tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post5844800184205688464..comments2023-11-03T05:37:21.354-04:00Comments on Tim Ferris: Claudia pens a beautiful devotional pieceTim Ferrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05017729059380972892noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-71602835232460258052011-01-05T04:50:32.319-05:002011-01-05T04:50:32.319-05:00Live in the Midwest and there is no real mass tran...Live in the Midwest and there is no real mass transit. It would be great to see light rail.Promotional Penshttp://www.shapedpens.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-30915223097806027732008-08-13T19:53:00.000-04:002008-08-13T19:53:00.000-04:00Claudia J. Taller writes beautifully and i do agre...Claudia J. Taller writes beautifully and i do agree that this piece is put together very well. thanks for this post though, i probably wouldn't have come ac cross this devotional piece is it wasn't for this!<BR/><BR/>cheers,<BR/>Kannada<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.pensrus.com" REL="nofollow">Bic Pens</A>bestonline323https://www.blogger.com/profile/17354955023206930885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-78615688086602985892008-07-07T14:21:00.000-04:002008-07-07T14:21:00.000-04:00Jerry, I need an email for you over at RTA, if you...Jerry, I need an email for you over at RTA, if you please.Tim Ferrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05017729059380972892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-66172394841812674272008-02-20T08:31:00.000-05:002008-02-20T08:31:00.000-05:00TimNo transit system "makes" money. Every ride ope...Tim<BR/><BR/>No transit system "makes" money. Every ride operates at a loss, and is subsidized by tax dollars. RTA has limited financial resources, and is obligated to make the most of them. Our main source of revenue, a 1 percent sales tax, has underperformed for most of this decade.<BR/><BR/>Most people take RTA to work and back, so much of our service reflects that. It is more efficient and practical to operate full buses and trains at rush hour than it is to operate them nearly empty at 2 a.m.<BR/><BR/>Let's say the cost per hour is $100 per vehicle. What's better, to have 50-60 on the bus, or to have 5? This is especially important when you realize you cannot have both. 100 percent of RTA's resources are now in play, so if you want to add an hour of service at 2 a.m., then somewhere in the system, you have to cut an hour of service at some other time. <BR/><BR/>RTA will continue to look for ways to serve as many people as possible. <BR/><BR/>The last time I checked, staff took 1.3 million trips a year on RTA. Most of those trips were work-related, but some of our employees are car-free. By their own choice, they do not have a car or a driver's license.<BR/><BR/>GM Joe Calabrese lives in Westlake. His motto: "if you own a restaurant, you ought to eat there." He often rides RTA to special events or to work, parking at the Westlake Park-n-Ride or the Triskett Rapid Station, which is close to I-90.<BR/><BR/>I have ridden RTA every day for almost 20 years.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your ideas.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-56880462975035815662008-02-20T08:17:00.000-05:002008-02-20T08:17:00.000-05:00testtestJMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-8921656374436861732007-12-28T09:36:00.000-05:002007-12-28T09:36:00.000-05:00RTA CEO & General Manager Joe Calabrese offered th...RTA CEO & General Manager Joe Calabrese offered this response to MikeM, about changing timetables in our bus shelters.<BR/><BR/>We agree. In a perfect world, we would have multiple panels in each of our 1,800 shelters to hold both the current and the upcoming schedules. We know we need to do much better at that, but it is "all about the money" and the time it would take. The good news is that this is old technology. We do keep our Web site updated with the current and future schedule, so in a perfect world, all our customers would be able to access our information electronically.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-53025535636261204962007-12-28T09:33:00.000-05:002007-12-28T09:33:00.000-05:00I invited RTA CEO Joe Calabrese to personally resp...I invited RTA CEO Joe Calabrese to personally respond to Tim Ferris, who wrote "nothing would change."<BR/><BR/>Calabrese wrote:<BR/><BR/>Things do change. Businesses open and close, schools recess for the summer, new retail establishments are built and people move from one location to another.<BR/><BR/>If we had all the money we needed, we would be less concerned about running empty buses by schoolyards and businesses that are closed, but we don't.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-64728837730205465332007-12-28T05:07:00.000-05:002007-12-28T05:07:00.000-05:00And then, Mike, when I took over, I'd make sure th...And then, Mike, when I took over, I'd make sure the schedules and the routes didn't change for years and years. I'd give people something they could depend on. I'd make it so that somebody could build a business around the certainty of the RTA schedules and routes. I'd make it so that the passing of bus-schedule knowledge would be done on an intergenerational basis, lore handed down from grandparent to grandchild. Nothing would change. <BR/>RTA service would become a fixture, an institution, immutable, reliable, dependable, everything it is having trouble being now.Tim Ferrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05017729059380972892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-80610306745800461522007-12-28T00:32:00.000-05:002007-12-28T00:32:00.000-05:00if I were gm for a day and it was Dec 15, with 13 ...if I were gm for a day and it was Dec 15, with 13 routes changes scheduled for the next day, I guess I would be trying to make the rta user friendly for occassional riders as a way to boost revenue on the margins. I would have posted maps in all the stops on my GM for a day job last year since they change less frequently then the schedules. and I would post the new schedules on the 13 routes in advance of the change, next to the current one. with the EFFECTIVE DATE in big letters. I would spread this work out to 1)rta police on regular rounds or in between responding to calls 2)volunteers, like city year workers at first. later you could hire someone with the extra money from the extra riders who read the maps and schedules and pay to take the bus 3) and if that doesn't free up enough resources then I would stop the waterfront line for at least a few hours in the middle of the day when it has no riders and send those drivers and maintenance guys around to post the maps and schedules.<BR/>then, on December 16th, with the new schedule in effect a big picture manager for a day like Tim Ferris could take over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-28828068479174386132007-12-27T13:00:00.001-05:002007-12-27T13:00:00.001-05:00The solution lies in funding public transit much m...The solution lies in funding public transit much more heavily, doing away with ODOT non-maintenance projects immediately, and increasing the frequency of runs and extending the hours. GCRTA needs to pull in money now used for other programs that create no income for anybody. Public transit has a unique ability to make the economy hum along efficiently and cost-effectively. Cars need to be considered a luxury item, reserved for special use. Transit needs to become the daily norm. Sorry, all you GM and Ford employees, but we can't afford to use your products, those icons of an American ethos sadly out of step with current realities, as much as we have in the past. Those days are done. We can no longer support and subsidize waste and inefficiency.Tim Ferrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05017729059380972892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-7694257967834615432007-12-27T09:40:00.000-05:002007-12-27T09:40:00.000-05:00http://www.riderta.com/pdf/ReportCard/2007q1q2.pdf...http://www.riderta.com/pdf/ReportCard/2007q1q2.pdf<BR/><BR/>RTA's publishes a quarterly report card that includes on-time performance. The link above takes you to our most recent report card, where on-time performance is 73 percent. Some delays are caused by construction projects, including the Euclid Corridor.<BR/><BR/>You made an interesting observation about having a full-time person changing timetables at every bus shelter. There are at least two other issues that must be addressed.<BR/><BR/>1. The schedules changed Dec. 16, so until the employee arrives at YOUR bus shelter, the old timetables would still be posted and thus, mislead the public.<BR/><BR/>2. There is a hiring freeze on at RTA because of budget issues and critically low state funding. However, we could cut bus service and re-assign a bus operator to handle the timetable role. Would you like to decide whose bus service to cut?<BR/><BR/>100 percent of RTA's resources are already being used. The only way to add more to "X" is the take something away from "Y". You may not like that and you may disagree with that, but it is reality, and if you were GM for a day, that would be the rule that governed your every action.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-36023113469434910002007-12-27T00:22:00.000-05:002007-12-27T00:22:00.000-05:00kerry said:What's the point of catching the train ...kerry said:What's the point of catching the train so I can get to the 98th St. station and then sit for 40 minutes because the bus did not come? And the 326 schedule is posted, so I know when it's supposed to arrive. Why put myself through the stress and waste my valuable time? <BR/>ananymous said jmasek said earlier:RTA routes can change up to four times a year If we posted a system map at 1,500 bus shelters, updating them in a timely fashion would be impossible.<BR/><BR/>I am sure its not impossible to post the schedules and maps. 1,500 stops times 4 times a year is 6,000. So that's 4 per hour for someone with a full time job. If I were GM for a day I know I could do it. Maybe RTA finds it impossible to be on schedule? I could never really tell since there was no schedule back when I waited at the stops wondering if the bus was even running...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-66485249763563387162007-12-14T21:07:00.000-05:002007-12-14T21:07:00.000-05:00I agree that RTA is not set up for evening and wee...I agree that RTA is not set up for evening and weekend riding, and riders wind up wasting a lot of their time living around their transit but I'm willing to cut them slack for that knowing the configuration of the city. But what I encountered this summer when I was taking the train and bus between Lakewood and East Cleveland is that the buses were often late or simply did not come on weekday nights. What's the point of catching the train so I can get to the 98th St. station and then sit for 40 minutes because the bus did not come? And the 326 schedule is posted, so I know when it's supposed to arrive. Why put myself through the stress and waste my valuable time? I'd rather live in a place that doesn't have the pretense of a transit system than put up with such malarky.Kerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07382434220023284946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-5302343972975924132007-12-14T10:29:00.000-05:002007-12-14T10:29:00.000-05:00BP,This link might help.http://www.riderta.com/how...BP,<BR/><BR/>This link might help.<BR/><BR/>http://www.riderta.com/howtoride_gettingstarted.asp<BR/><BR/>I will try to briefly answer your questions.<BR/><BR/>When boarding a bus or Circulator, you pay your fare on-board.<BR/><BR/>When boarding a heavy-rail Red Line rail car, you pay your fare at a booth before entering the platform area. In non-rush hours, there may not be a booth attendant. During those times, you enter by the door closest to the rail operator, and pay your fare on board, just like the bus.<BR/><BR/>Tower City is different from other rail stations, because it is RTA's hub (about 30,000 passengers a day). If you downtown and leaving from Tower City, you pay your fare at a booth, or use a farecard or pass to pass through gates. If you are arriving at Tower City via light rail, you pass through the fare gates and pay as you leave.<BR/><BR/>There are always RTA staff on duty at Tower City to answer your questions.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-73998066782779154632007-12-13T14:27:00.000-05:002007-12-13T14:27:00.000-05:00ChristineYou made several suggestions about our We...Christine<BR/><BR/>You made several suggestions about our Web site, timetables and system maps.<BR/><BR/>I will pass them along to the proper officials.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your feedback.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-55613701670203015402007-12-13T13:01:00.000-05:002007-12-13T13:01:00.000-05:00Thanks for your answer, Mr. Masek. You probably s...Thanks for your answer, Mr. Masek. You probably shouldn't be thanking me for riding RTA because I didn't -- I didn't want to deal with $18.25 in quarters and happened to have other options at the time, so I didn't ride.<BR/><BR/>So you always pay with cash or farecard when you get on the vehicle itself? I seem to recall paying when I got on in one direction and when I got off in the other, and eliminating that point of confusion can only be a plus. And aren't there gates in Tower City station that you have to go through in order to get to the trains? Is Tower City just different from all the other stations?B. P. Beckleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149627414602104596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-57012311171150349492007-12-13T10:54:00.000-05:002007-12-13T10:54:00.000-05:00B. P. Beckley writes: Is there any way to buy a on...B. P. Beckley writes: <BR/>Is there any way to buy a one-way one-time rapid ticket (or farecard, or whatever) in Tower City with a $20 bill without getting $15+ dollars in quarters as change? What IS the one-way one-time fare? <BR/><BR/>There is no such thing as a "one-way one-time" farecard. We are an "exact change" system, so you pay the farebox $1.75 cash.<BR/><BR/>I have two recommendations for you.<BR/><BR/>Buy a 5-ride farecard, keep it in your wallet, and use it as needed. It certainly comes in handy when you need it, and it does not expire.<BR/><BR/>If you board at Tower City, a customer service center is staffed from 7am-6pm M-F. You can purchase your fare media there and get change.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for riding RTA.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-11964942336907026882007-12-13T09:53:00.000-05:002007-12-13T09:53:00.000-05:00Is there any way to buy a one way one time rapid t...Is there any way to buy a one way one time rapid ticket (or farecard, or whatever) in Tower City with a $20 bill without getting $15+ dollars in quarters as change? What IS the one way one time fare? I was there a couple of weeks ago, and none of this was immediately clear to me.B. P. Beckleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11149627414602104596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-76150180903750392722007-12-12T14:35:00.000-05:002007-12-12T14:35:00.000-05:00Jeff Buster asked about the Tower City stickers po...Jeff Buster asked about the Tower City stickers posted on RTA rail cars.<BR/><BR/>RTA GM Joe Calabrese approved the posting. He notes:<BR/><BR/>"These stickers about the parental involvement program are a public service. Many rail passengers (30,000 a day) are bound for Tower City, and we want them to know of the regulations they will face when they arrive."<BR/><BR/>Jeff, I hope this answers your questions. There is no contract to review, because no money changed hands. The GM has the authority to act in the best interests of RTA, and he used that authority here.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-71025568480559702552007-12-12T14:24:00.000-05:002007-12-12T14:24:00.000-05:00Christine wrote to complain about the online trip ...Christine wrote to complain about the online trip planner -- a work in progress. We know there are glitches in the system and are modifying it daily. At the bottom of each Web page is the address of<BR/>webmaster@gcrta.org.<BR/><BR/>Send him details of what you asked for and what you got back as an answer. Your feedback will help us change things.<BR/><BR/>Many thanks.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-38123900833719979372007-12-12T14:16:00.000-05:002007-12-12T14:16:00.000-05:00Christine asked about standing-room only. "At what...Christine asked about standing-room only. "At what point does RTA decide to add another bus? I want to understand how that's done."<BR/><BR/>I want to understand too, because frankly, I have never really checked before. There is an official Board policy that our Service Planning people follow. It is too complex to explain in detail here, but basically, it refers to the load of an "average" bus in rush hour and non-rush hour. If one bus has 30 passengers and one has 50, then the average load is 40. If a bus route averages more than 54 passengers in rush hour, another bus should be added. In non-rush hours, the average should be not greater than 44, which means everyone gets a seat (on a standard 40-foot bus).<BR/><BR/>Rather than try to figure out if your route qualifies, just let us know your concern.<BR/><BR/>Write to gbrown@gcrta.org, or go to rideRTA.com > customer service > contact us > online feedback form, or call 216-566-5112.<BR/><BR/>On a related note, some people wrongly assume that RTA staff all drive cars to work. WRONG. In a typical year, RTA employees took 1.3 million rides on RTA vehicles.<BR/><BR/>We may not be on every bus every day, but we are out there.<BR/><BR/>And, another related note, the average bus carries 26 passengers per hour in revenue service...the average rail car...66.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-61060737599142984062007-12-12T12:52:00.000-05:002007-12-12T12:52:00.000-05:00Thanks for continuing to engage in the dialogue, h...Thanks for continuing to engage in the dialogue, here, Mr. Masek. To me, at least, it shows that RTA isn't clueless. To be honest, I can't imagine anyone official from NYC Transit participating in a community-oriented blog discussion.<BR/><BR/>Here are some more thoughts....<BR/><BR/>1. Bus maps and schedules.<BR/><BR/>I appreciate that bus maps and schedules must be extremely costly to print and distribute. It's great that they're available online - but there are a couple of problems with this that I see based on my experience a) working with the technologically-disinclined and b) living in New York:<BR/><BR/>a) I'm going to hazard a guess that a big part of RTA's clientele might fall on the wrong side of the digital divide. For them, just saying "go to the website" doesn't help.<BR/><BR/>b) The lack of system maps (or even route maps) at bus and rail stops means that you can't use RTA like you can in New York and other cities where public transit is more mainstream. Meaning, if you find yourself unsure of where you are, or what direction you need to go in, you can't just look at the map hanging on the wall (or shelter) and figure it out. If people visit here with that expectation, that you can get around on public transit fairly well without looking at maps online or at paper schedules *before you leave home (or hotel)*.... you can see how they'd be up a creek. <BR/><BR/>Maybe you could just have the system maps posted in the rapid stations and some of the bigger bus stops downtown? This would be really, really helpful. That way, when the routes change, there wouldn't be so many to replace. And why do routes change so often, anyway?<BR/><BR/><BR/>2. The trip planner.<BR/>I posted this on Bob Rhubart's blog, but I'll repeat it here: I used the trip planner to see how to best get from Lorain-W.25th to Cleveland State. The results, for some inexplicable reason, had me leaving from Detroit and Gladys Avenue in Lakewood.<BR/><BR/>3. Standing-room only.<BR/>At what point does RTA decide to add another bus? Seriously, I'm not trying to be snarky, I want to understand how that's done.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your continued interest in this thread!Christine Bornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17356486403114381189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-21967884706823332322007-12-12T10:46:00.000-05:002007-12-12T10:46:00.000-05:00Transit funding is the key issue here -- it contro...Transit funding is the key issue here -- it controls all else.<BR/><BR/>In round numbers, RTA's operating budget sources:<BR/><BR/>* 70 percent from a one percent countywide sales tax. As the economy shrinks, unemployment grows, and fewer items are purchased. So RTA revenue shrinks, and there is nothing we can do about it, except reduce expenses (service cuts, for example).<BR/><BR/>* 20 percent from the farebox. Yes, we can control it, but it is such a small piece of the pie that even a huge increase in ridership does not produce great revenue.<BR/><BR/>* 10 percent from misc other sources, including **small** amounts of state and federal funds.<BR/><BR/>Joe Calabrese is President of the Ohio Public Transit Association (OPTA), and he oftens travels to Columbus to lobby for funds.<BR/><BR/>If people on this blog REALLY want to help transit, do not just talk to each other, talk to YOUR state officials in Columbus. They need to hear from many, many people.<BR/><BR/>Thanks.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-79641802903891353362007-12-12T10:24:00.000-05:002007-12-12T10:24:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.JMasekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00704609682037888905noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23314956.post-26827328250092767762007-12-11T20:31:00.000-05:002007-12-11T20:31:00.000-05:00Jeff, on the hyperlink thing, I'd just copy the UR...Jeff, on the hyperlink thing, I'd just copy the URL at the top of the screen and take it back to wherever I was going to do my main writing. You can reference this blog by the main blog itself, the post, or the particular comment.<BR/><BR/>If you're looking to do a link-back, I haven't figured that one out yet. Ask one of the younger people, like George Nemeth or Jeff Schuler or Adam Harvey.Tim Ferrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05017729059380972892noreply@blogger.com