders. The "plum routes" that take rush hour commuters and Browns fans aren't enough to balance the scales.

If there was money to be made in the local transit business, some private firm would already be doing it (like Ralph Kramden's "Gotham Bus Company")

However, the trend toward higher gas prices is creating a TREMENDOUS opportunity for RTA. As Brett indicates, some shrewd management should be able to reduce their annual losses through increased ridership and reduced overhead. I would suggest smaller, more fuel efficient buses (like the circulator buses) be used by all routes during non-peak hours. It makes little sense to have a full size #26 bus rolling down Detroit Avenue at 2AM.

[Nickie J. Antonio]

First, I believe it is very important to save the Circulator buses, which travel around Lakewood and in this era of high gas prices and people downsizing their cars or living without cars, they provide the opportunity for many in our city to navigate life using public transportation. Yes, as many have stated, Circulators pick-up and drop-off people around the city for school, local jpbs, errands and local transportation. Young people, Seniors and disabled persons depend on the Circulators for their independence. On the RTA website, the Lakewood Circulator is on the list with other communities for elimination. I was actually alerted to the impending loss of the Circulator by an email from a concerned citizen. I have spoken with Mr. Calabrese at RTA who indicated no final decisions were made yet and he stressed the importance of attendance at the town hall meetings where RTA officals will take public testimony.The nearest meeting will be in Rocky River Rec Center on August 4th at 6:00 pm.

So, on behalf of our community, those who ride the Circulators and/or those who want to support those who do- please:
* sign a petition (at City Hall on July 29th at 6:00pm)
* write an email - public-comments@grta.org or letter:Greater Cleveland RTA- 1240 W. 6th St. Cleveland, Ohio 44113
* talk to your neighbors and carpool to the meeting in RRiver in August

Thanks for being involved in this important Community issue.
Nickie J. Antonio, Councilmember at-large

[Bill Call]

Perhaps RITA can subcontract the circulator routes in Lakewood to the City. The City could combine the bus routes of the office on aging with the current circulator routes and use the money RITA "spends" to offer better service to all. Better service would lead to higher ridership which would lead to higher revenue.

The current routes and times don't make a lot of sense. Perhaps ridership would improve if the system had different management.

[Shawn Juris]

While it's easy to say what everyone should be doing, I'm much more interested in what is actually happening. If these buses are being driven around at 20% capacity then I would appreciate a bit of fiduciary responsibility being exercised and am not all that concerned about all the reasons why more should be riding the bus. Are there ridership rates that are available? How about expense reports? How much of this system is funded by county sales tax vs. fares collected? Do we have to attend the meeting for this information or is the meeting more of a rally for those who want to save the circulator without considering the details?

IF the alternative to cutting back or eliminating service is to increase taxes then I will not be signing any petitions on this. If the other possibility is to double the rates to cover the cost, will riders keep using the service? If the point is that public transportation is the Green thing to do to avoid using fossil fuels then how can it be considered to be environmentally friendly to have large vehicles which are relatively empty, driving around in circles, burning gasoline. Sounds like the greener thing to do is get rid of them if they're not being used enough.

To play devil's advocate, what would happen if the circulators were gone? Would traffic flow more smoothly down Detroit? Is it even possible to avoid all of the emotional rhetoric and just weigh out the pros and cons?

[Bryan Schwegler]

Electric street car lines along Detroit and Madison. That's the solution.