An Open Letter To RTA

This one should get Brad’s attention…

I was recently reading the Cool Cleveland newsletter I get at work and it included a link to Cleveland City Living. One of its most recent posts talks about the free trolleys running downtown Cleveland. I’m glad RTA has made this choice along with the financial support of some businesses in the districts where the trolleys run.

As the post says, “The trolleys were made free by a sponsorship from the Cleveland Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cleveland State University, and the Corner Alley. Now entering their second winter, they are a great asset to downtown residents.”

I consider myself living downtown. It’s not in the heart of the city. It’s just a 10 minute walk to the Warehouse district for me. However, the closest RTA bus stop is on West 25th street. The closest rapid stations are W.25/Lorain and Settler’s Landing. I can see the rapid running through the East Bank. I wonder what the ridership numbers are for the train. I don’t see a lot of people on it especially with the demise of the East Bank.

My problem with the RTA is why isn’t there a stop of some sort down on the West Bank of the Flats. Stonebridge has more than 1,000 residents but yet we don’t have an good access to public transportation. A great idea to merge the Warehouse District, East Bank and the West Bank would include a bus going through the different districts. The Powerhouse complex, Shooters, and several other businesses would profit by having a bus stop. I understand the rapid’s not going to have a stop over here anytime soon because that would take construction. RTA should think about expanding some sort of service to the West Bank in the form of a trolley or circulator service.

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for some time. I took the RTA back from the airport after my recent trip to south Texas. I don’t know if I felt 100% safe the entire ride with some of the people who were also on the train but the experience wasn’t a bad one. I was riding the train just as school got out for the day. The kids were loud and somewhat obnoxious. It probably wasn’t the best time to take the train.

I could have taken the rapid to Tower City then transferred to the Waterfront line which would have dropped me off at Settler’s Landing. That would have taken longer and since I was pressed for time however so I got off at West 25th street. I did have to hoof it back to my place. It wasn’t close. It was probably a 10-15 minute walk. By no way was it far but it wasn’t close either.

Take a look at the downtown RTA map and you’ll see where the service is lacking for yourself.