RTA Alert - Update

[Ed FitzGerald]

Late this Friday afternoon, RTA announced that they are implementing cuts which will eliminate the Lakewood Circulator, effective September 20th.

This is after they said last Friday afternoon, in an emergency board meeting that we received virtually no notice of, that the decision on the cuts was being delayed until the August 25th board meeting.

Public discussion? No, RTA said that already took place last year. These tactics are totally outrageous for a public agency.

This really is a cowardly circumvention of public discussion by RTA. This Thursday, we will be holding a rally in front of the main branch of the Lakewood Library at 6:00 p.m. We will also be distributing fliers and petitions beginning this Monday.

Even if you don't personally use RTA, the Circulator is important to our local businesses, seniors, and many others in our community, and I hope you will spread the word. For more information on how to get involved, contact Melissa Garrett in our Community Relations Department, at commrel@lakewoodoh.net, or 529-6650.

Thank you.

[Grace O'Malley]

You should ask about the ridership on the Route 43 bus.

A full size bus that traverses Clifton/West Clifton/Riverside 10 times per day with virtually NO riders!

Stand at West Clifton and Riverside for one day and watch that bus - it is EMPTY every pass it makes. How they can justify cutting the circulator and not the 43 boggles the mind.

[Jim O'Bryan]

This really is a cowardly circumvention of public discussion by RTA. This Thursday, we will be holding a rally in front of the main branch of the Lakewood Library at 6:00 p.m. We will also be distributing fliers and petitions beginning this Monday.

Mayor FitzGerald

Could we play hardball with them?

Tell them if they take out the circulators, then ALL RTA buses can stay out of Lakewood.
Let the Clifton line to Bay, go south at W116 to Lorain, and west to Wooster, then north to Lake.

End Madison line to North Olmsted at the Highland turnaround.

Same with Detroit Ave.

At the same time where are the old shuttles for the elderly we no longer use? Start using
those as shuttles to get Lakewood residents up and down Detroit and Madison. Also
we could drop residents at Highland and W116 on Clifton.

Time to draw a line in the sand on this one.

.

[David Lay]

PD article:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/07 ... or_bu.html

[Grace O'Malley]

How appropriate that the article David linked to includes a picture of a Lakewood resident who depends on the RTA circulator for his livelihood and independence. Harry is a handicapped young Lakewood man who uses the circulator to shop, go to doctor appointments, job hunt, and work. Despite his severe limitations, he is a wonderful, hard-working, and optimistic person who I very much admire.

The thought that the elimination of the routes will make his life more challenging saddens me immensely.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Grace

Is that the hardworking guy I always see walking past Steve's house? If it is, it is a
crime and brings you comments home and underline the need for my next paragraph.
Despite his limitations, he is one of the most upbeat person day in and day out I have ever
met. There is not a single moment after talking for him that I do not feel like I should
try to be as upbeat as he is. He is an inspiration to us all, not because he has overcome
and problems, but because he has no problems!

It strikes me that one of the things the Visionary Alignment for Lakewood looked at was
a sense of security and well being in 99% of our projects. The Lakewood Observer was
designed for many things but because the regional papers that are fine papers, had
stopped serving the needs of Lakewood. Lakewood needed something it could count on.

One of the reasons LEAF was developed to address the thought that stores in the future
might fail and close. The tough times were ahead, the dutch owned stores, might pull out
as revenues fall, and that Lakewood could not be held in the lurch. So the idea was to
build strong relationships with some of the farmers in the area that we could count on.
Then folded in the green aspects, and healthy aspects.

Maybe it is time to look into some form of city transport that we know will be there
every day. The business model for the circulators was never realistic. Often I would
see one or two circulators running together, right behind a full size buss. If we could
grab some vans or buses that are small, convert them to hydrogen or methane which
we can get for free off of the treatment plant, we would have an option when the
regional form of transportation fails or cuts Lakewood out.

I suppose this means the the Lakewood Schools Phase III Committee's emphasis on
walkable is more important then ever before. Which I think is underlining the need
for schools in the middle of the city.

I would also think that this is a great look at regionalism. "Well, we sure do not need to
run circulators in Lakewood any longer. Well we don't need fire stations in Lakewood
any longer. It is not our fault but the fault of the economy, we just can't afford to give
you the same services we promised a year ago." would be terrible to read.

Lakewood must always be responsible for Lakewood. We are a very unique city. 50%
of Lakewoodites do not understand that, how will the region?

.

[David Lay]

Is that the hardworking guy I always see walking past Steve's house?

I believe he lives on W. Clifton. I used to see him all the time on the Circulator.

[Esther Hazlett]

He is a hard-ass. He got on the elevator with me in the building I work in a few months back. Wouldn't even let me press the button for him for the floor he wanted. Save the circulator!

[Grace O'Malley]

At the same time where are the old shuttles for the elderly we no longer use? Start using
those as shuttles to get Lakewood residents up and down Detroit and Madison. Also
we could drop residents at Highland and W116 on Clifton.

In several large cities I have visited, like Seattle, bus transportation within the downtown area is free. In Lakewood, we could promote economic development AND provide a social service by offering free or low cost bus/van transportation. As Jim notes, just running a line up and down Detroit and Madison would be sufficient as most residents can access one of those main roads fairly easily. It would benefit both residents and businesses. In fact, it is a necessity to have this type of service if we ever expect to grow and prosper.

Where is LakewoodAlive on this? What is their position on the cuts? What are they doing to either fight the cuts or work on alternatives?

For a group that constantly toots its own horn about how they are promoting economic development, I have yet to see them actually accomplish anything of significance. Here is an opportunity to add to the desirability of living and doing business in Lakewood. How about at least a committee or a study of the economic impact of local bus service?

With such an important issue in the forefront, if LA truly wants to view itself as an economic engine, then step up to the plate.

Or maybe they're too busy streetwalking and cornholing.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Kucinich Opposes Cutting RTA Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 25, 2009) -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) yesterday sent the following letter to RTA CEO and General Manager Joe Calabrese after the announcement that RTA intends to raise fares and cut 12 community circulator routes:

July 24, 2009
Mr. Joseph A. Calabrese
General Manager
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
1240 West 6th Street
Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1331

Dear Mr. Calabrese:

I strongly oppose the service cuts the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is proposing without further involvement of the people who will be most affected. 

Many people depend on the Circulator buses and several of the bus lines slated for elimination or curtailment. While there may be room to cut some of the Circulator lines with very little passenger use and high costs-per-passenger, other lines are widely used with quite low costs-per-passenger. 

The people of Northeast Ohio also deserve a public explanation of the justification for the elimination of such important bus lines at the same time that RTA is enjoying new subsidies in taxpayer-funded programs such the Euclid Corridor. Just today I received word from the U.S. Department of Transportation that the Federal Transit Administration is lavishing $23.4 million on new RTA projects such as transit centers, paratransit vehicles, bus-rapid transit systems, and rail crossing upgrades. Considered in isolation, these capital improvements may be good for our region. However, without adequate utilization, new capital programs will soon gather dust as will the expensive Circulator buses once eliminated from RTA’s fleet.

While RTA held public meetings last year, the proposed cuts are for this year. The people of Northeast Ohio, who pay for RTA with their fares and tax dollars, are entitled to an explanation this year. I strongly recommend that RTA hold public meetings throughout its service area to explain its intentions before a single line is cut or eliminated.

###

[Mike Lawless]

This is not the time for any county authority to reduce their level of services. Every morning more scandals are served up with our coffee. We've lost any faith we still may have had in our officials, and now, one of the better examples of a usefull, economic, and efficient public service tool is being pulled out from under our citizens. Please join me at the protest on Thursday at our Library (also facing cuts) at 6:00 PM. Mike Lawless.
kidlawless@hotmail.com

[Stan Austin]

I think that the core of public transportation in Cuyahoga County as served by RTA should be based on and built around Community Circulator buses. Most of the ridership data provided by RTA in the last few years supports the great popularity and hence, necessity of these local circulators.
However, as we have seen, RTA mangagement - presumably with the concurrence of its board-continues to maintain a route structure that only made sense during the 1950s and 60s.
How is it that this mindset is allowed to prevail?
The Mayor is quite correct that RTA flouted its basic responsibility to listen to the public. And, public demonstrations can bring attention to the immediate problem.
But, I would indicate that our public officials should get to the core of the problem which is an unknown board of trustees responsible to non vigilant appointing bodies which in turn perpetuates a management that is decades out of touch.

On an added note-it has been pointed out that examples of some of the riders who will be affected appear to be those with no other option but public transportation. Laudable as concern for those people is let me suggest that good public transportation should be viewed as an essential part of a good economic development engine. For instance, there is general community agreement that we want to attract young, creative and educated folks and their families to Lakewood, and Northeast Ohio. These people are aware of and have been exposed to cities across this country and the world where dependable public transportation is a fact of life. The lack of this public necessity will figure into the decision making of this very discerning demographic.

Mayor and Council------let's start holding the RTA board accountable before it's too late.

Stan Austin