The Observation Deck

The reason they lose money is pretty simple. Compared with the highway systems, mass transit doesn't have anywhere near the government subsidies backing it up. Of course it's our tax dollars, we've just chose in the past half-century or more to put much more of it into highways so people can drive around alone. With fuel costs rising, the fact of a bus with 10-40 people on it being more effecient than a car with 1 is starting to dawn on more folks. But the government hasn't switched the dollars from highways to mass transit yet.

Don't forget the fact that Lakewood recently cut Senior Transportation and one of the factors was duplication of services.

Where does this leave our Seniors?

Sometimes we need to step up to the plate for others.

technology offers solutions.
http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/tourist/ ... cycle_taxi
it is rickshaw technology.

I am really curious as to the real effect of this and we may not know until the bus no longer runs. To answer Shawn's question, traffic may flow smoothly because no one will be around. That can't be good. I would rather have some much action going on (hopefully from folks in town to visit, shop, etc.) vs. empty streets so I can get to my job on time.

I will be there tonight for sure. I am going as a private citizen of Lakewood with concerns as well as someone working for the County Board of MR/DD. While not huge numbers, we serve over 300 people with disabilities in the city (both physical and cognitive disabilities...it is important to note because not everyone with a disability is "obvious" to a casual observer), many who rely on the Circulator to get around Lakewood and get to routes out of the city as well. This isn't emotional rhetoric, it is a reality. Many folks move to Lakewood not only because of walkability but also bus access. Some folks with disabilities are lucky enough to work in town but many have to find jobs elsewhere and the Circulator is the way to get there and home again, in addition to getting to the store and movies and whatever.

People with disabilities have access to some "door to door" transportation options, too, but these are costly and horribly expensive for either the individual or the agency that supports them. CCBMRDD works hard to help individuals learn how to use the Circulator system as a better alternative for both the individual and the taxpayers.

This is an inane move from RTA, the system that recently was lauded as the best public transportation system in the country. I don't want to see more taxes to support this but I concur with the idea of re-directing existing funds from one transportation pot of money to another. Maybe some of the funds saved by discontinuing the Senior Transportation could be thrown back into the pot?

I attended the community meeting at City Hall earlier this evening and the stories from residents who will be impacted by the proposed cuts were just heart-wrenching. SO MANY of our neighbors rely on the Circulator to get to work, to the grocery stores, to the doctor, to see friends, etc.

There are immediate personal needs and long-term community issues at stake. Just as we are attracting new attention due to Lakewood's sustainable lifestyle options, we could lose the public transportation service that makes living and working here desirable for so many. How ironic.

No community will be hurt as badly as Lakewood if the proposed RTA cuts go through. Over 40,000 riders a month take the Lakewood Circulator. Once again, it is the inner ring suburbs that will take the hit. We can't lose this one. The short and long term implications are just too serious.

The RTA sponsored public meeting is Monday, August 4 at 6PM at the Don Umerly Center in Rocky River (City Hall). Ironically, some people who should be there, will have trouble getting there BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE A CAR! If you can't bring someone, go yourself and represent the community and Lakewood's interests.

Mary Anne

I was unable to make it to the meeting tonight, and will be unable to attend the meeting on the 4th as we have a concert to attend, but I would like to sign the petition. If someone has a petition could they please PM me and I will make sure I sign it before the 4th. Thanks.

I attended as well and was really impressed by the amount of information and disturbed by the potential impact of this decision. If Mayor Fitzgerald and his team are correct with their numbers, Lakewood RTA Circulator service accounts for nearly 25% of ALL the Circulator services provided by RTA in the region. To cut that out seems ridiculous, especially if it is being done to save other less useful parts of their service. The "Waterfront" line of the rapid came up a few times tonight, in particular that it is usually riderless...except with the rich suburbanites want to train in for one of ten football games.

What was more disturbing was the level of mismanagement that is on the one hand embarrassing but on the other costly. For the former, they noted an expensive new "talking bus" system that is supposed to announce stops. This is some robot-voiced system that can't pronounce many of the streets (Puritas was "Purit- A-S" (the later two letters spelled out) or Lakewood Hts. became "Lakewood H-T-S" Funny stuff and clearly a waste of time when one rider noted that one day she was on the bus was announcing streets on the EAST side of town. Waste and embarrassing. There is also both when you consider the machine that is to take the money or ticket to ride is often broken on the Circulators. For the moment, it gives riders a free ride about the city but the long term impact is that even that 40,000 estimate per year could be low because of many missed riders that weren't counted.

This was an impressive gathering and one that had many moments of "usually I don't agree with you but now we have a common goal." People there who likely criticized the mayor for cutting senior services were praising his support for their plight. It was a neat turn of events to be sure.

Lakewood needs to overwhelm the Rocky River City Hall next week (holding the hearing off a bus line has to be the height of arrogance, no?). I have an appointment that night but if I can move it, I will gladly offer a ride as I currently do have a van and would love to help out. I think the City is looking to organize a carpool based on the discussion tonight, too.

The only low point to the evening was when someone got a bit too political and tried to tie in the Iraq conflict to this mess with the RTA. Oddly enough, probably most would agree with his sentiment normally but at that moment almost all agreed it wasn't the time or the place. Focus on what can be done now locally. It is the height of "all politics are local." For or against the war, it really doesn't matter in this situation.

Why is the meeting to determine the future of Lakewood's circulator being held in Rocky River?

While individual plights certainly will pursuade many, please forgive me for being a bit cold on this one. Is there more data that was presented? Is 40,000 riders per month the average? One blurb that I read on the RTA site, which was from 2003 cited 44,800 riders in September. Was that the high point, a record or was that the average. Being that was 5 years ago where are we at today? Can we clarify these numbers a bit? What does 40,000 translate to in occupancy percentage? It seems that the numbers could work out to be favorable at approximately 20 riders per cycle (32 cycles x 2 clockwise/counterclockwise). How many can a circulator hold? Are their peak times; rush hour, days, weekdays?

From these articles and other statements it seems clear that Lakewood's Circulator is used by more riders than other city's circulators. The circulator is already smaller than a normal bus so should something else be changed? If RTA is facing a projected $20 million deficit in 2009 as reported by Cleveland.com then what are the other options? I agree that cutting your most used location is counterintuitive and frankly just bad business. The only way it makes sense is if the Circulator is run at a loss in which case, why are they doing it? Does RTA need input on how to reduce overhead (ie. if diesel cost are contributing to the deficit then switch fuels - there are 30+ locations in Lakewood with deep fryers think they may be willing to exchange some advertising for their fuel)?

http://www.gcrta.org/nu_newsroom_releas ... tingid=842
http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.p ... 504.0;wap2
http://www.riderta.com/nu_newsroom_rele ... tingid=535
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07 ... _pric.html

I'm not real clear on the existing routes or the proposed changes but if RTA eliminates the circulator, wouldn't the riders just take the regular bus? I didn't think that the circulator had always been here, correct?

There are some pertinent facts in a flyer that RTA distributed, copied in this post on the UrbanOhio board:
http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.p ... 11141.html

And Bill, the meeting is not solely to discuss Lakewood's circulator. It's to discuss cutbacks and eliminations to several routes which affect a number of communities.

Brian Pedaci wrote:There are some pertinent facts in a flyer that RTA distributed, copied in this post on the UrbanOhio board:
http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.p ... 11141.html

And Bill, the meeting is not solely to discuss Lakewood's circulator. It's to discuss cutbacks and eliminations to several routes which affect a number of communities.

This is good information. One gent last night (I can't remember his name) who was, what he called, a "Transportation advocate" spoke a bit about the history of Lakewood being built around a trolley system and how the Circulator essentially emulated that to a degree. But I think his bigger point was that instead of just bashing RTA, poking and prodding at the State and Federal levels would be more helpful (in the long term, anyway). The funds for public transportation continually get cut. It was nice that at least Rep. Kucinich had a representative at the meeting and I hope we hear at least something formal from his office in the near future.