I wish Cleveland all the best, it's definitely gonna be an uphill battle. What would help it the most at the baseline would be an influx in people, and if Cleveland could prioritize TOD over sprawl.
It's certainly going to be hard. In the short-term, the new prominence of remote work may provide some influx given Cleveland's cheap rent and many great amenities. According to Zillow, Cleveland will have the 8th hottest housing market this year, so maybe that's a hopeful sign. And medium term, as I said, I expect climate refugees to supercharge Cleveland's growth.
Immigration law needs to be reformed to prioritize those who wish to re-fill towns that have seen depopulation. Cramming ever more people into LA and FL is of extremely dubious benefit to the rest of the country.
@@user-vo9wd6tx6c And cramming migrants into New York City, so many are coming in courtesy of Texas governor Abbott that its finances are being swamped.
@@miles5600That's the point they're making. Everyone always says, "oh, urbanism works in Europe because it's so dense, and it's dense because it's full of medieval cities..." But if you look at American cities, we oftentimes have just as much density, if not moreso, then European countries, we just choose to prioritize the car because of our politics.
@@jamalgibson8139 Just because Ohio as a whole has a higher population density than Spain, it doesn't mean that the cities have a higher population density too. They almost 100 percent guaranteed do not. Dense cities are the key to good transit links, even inter-city. If a train spits you out in endless sprawl with car dominance you won't be very well off without a car. City densities matter, state or country densities way less so.
A lot of Spain is largely uninhabited deserts. It's really not apples to apples. The urban areas in Spain are generally denser than analogous urban areas in Ohio.
First, have you heard of All Aboard Ohio, formerly the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers? We've been around for 50 years waging this fight, just about ever since Amtrak was created, trying to get any kind of intrastate rail passenger service. Please join our efforts instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. I've been a part of this fight for about 45 years, since I was in college. Second, I have watched good people spend their adult lives in a vain attempt to crack the stranglehold of the highway lobby on our state's government for a share of tax dollars to get a reasonable level of rail transit service. Ohio is seventh in population of the states, but 47th in funding for public transportation. That is totally unacceptable, and can be placed squarely at the feet of the highway lobby and their lackies in state office. One of my political science professors at U. Akron 45 years ago was in the Democratic leadership in the General Assembly (yes the Democratic Party used to pretty much run state government). I used to button hole him about funding for "Three C Corridor" (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati) rail passenger service. He finally said to me, "The only debate in Columbus about transportation is concrete or asphalt?". It hasn't changed a wit in 50 years. Former Governor John Kasich's Secretary of Transportation had been a lobbyist for the asphalt paving industry, and under him it was forbidden for anyone at the Ohio Rail Development Commission to even mention the topic of passenger rail transit. Cleveland RTA's light rail Breda cars are now over 40 years old and well past the end of their service lives, and while new equipment is supposedly coming, we've all seen that promise evaporate the day after an election. The sales tax model for funding services is fundamentally flawed and hurts poor working people disproportionately. We need effective, graduated state income taxes fairly imposed on everyone to provide the needed services. I lived in Maryland for over 20 years and there are no local income taxes, the state income tax gives proportional shares to the counties (they also only have elections every two years, instead of our chaotic system). I think that and effective county government forms of local control are the best ways to get things done for most people. Cuyahoga County does not need 54 local municipal governments, some of which are effectively financially unsustainable (looking at you East Cleveland). Clearly, changing the way our legislative districts are drawn is one key to getting better funding for urban transit, but the overall solution is changing the U. S. Constitution to say money is not speech, and corporations are not people, so we can begin the process of prohibiting corporations from participating in politics in any way, shape or form, and prevent all but small-dollar political contributions from being made. Please consider joining that effort as well, #movetoamend.
You're speaking my language about getting money out of politics. In my day job, I'm the national organizing director for a prominent progressive electoral organization - so I'm certainly no stranger to the Move To Amend. Thank you for your many years of organizing and advocating. I know All Aboard Ohio well! In fact, Sam (from Clevelanders For Public Transit) and I were discussing that AAO may broaden its mission to include local transit in addition to intercity rail. My comment about needing a new statewide transit advocacy organization was in relation to groups like Clevelanders for Public Transit and Transit Columbus being all volunteer - and my hope that we could professionalize that work. If AAO wanted to take that on, I think that'd be great!
I am so happy I stumbled upon this channel. I LOVED living in Cleveland. We moved there totally by accident in the middle of the pandemic. We were shocked by how worldly and the amazing amenities it has. We unfortunately don't live there any more. But I miss it dearly!
I was born in Parma, but my family moved to California when I was just 18 months old. I’ve gone back only one time since but I truly hope Cleveland can return to its former glory. The Ohio state government is insanely backwards, but I hope that with election reform, the tide can be reversed. Maybe one day, if the transit is good enough and/or the climate is bad enough, I’ll move back. Great video though, keep the Midwest topics coming, you guys need more representation and respect on CZcams and in urbanist discourse.
Thank you so much! That's exactly why I started the channel. I hope we can lure you back someday - but yeah, let us try to sort out our state government first. 😅
In Cleveland, there is only one train station that has fare gates (tower city), so I imagine ridership numbers are severely deflated if going by revenue and ticket sales. It should be free anyway as a public utility but as you mentioned, the state funding is so poor so there’s obviously nuance there
Is that right? It's been a few years, but I have a vague recollection of fare gates at a couple of other stops (W 25th at least). I also recall stops without them, which I found odd at the time. In any case, I'm sure that ridership numbers are deflated!
@@HeartlandUrbanist W. 25 definitely doesn’t have any as of now. They used to have security checking for tickets on the weekends, but I haven’t seen one there since before covid!
I personally think they should convert the Healthline into light rail... at rush hour the buses are so extremely crowded you can barely move and there are times they don't even let you board. Hopefully these new trains can make it easier for a light rail conversion in the near future. As for the planned BRT lines, the next phases should be extended into the employment centers in the suburbs (like the MHL to Parma and Independence and the "Broadway line" to Maple heights/Oakwood and Warrensville heights).
That seems smart to me. I was wondering why the newly proposed BRTs don't go further out. It may have to do with the way federal funding is calculated (density is a consideration). And for the HealthLine, it'd love to see it converted to a proper streetcar - but that may not work as well east of University Circle.
Converting to light rail is a good idea until you realize that the bus lanes would have to be torn up for tram/trolley tracks. Better to upgrade to trackless trolley BRT with twice as many trackless trolleys as there are busses now and get started on a subway for the long term.
@@edwardmiessner6502 You do got a point. The Healthline could just improve on the brt model and get longer bi-articulated buses, get rid of more stations that are too close together and finally turn on their priority signaling. As for the subway, since it will have to be all underground... that would probably amount to one of longest the most expensive transit projects in the last 30+ years. And for a city the size of Cleveland, I doubt that will ever be considered.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Since I think the Healthline is the most used line on the Rapid network, imo it should be more than a streetcar. East of UC it could easily interline with the Red Line to Windermere or wherever in the future.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Construction impacting transportation shouldn't be a factor in whether to upgrade a system, we do it all the time with highway and road projects, so I don't see why transit should be any different. Besides, depending on how the bus lanes are built, you could schedule construction to minimize operational impact, since the tracks would simply be going into the existing roadbed for much of it (big assumption here). If it's determined that the corridor has enough demand/capacity for a subway, than by all means, build a subway, but we shouldn't throw away potentially good projects because of disruptions for a few years.
Yeah dawg- as someone living without a car in Cleveland currently... it has a long way to go. Especially in terms of safety. I've had so many bad encounters that it's hard even as an urbanist to recomend people to take the transit here. The other day I was getting on the train at the airport at like 6pm. Should be rush hour and not a soul in sight, the RTA arrives, only one man left on it wearing a full ski mask, doesn't get off. Doesn't have any luggage. Just staring at me. No security around, only me and him and the conductor sitting behind bullet proof glass. So I called an uber instead lol. But it's already difficult to get people to want to take transit with the weather being as it is, let alone feeling unsafe, or being one of five people on a train, hoping you're not gonna get mugged.
I'm sorry to hear this. Public safety on transit is always a concern. I remember the Twin Cities advocates talking about how they're approaching safety there through unarmed transit ambassadors which I thought was interesting.
@@HeartlandUrbanistHaving official people just be present in areas (without weapons) is something that we truly take for granted in this country. I was watching a video on Japanese transit and they take seriously the idea that having someone just there to help can really transform the public transit experience, and that's something I think is important here as well. We're so focused on reducing budgets and staffing that we see these people/jobs as wasteful, but it really is an important aspect of public spaces.
Amtrak has placed the Cleveland proposals for Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit service back. And Cleveland-Detroit are in the HSR plan. So where is the HSR terminal. I have suggested that there be a stop at the international airport. But where is the Cleveland main transit hub going to shake out. Way past time to sort this out. Yep, Ohio and Michigan are going to get inundated with climate refugees. Transit, schools, housing, healthcare not ready for the flood. Great presentation.
Thank you so much. Totally agree on a stop at the airport (the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati line is expected to include a stop at Cleveland’s airport, but the Detroit airport is much bigger).
The Lake Shore Limited should be changed to be a night train in New York/Massachusetts and a day train on the lake so the view can be enjoyed and would make up for a lack of intercity rail, as you would need to get Indiana on broad with that-which just won’t happen right now
Really interesting. I suspect that would reduce tourist traffic on the route, but it'd be great to have daylight hour service. Hopefully the new lines open in the next 5-7 years and we can demonstrate some demand and start working towards more connections.
@@HeartlandUrbanist 4am/6:00am isn’t really optimal for Cedar Point either and NY can increase service on the Empire Service and maybe the Berkshire Flyer to 3 days a week from May through September then thruway serving Springfield, Worcester, and Framingham for Select Empire Service and the Berkshire Flyer
i know a handful students in boston who want to take the train back home to ohio for break, but don't because they would be arriving at 3am. really wish it could run multiple times a day :/
@@snowyyyyyyyyyyyyy really wish the LSL could be faster. Maybe have a more direct route from CLE to NYC, with a different route handling upstate NY. And that hour layover in Albany where the train splits to Boston or NYC! Almost 10% of the scheduled time is just sitting around at the station there! If they could make travel time of the train more or less equivalent to driving, tons more people would take the train.
The Midwest is going to see a lot of influx of population especially due to climate change as higher temperatures make northern states more habitable and the low cost of living will attract more people. The Chicago area mega region should keep this in mind.
Yeah. And many of these cities are not ready, nor do they have the tax bases they need to get ready. I could see this being a major headache for everyone.
@@HeartlandUrbanist it would be interesting if you could do a video on the Chicago Hub plan. And I agree that the cities aren’t prepared and we don’t have enough tax base to fund projects but I think Illinois has been taking transit seriously lately. And as you mentioned we spend so much money on road infrastructure it wouldn’t hurt to divert some investment into making better liveable cities. Also the mentality of on the rust belt is a lost cause shouldnt be encouraged anymore cause it’s simply not true.
@@portcybertryx222 Yeah, I could see doing a video on the Chicago Hub plan at some point. I do think Illinois (and Minnesota) are in a significantly better place for transit than other Midwestern states.
From Toronto: greetings, felicitations and encouragement to our old buddies on the lakes, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. You have all had some rough times, but you have the spirit to become great cities once again. We should all be working together.
We visited Toronto in 2022 and loved all of the urbanist progress y'all are making. I know it's not perfect, but I feel like it's a ways ahead of most US cities. Couldn't agree more that the region should work together. I'm very excited that there may soon be a rail connection from Detroit to Toronto!
Glad to see you posting again, hope you had a good holiday season. I was hanging out in Columbus with my family and shaking my head seeing the expansion of 161 in New Albany because they could easily put a light rail down the median. Now to this video, I have not visited Cleveland as much as I would like to only going to a few baseball games and to Cleveland State for swim meets. Cleveland can be so much more than what it is with its in terms of transit like Columbus and Cincy can. I hope they can expand their rail lines rather than more BRT (i am bias to rail). I also hope that Cleveland can get their Amtrak service back to Terminal Tower when trains are expanded to Detroit and Columbus. If I ever move back to the heartland I want to advocate for more change in Ohio or any Midwest state I move to. I am learning so much working on helping to make the Rio Grande Plan a reality here in Salt Lake City. I think you might find that project interesting, if it does google "Rio Grande Plan Salt Lake City". Cannot wait for the next video :)
Thanks so much! I know there has been some exciting things happening in SLC. I'm optimistic about Columbus and the rest of the midwest. It feels like we've really turned a corner in terms of stakeholders understanding what we need and working towards it.
Not a Clevelander myself, but I'm sure the Clevelanders I spoke to for this video appreciate it. Cleveland is more accustomed to being mocked, so it's a rare thing to be encouraged.
I’m from England but have always liked Ohio as a state. I think something that really should be done in Cleveland is bringing the Amtrak station to a good standard. There’s room for lots of platforms and considering the eventual Amtrak to Cincinnati, possible commuter rail across the lakeshore, and the stations current roll as a junction point between the lakeshore and capitol routes. Cleveland station should be up to a standard similar to something like the bright line Miami central station.
I really appreciate the talking point on transit funding. We often hear from naysayers that "we can't afford" transit, or "it costs too much" to build, and while there are legitimate criticisms of how our projects are funded and how much they cost, I don't think anyone really understands just how much highways cost us. Imagine what Ohio would look like if state transit funding was at parity with highway funding. 4.5 billion from the state for transit, and 4.5 billion for highways (my math might be off, but w/e). How much more rail and transit could the state have? And this is also true at the federal level, with 60 billion or so doled out annually for highways, but like 1 billion or so for rail. If we hadn't totally jacked up our funding mechanisms in the 50s with the interstate highway act, we might have been able to save rail from near extinction, and we might have the best HSR network in the world right now. Hell, we might even be building maglev!
Wow, just found your channel, and its already my second favorite urbanist channel, and i watch a lot of them. The work you put in shows and you have good camera presence. Good job!
I don't know much about Ohio, apart from naming the main cities, Cedar Point, the non-rectangular flag, Drew Carrey and his show... and that it is in the Rust Belt, part of former New France territory. But this was very interesting! And great to see some good examples of transit success. I really hope you'll get what you want and greatly improved transit. Total Ohio illiterate question : Wouldn't the Health line be better served by a tram instead of BRT? Or even a heavier mode, possibly automated? Given the great return on investment mentioned, the line seems to be a great success and could further improve its impact by behind heavier. I'm also a transit enthusiast & and activist, and I don't know how you manage to keep faith in certain situations, especially after watching your recent short about Indiana's possible ban on bus lanes... it's unbelievable that such a thing could even be thought! 🤯 I really admire you for this. Greetings from Paris, which is pretty much in a state of transit-a-palooza fever.
Another great video! Im glad I’ve subscribed. As a Cincinnatian, I’m envious of the rapid. But I’ve always been a little dubious of the investment number associated with the Healthline. How much of that figure was generated from “meds & eds”? The point being, those industries have grown quite a bit in the last 20 years so I’m not sure it’s fair to attribute that to the healthline. But I think I’m also biased against BRT. The Healthline was fun to ride though.
Thanks so much! I think there's a degree of investment that's come from growing institutions, but there's also been a ton of "organic" investment (apartments/condos, retail, offices, etc). It is also still (despite the BRT-creep) significantly better transit than what it replaced. I think it was a good choice, although a European style streetcar/tram might have been even better. The rapid is challenging because it's really expensive to build/expand and with Cleveland's population dynamics, the risk is that there won't be enough development to justify its price tag. So sadly, I think BRT is the best bet for now. The only exception might be regional rail connecting Akron, Lorain, Ashtabula, etc. I could see that working out.
Awesome video ,a multi county agency with bus, suburban and express lines that connected with Amtrak. The agency would cover Cuyahoga - Summit - Stark - Portage - Lorain - Medina. Express/Rush services linking rural hubs in Tuscarwaras like Dover / New Philly to Stark, Chardon and Western Geauga to Cuyahoga and Portage counties And an overall expansion that would see a melting of PARTA/SARTA/GCRTA/Akron Metro/MCT/LCT all into 1 serving the region. Travel time from Lake Erie to Dover, OH is about 2.5 hours via I-77, that’s the same time travel from one end of houston to the other with moderate traffic.. I can go on but I hope someone has enough vision to see the massive opportunities and how our region can become a super region. NEO-Metro has a decent tone to it 🤷
NEO-Metro is a fun name! I'd personally use many of those connections. It's crazy to me that 100 years ago, Chardon had an interurban line right to Public Square and now it feels 100 miles away from civilization. How far we've fallen!
Wow, that would have absolutely destroyed that university. I don't know of any university whatsoever that has a freeway dumping traffic directly into it. To me, a no-build option on a freeway into a university is simply a no-brainer.
Once the 🟥🟦🟩🚉🚊 lines get new rolling stock that's high & low platform compatible, RTA could do a Browns GameDay limited/express providing a direct link from the Airport & Windmere stations without having to change trains at Tower City.
As I was listening to your commentary, I was thinking of Pgh, my home city. I think that that many of the same issues and needs apply. I am not sure of PA's commitment to transit!!
That's my view - but Sam (who doesn't have a preference between the two plans) raised the good point that there isn't room at Tower City for an intercity bus terminal - so keeping Amtrak where it is does have the advantage of being an intermodal hub. Given that for decades to come there will be many nearby cities that aren't connected by rail, I suspect facilitating bus to train transfers would be a helpful way to increase ridership/usefulness of the network.
I visited Cleveland recently and I was impressed by the HealthLine! As someone not from Cleveland however I found the name confusing. I thought it was something meant for healthcare patients.
Cleveland Union Terminal should be reopened to Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited, as well as new Amtrak State supported proposed services such as 3C corridor. It should also become the terminal for new commuter trains, such as the proposed Cleveland-Youngstown commuter train revival and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad extension to Cleveland.
Kansas City has free public transit. Really is this simple. Long the entire State of Kansas strong buy. Detroit has a massive building boom underway speaking of collapsed Cities no more. All of this can connect to Chicago and vice versa as well. Cleveland and all of Lake Erie used to be an horrific toxic waste superfund site as well but that has been resolved. Toledo is booming. SEPTA of Philadelphia is a great baseline for top of the line transit. Also Philadelphia has walking which solves 90% of all transit needs.
I agree that Philly is a great benchmark for transit (especially with their regional rail lines). Imagine if Cleveland had that! And I agree that free public transit would increase ridership and prompt some folks to make the jump to transit who wouldn't otherwise. I just can't see that happening in Ohio without better state funding.
Other cities would die for a system like this. And many of these cities are much bigger than Cleveland. Dallas! Houston! Charlotte! Portland! And even San Francisco! Heavy Rail is a top tier of Public Transit superceding the best of Light rail, which doesn't exist in the U.S. Buses of course and even commuter rail! From infrastructure to frequency and it ability to operate at a lower cost for the amount of people it can carry and not needing an engine car.
would kill for the Amtrak station to be able to move to tower city and there for there to be more frequent intercity trains. also more TOD needs to open on the waterfront line.
Three things: First, the 3C + 1D Corridor should be extended to Louisville on the southwest end and Buffalo on the northeast end with an extension to Toronto if there's ridership potential for it. Second: Cleveland is building BRT now but in short order it will be overcrowded, as someone else has said about the Healthline. Seriously, trackless trolleys or light rail (trams) should be considered instead and the existing rail transit lines should be converted to subway / heavy rail and expanded. And there's an abandoned trolley line underneath one of your bridges that's still in good condition, why not use it for trams or subway? Obviously not a short term goal. Third: what's the deal with the state? It's like auto and highway interests have a death grip on the state government. This is typical in the US and I don't know what's going to change it other than "no gas" signs start appearing at gas stations and never get taken down until stations start closing forever.
I really like all three of your things. First, particularly the Louisville extension makes a ton of sense because of how connected Cinci and Louisville are culturally and economically. Second, while I’m a sceptic of trackless trolleys, I do agree that the BRT lines should be planned for upgrading them to higher order transit as the city rebounds and ridership grows. The rail is harder - I’d wait to see how much they can drive TOD along it before expanding personally. Third, yeah… the state legislature is corrupt, radical, and faces zero accountability because of our gerrymandered districts. It’s not just in bed to the highway lobby, but also the coal lobby, the oil lobby, the gun lobby, the anti-abortion extremists, and on and on. The FBI has called it the most corrupt state legislature in the nation. That’s why I mentioned the gerrymandering reform effort! It is an absolute necessity to save this state from those crooks.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Thanks for the reply! And yes, getting rid of the gerrymandering is the first thing that has to be done before the rest have a reasonable chance of not being blocked by Republicans in Columbus. :)
Hey man. Urbanist to Urbanist here. Just came across your channel. You’re doing great work. Sending my support for toronto, just subbed. Also, was wondering I am open if you ever wanted to collaborate with me on any issues
The signal priority is on, but apparently it's not as aggressive as it should be. The biggest issue seems to be that you have to scan in, making dwell times longer. You can now scan from multiple doors (at one point you had to board from the front) depending on your payment method. It's a shame, but it's still a lot better than the bus it replaced.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Thanks for finding out. This is not real BRT according to most definitions if one cannot just board and alight without delaying operations. I hope you can lobby to fix this.
@@ericbruun9020 By your definition the US doesn't even have bus rapid transit and I agree with it. What does BRT require? Level boarding, preferably with high floors and high platforms. Protected platforms, preferably with platform glass doors. Fare gates at the station/platform entrance.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Transit is an industry without firm definitions. I think the article by Prof Vuchic in Journal of Public Transportation is a good one. But, yes, if the driver cannot concentrate on driving but must supervise fares, then it is a regular bus.
Great video! The only thing I disagree with is The narrative of climate refugees. It's very fatalistic and is on this pretense that greenhouse gas emissions are not going to slow down which I think they will in the coming decades. I hope people can stay in Miami and Phoenix whole Cleveland can leverage its lower rent and quality mass transit to attract people to Cleveland, possibly through immigration.
I don’t mean to be fatalistic about action on the climate crisis. But even with swift action, the impact of the emissions that are already released will continue to have an impact, so 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius of warming is more or less baked in and now the question is really can we prevent more than that. Even with that amount of warming, I think people will choose to leave the south. Not all of them-I’m not saying those cities will go away. But I think the population flow we’ve seen for the last ~60 years will reverse.
Why does the waterfront line run so infrequently, and why is it considered a separate line form the other two? It make no sense that such a new rail line is run so weirdly
Good question. I think the Waterfront is pretty disconnected from the rest of the city and the "trip generators" there are just too inconsistent (Browns games generate a ton of rides, but the rest of the time the stadium generates none).
it doesn't help that the only Amtrak service that goes through Cleveland happens at 0 dark thirty in the morning and the Amtrak station is super sketchy and hard to get to. I really want to do a cross country Amtrak trip just to see things but I'd rather take a cheap Southwest flight to Chicago and start from there than try to leave from Cleveland at some ungodly time in the early morning
I believe the idea is that there will be less weather related damage than there is today but I acknowledge it’s a bit of a confusing presentation of data.
No, it means a bus with some but not all of the BRT advantages - so maybe it has off-board payments, higher frequency, and raised platforms, but no dedicated lanes or signal priority.
Good, though very information dense, video! I feel there could be several improvements to the video: 1. Less one second shots, especially around the middle of the video, and more 5-10 second shots. The one second shots feel a bit disorienting and disconnected. 2. Minimum video and audio quality for interviewees. The audio quality for Sam Smucny's insights was poor and jarring relative to the rest of the video, and should have been improved if at all possible. 3. More information on present-day Cleveland's residential, commercial, and industrial centers, as well as Cleveland's transit hubs, in the Cleveland Primer. A more general comment on the video as a whole: it feels like it could also be 25 rather than 15 minutes. It feels a little fast paced, and I think future videos would benefit from a bit slower speaking. Overall, a great video. I'm happy to see a new urbanist CZcamsr!
I really appreciate all of this valuable feedback! I’m going to try to implement it - especially #1 and #3. I’ll have to look for options for #2. I’ve been recording Zoom calls with my interviewees and I want to make sure whatever process I’m using doesn’t make it harder for these great advocates to share their work with the channel. Thanks again, I really appreciate the thoughts on how to the channel better!
After watching this video, I'm realizing what Los Angeles has done over the last 30 years and will continue to do for decades, is not a common occurrence in other cities. LA Metro went from having ZERO public transit rail lines in 1990 to SIX now and counting. Los Angeles has probably apent more on public transit than any other city in the USA over the last 30 years.
No disagreement here. LA is making tons of progress on transit, it just waited way too long to get serious about it. It's both an example of what to do and of what not to do.
@HeartlandUrbanist I know what you mean, but it's never too late to do the right thing. These are generational infrastructure projects that will benefit the city for decades going forward. A lot of it has to do with resident support. It just wasn't there before the 1990s, unfortunately. However, that's ancient history. Now we're on a rol, so there will be continuing construction and expansion for the foreseeable future. Used Metro today to go to DTLA to have breakfast at this new eatery, jumped back on the Metro to see the progress of the Space Shuttle and George Lucas museums at Exposition Park. After which we took Metro back to DTLA to get some great donuts at Donut Man at Grand Central Market. Finally, we jumped back on the E line to East LA with our donut box in tow We had a great day of it and it only cost me $1.05 to use Metro for the day. I'm 62 so I qualify for the Seniors off peak rate of 35 cents per ride with a 2 hour free transfer window. As I'm getting older, I much more appreciate getting around without a car. And that's a huge thing to say especially in LA.
@@retrojordans5That's absolutely true. If that had not happened, LA would have no Metro system today, absolutely none. It's unfortunate that the residents of Cleveland won't do the same. But it's never too late.
I wish Cleveland all the best, it's definitely gonna be an uphill battle. What would help it the most at the baseline would be an influx in people, and if Cleveland could prioritize TOD over sprawl.
It's certainly going to be hard. In the short-term, the new prominence of remote work may provide some influx given Cleveland's cheap rent and many great amenities. According to Zillow, Cleveland will have the 8th hottest housing market this year, so maybe that's a hopeful sign. And medium term, as I said, I expect climate refugees to supercharge Cleveland's growth.
Immigration law needs to be reformed to prioritize those who wish to re-fill towns that have seen depopulation. Cramming ever more people into LA and FL is of extremely dubious benefit to the rest of the country.
@@HeartlandUrbanist could you do a video on amtrak expansion in ohio? mpos could apply if state chooses not to.
@@user-vo9wd6tx6c And cramming migrants into New York City, so many are coming in courtesy of Texas governor Abbott that its finances are being swamped.
Never pass up a chance to remind people:
Ohio has a higher population density than Spain.
Yep, just with far, far worse public policy.
Doesn’t mean spain doesn’t have more walkable places.
@@miles5600That's the point they're making. Everyone always says, "oh, urbanism works in Europe because it's so dense, and it's dense because it's full of medieval cities..." But if you look at American cities, we oftentimes have just as much density, if not moreso, then European countries, we just choose to prioritize the car because of our politics.
@@jamalgibson8139 Just because Ohio as a whole has a higher population density than Spain, it doesn't mean that the cities have a higher population density too. They almost 100 percent guaranteed do not. Dense cities are the key to good transit links, even inter-city. If a train spits you out in endless sprawl with car dominance you won't be very well off without a car. City densities matter, state or country densities way less so.
A lot of Spain is largely uninhabited deserts. It's really not apples to apples. The urban areas in Spain are generally denser than analogous urban areas in Ohio.
First, have you heard of All Aboard Ohio, formerly the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers? We've been around for 50 years waging this fight, just about ever since Amtrak was created, trying to get any kind of intrastate rail passenger service. Please join our efforts instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. I've been a part of this fight for about 45 years, since I was in college.
Second, I have watched good people spend their adult lives in a vain attempt to crack the stranglehold of the highway lobby on our state's government for a share of tax dollars to get a reasonable level of rail transit service. Ohio is seventh in population of the states, but 47th in funding for public transportation. That is totally unacceptable, and can be placed squarely at the feet of the highway lobby and their lackies in state office. One of my political science professors at U. Akron 45 years ago was in the Democratic leadership in the General Assembly (yes the Democratic Party used to pretty much run state government). I used to button hole him about funding for "Three C Corridor" (Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati) rail passenger service. He finally said to me, "The only debate in Columbus about transportation is concrete or asphalt?". It hasn't changed a wit in 50 years. Former Governor John Kasich's Secretary of Transportation had been a lobbyist for the asphalt paving industry, and under him it was forbidden for anyone at the Ohio Rail Development Commission to even mention the topic of passenger rail transit. Cleveland RTA's light rail Breda cars are now over 40 years old and well past the end of their service lives, and while new equipment is supposedly coming, we've all seen that promise evaporate the day after an election. The sales tax model for funding services is fundamentally flawed and hurts poor working people disproportionately. We need effective, graduated state income taxes fairly imposed on everyone to provide the needed services. I lived in Maryland for over 20 years and there are no local income taxes, the state income tax gives proportional shares to the counties (they also only have elections every two years, instead of our chaotic system). I think that and effective county government forms of local control are the best ways to get things done for most people. Cuyahoga County does not need 54 local municipal governments, some of which are effectively financially unsustainable (looking at you East Cleveland).
Clearly, changing the way our legislative districts are drawn is one key to getting better funding for urban transit, but the overall solution is changing the U. S. Constitution to say money is not speech, and corporations are not people, so we can begin the process of prohibiting corporations from participating in politics in any way, shape or form, and prevent all but small-dollar political contributions from being made. Please consider joining that effort as well, #movetoamend.
You're speaking my language about getting money out of politics. In my day job, I'm the national organizing director for a prominent progressive electoral organization - so I'm certainly no stranger to the Move To Amend.
Thank you for your many years of organizing and advocating. I know All Aboard Ohio well! In fact, Sam (from Clevelanders For Public Transit) and I were discussing that AAO may broaden its mission to include local transit in addition to intercity rail. My comment about needing a new statewide transit advocacy organization was in relation to groups like Clevelanders for Public Transit and Transit Columbus being all volunteer - and my hope that we could professionalize that work. If AAO wanted to take that on, I think that'd be great!
I am so happy I stumbled upon this channel. I LOVED living in Cleveland. We moved there totally by accident in the middle of the pandemic. We were shocked by how worldly and the amazing amenities it has.
We unfortunately don't live there any more. But I miss it dearly!
Cleveland is such a great and underrated city. The cultural amenities in particular are stellar.
I was born in Parma, but my family moved to California when I was just 18 months old. I’ve gone back only one time since but I truly hope Cleveland can return to its former glory. The Ohio state government is insanely backwards, but I hope that with election reform, the tide can be reversed. Maybe one day, if the transit is good enough and/or the climate is bad enough, I’ll move back. Great video though, keep the Midwest topics coming, you guys need more representation and respect on CZcams and in urbanist discourse.
Thank you so much! That's exactly why I started the channel.
I hope we can lure you back someday - but yeah, let us try to sort out our state government first. 😅
In Cleveland, there is only one train station that has fare gates (tower city), so I imagine ridership numbers are severely deflated if going by revenue and ticket sales. It should be free anyway as a public utility but as you mentioned, the state funding is so poor so there’s obviously nuance there
Is that right? It's been a few years, but I have a vague recollection of fare gates at a couple of other stops (W 25th at least). I also recall stops without them, which I found odd at the time. In any case, I'm sure that ridership numbers are deflated!
@@HeartlandUrbanist W. 25 definitely doesn’t have any as of now. They used to have security checking for tickets on the weekends, but I haven’t seen one there since before covid!
I personally think they should convert the Healthline into light rail... at rush hour the buses are so extremely crowded you can barely move and there are times they don't even let you board. Hopefully these new trains can make it easier for a light rail conversion in the near future. As for the planned BRT lines, the next phases should be extended into the employment centers in the suburbs (like the MHL to Parma and Independence and the "Broadway line" to Maple heights/Oakwood and Warrensville heights).
That seems smart to me. I was wondering why the newly proposed BRTs don't go further out. It may have to do with the way federal funding is calculated (density is a consideration).
And for the HealthLine, it'd love to see it converted to a proper streetcar - but that may not work as well east of University Circle.
Converting to light rail is a good idea until you realize that the bus lanes would have to be torn up for tram/trolley tracks. Better to upgrade to trackless trolley BRT with twice as many trackless trolleys as there are busses now and get started on a subway for the long term.
@@edwardmiessner6502 You do got a point. The Healthline could just improve on the brt model and get longer bi-articulated buses, get rid of more stations that are too close together and finally turn on their priority signaling. As for the subway, since it will have to be all underground... that would probably amount to one of longest the most expensive transit projects in the last 30+ years. And for a city the size of Cleveland, I doubt that will ever be considered.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Since I think the Healthline is the most used line on the Rapid network, imo it should be more than a streetcar. East of UC it could easily interline with the Red Line to Windermere or wherever in the future.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Construction impacting transportation shouldn't be a factor in whether to upgrade a system, we do it all the time with highway and road projects, so I don't see why transit should be any different. Besides, depending on how the bus lanes are built, you could schedule construction to minimize operational impact, since the tracks would simply be going into the existing roadbed for much of it (big assumption here).
If it's determined that the corridor has enough demand/capacity for a subway, than by all means, build a subway, but we shouldn't throw away potentially good projects because of disruptions for a few years.
Yeah dawg- as someone living without a car in Cleveland currently... it has a long way to go. Especially in terms of safety. I've had so many bad encounters that it's hard even as an urbanist to recomend people to take the transit here. The other day I was getting on the train at the airport at like 6pm. Should be rush hour and not a soul in sight, the RTA arrives, only one man left on it wearing a full ski mask, doesn't get off. Doesn't have any luggage. Just staring at me. No security around, only me and him and the conductor sitting behind bullet proof glass. So I called an uber instead lol. But it's already difficult to get people to want to take transit with the weather being as it is, let alone feeling unsafe, or being one of five people on a train, hoping you're not gonna get mugged.
I'm sorry to hear this. Public safety on transit is always a concern. I remember the Twin Cities advocates talking about how they're approaching safety there through unarmed transit ambassadors which I thought was interesting.
@@HeartlandUrbanistHaving official people just be present in areas (without weapons) is something that we truly take for granted in this country. I was watching a video on Japanese transit and they take seriously the idea that having someone just there to help can really transform the public transit experience, and that's something I think is important here as well.
We're so focused on reducing budgets and staffing that we see these people/jobs as wasteful, but it really is an important aspect of public spaces.
Amtrak has placed the Cleveland proposals for Cleveland-Toledo-Detroit service back. And Cleveland-Detroit are in the HSR plan. So where is the HSR terminal. I have suggested that there be a stop at the international airport. But where is the Cleveland main transit hub going to shake out. Way past time to sort this out. Yep, Ohio and Michigan are going to get inundated with climate refugees. Transit, schools, housing, healthcare not ready for the flood. Great presentation.
Thank you so much. Totally agree on a stop at the airport (the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati line is expected to include a stop at Cleveland’s airport, but the Detroit airport is much bigger).
Tower City Station needs to be the terminal for everything Amtrak. The dilapidated station hidden in a cavern next to route 2 is not cutting it.
@@mirio-jk I once napped there for a couple of hours waiting to be picked up by my in-laws (long story). I've got to say, hard agree.
The Lake Shore Limited should be changed to be a night train in New York/Massachusetts and a day train on the lake so the view can be enjoyed and would make up for a lack of intercity rail, as you would need to get Indiana on broad with that-which just won’t happen right now
Really interesting. I suspect that would reduce tourist traffic on the route, but it'd be great to have daylight hour service.
Hopefully the new lines open in the next 5-7 years and we can demonstrate some demand and start working towards more connections.
@@HeartlandUrbanist 4am/6:00am isn’t really optimal for Cedar Point either and NY can increase service on the Empire Service and maybe the Berkshire Flyer to 3 days a week from May through September then thruway serving Springfield, Worcester, and Framingham for Select Empire Service and the Berkshire Flyer
i know a handful students in boston who want to take the train back home to ohio for break, but don't because they would be arriving at 3am. really wish it could run multiple times a day :/
@@snowyyyyyyyyyyyyy really wish the LSL could be faster. Maybe have a more direct route from CLE to NYC, with a different route handling upstate NY. And that hour layover in Albany where the train splits to Boston or NYC! Almost 10% of the scheduled time is just sitting around at the station there! If they could make travel time of the train more or less equivalent to driving, tons more people would take the train.
Just drop it and build a proper HSR
The Midwest is going to see a lot of influx of population especially due to climate change as higher temperatures make northern states more habitable and the low cost of living will attract more people. The Chicago area mega region should keep this in mind.
Yeah. And many of these cities are not ready, nor do they have the tax bases they need to get ready. I could see this being a major headache for everyone.
@@HeartlandUrbanist it would be interesting if you could do a video on the Chicago Hub plan. And I agree that the cities aren’t prepared and we don’t have enough tax base to fund projects but I think Illinois has been taking transit seriously lately. And as you mentioned we spend so much money on road infrastructure it wouldn’t hurt to divert some investment into making better liveable cities. Also the mentality of on the rust belt is a lost cause shouldnt be encouraged anymore cause it’s simply not true.
@@portcybertryx222 Yeah, I could see doing a video on the Chicago Hub plan at some point. I do think Illinois (and Minnesota) are in a significantly better place for transit than other Midwestern states.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Michigan might become a more transit friendly state. Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, though, they might as well be in the South!
From Toronto: greetings, felicitations and encouragement to our old buddies on the lakes, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. You have all had some rough times, but you have the spirit to become great cities once again. We should all be working together.
We visited Toronto in 2022 and loved all of the urbanist progress y'all are making. I know it's not perfect, but I feel like it's a ways ahead of most US cities. Couldn't agree more that the region should work together. I'm very excited that there may soon be a rail connection from Detroit to Toronto!
@@HeartlandUrbanist We should all keep our sticks on the ice and our eyes on the puck.
Just found this channel. Really cool to see Midwest-centric content. Keep it up.
Thanks, will do!
Glad to see you posting again, hope you had a good holiday season. I was hanging out in Columbus with my family and shaking my head seeing the expansion of 161 in New Albany because they could easily put a light rail down the median. Now to this video, I have not visited Cleveland as much as I would like to only going to a few baseball games and to Cleveland State for swim meets. Cleveland can be so much more than what it is with its in terms of transit like Columbus and Cincy can. I hope they can expand their rail lines rather than more BRT (i am bias to rail). I also hope that Cleveland can get their Amtrak service back to Terminal Tower when trains are expanded to Detroit and Columbus.
If I ever move back to the heartland I want to advocate for more change in Ohio or any Midwest state I move to. I am learning so much working on helping to make the Rio Grande Plan a reality here in Salt Lake City. I think you might find that project interesting, if it does google "Rio Grande Plan Salt Lake City".
Cannot wait for the next video :)
Thanks so much! I know there has been some exciting things happening in SLC. I'm optimistic about Columbus and the rest of the midwest. It feels like we've really turned a corner in terms of stakeholders understanding what we need and working towards it.
I'm glad to have found your channel, as I'm very interested in the issues you're naming in this video and I expect is the focus of your channel.
good luck clevelander!
Not a Clevelander myself, but I'm sure the Clevelanders I spoke to for this video appreciate it. Cleveland is more accustomed to being mocked, so it's a rare thing to be encouraged.
I’m from England but have always liked Ohio as a state. I think something that really should be done in Cleveland is bringing the Amtrak station to a good standard. There’s room for lots of platforms and considering the eventual Amtrak to Cincinnati, possible commuter rail across the lakeshore, and the stations current roll as a junction point between the lakeshore and capitol routes. Cleveland station should be up to a standard similar to something like the bright line Miami central station.
I can’t imagine Amtrak even building the Brightline standards, but there’s a huge gap between that and where the station is now. 😅
Beat of luck from Washington state 😊
Thank you!
I really appreciate the talking point on transit funding. We often hear from naysayers that "we can't afford" transit, or "it costs too much" to build, and while there are legitimate criticisms of how our projects are funded and how much they cost, I don't think anyone really understands just how much highways cost us.
Imagine what Ohio would look like if state transit funding was at parity with highway funding. 4.5 billion from the state for transit, and 4.5 billion for highways (my math might be off, but w/e). How much more rail and transit could the state have? And this is also true at the federal level, with 60 billion or so doled out annually for highways, but like 1 billion or so for rail.
If we hadn't totally jacked up our funding mechanisms in the 50s with the interstate highway act, we might have been able to save rail from near extinction, and we might have the best HSR network in the world right now. Hell, we might even be building maglev!
I would so love to see what the world would look like in that scenario.
Wow, just found your channel, and its already my second favorite urbanist channel, and i watch a lot of them. The work you put in shows and you have good camera presence. Good job!
Thank you so much, that means a lot!
I don't know much about Ohio, apart from naming the main cities, Cedar Point, the non-rectangular flag, Drew Carrey and his show... and that it is in the Rust Belt, part of former New France territory.
But this was very interesting! And great to see some good examples of transit success.
I really hope you'll get what you want and greatly improved transit.
Total Ohio illiterate question : Wouldn't the Health line be better served by a tram instead of BRT?
Or even a heavier mode, possibly automated?
Given the great return on investment mentioned, the line seems to be a great success and could further improve its impact by behind heavier.
I'm also a transit enthusiast & and activist, and I don't know how you manage to keep faith in certain situations, especially after watching your recent short about Indiana's possible ban on bus lanes... it's unbelievable that such a thing could even be thought! 🤯
I really admire you for this.
Greetings from Paris, which is pretty much in a state of transit-a-palooza fever.
Another great video! Im glad I’ve subscribed.
As a Cincinnatian, I’m envious of the rapid. But I’ve always been a little dubious of the investment number associated with the Healthline. How much of that figure was generated from “meds & eds”? The point being, those industries have grown quite a bit in the last 20 years so I’m not sure it’s fair to attribute that to the healthline.
But I think I’m also biased against BRT. The Healthline was fun to ride though.
Thanks so much! I think there's a degree of investment that's come from growing institutions, but there's also been a ton of "organic" investment (apartments/condos, retail, offices, etc). It is also still (despite the BRT-creep) significantly better transit than what it replaced. I think it was a good choice, although a European style streetcar/tram might have been even better.
The rapid is challenging because it's really expensive to build/expand and with Cleveland's population dynamics, the risk is that there won't be enough development to justify its price tag. So sadly, I think BRT is the best bet for now.
The only exception might be regional rail connecting Akron, Lorain, Ashtabula, etc. I could see that working out.
Awesome video ,a multi county agency with bus, suburban and express lines that connected with Amtrak. The agency would cover Cuyahoga - Summit - Stark - Portage - Lorain - Medina. Express/Rush services linking rural hubs in Tuscarwaras like Dover / New Philly to Stark, Chardon and Western Geauga to Cuyahoga and Portage counties
And an overall expansion that would see a melting of PARTA/SARTA/GCRTA/Akron Metro/MCT/LCT all into 1 serving the region.
Travel time from Lake Erie to Dover, OH is about 2.5 hours via I-77, that’s the same time travel from one end of houston to the other with moderate traffic..
I can go on but I hope someone has enough vision to see the massive opportunities and how our region can become a super region.
NEO-Metro has a decent tone to it 🤷
NEO-Metro is a fun name! I'd personally use many of those connections. It's crazy to me that 100 years ago, Chardon had an interurban line right to Public Square and now it feels 100 miles away from civilization. How far we've fallen!
You could also mention that about 10 years ago the state DoT was trying to extend a freeway into Case Western Reserve U.
I didn't even know that! Wow.
Wow, that would have absolutely destroyed that university. I don't know of any university whatsoever that has a freeway dumping traffic directly into it. To me, a no-build option on a freeway into a university is simply a no-brainer.
@@edwardmiessner6502 I think the intention was to access the medical complex not provide access to the main campus
Once the 🟥🟦🟩🚉🚊 lines get new rolling stock that's high & low platform compatible, RTA could do a Browns GameDay limited/express providing a direct link from the Airport & Windmere stations without having to change trains at Tower City.
As I was listening to your commentary, I was thinking of Pgh, my home city. I think that that many of the same issues and needs apply. I am not sure of PA's commitment to transit!!
Even though Pittsburgh isn’t officially in the Midwest, I’m strongly considering doing a video about it.
Tower City is such a great asset of Cleveland. It's such a waste not to use it as an intercity rail station
That's my view - but Sam (who doesn't have a preference between the two plans) raised the good point that there isn't room at Tower City for an intercity bus terminal - so keeping Amtrak where it is does have the advantage of being an intermodal hub. Given that for decades to come there will be many nearby cities that aren't connected by rail, I suspect facilitating bus to train transfers would be a helpful way to increase ridership/usefulness of the network.
First things first, get rid of minimum parking requirements and upzone stuff. Buffalo did it and now their population is rising.
I think there’s some action on this topic from the city!
I visited Cleveland recently and I was impressed by the HealthLine! As someone not from Cleveland however I found the name confusing. I thought it was something meant for healthcare patients.
Haha, I suppose that is a bit confusing.
Cleveland Union Terminal should be reopened to Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited, as well as new Amtrak State supported proposed services such as 3C corridor.
It should also become the terminal for new commuter trains, such as the proposed Cleveland-Youngstown commuter train revival and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad extension to Cleveland.
I agree!
Kansas City has free public transit. Really is this simple. Long the entire State of Kansas strong buy. Detroit has a massive building boom underway speaking of collapsed Cities no more. All of this can connect to Chicago and vice versa as well. Cleveland and all of Lake Erie used to be an horrific toxic waste superfund site as well but that has been resolved. Toledo is booming. SEPTA of Philadelphia is a great baseline for top of the line transit. Also Philadelphia has walking which solves 90% of all transit needs.
I agree that Philly is a great benchmark for transit (especially with their regional rail lines). Imagine if Cleveland had that!
And I agree that free public transit would increase ridership and prompt some folks to make the jump to transit who wouldn't otherwise. I just can't see that happening in Ohio without better state funding.
Other cities would die for a system like this. And many of these cities are much bigger than Cleveland.
Dallas! Houston! Charlotte! Portland! And even San Francisco!
Heavy Rail is a top tier of Public Transit superceding the best of Light rail, which doesn't exist in the U.S. Buses of course and even commuter rail!
From infrastructure to frequency and it ability to operate at a lower cost for the amount of people it can carry and not needing an engine car.
would kill for the Amtrak station to be able to move to tower city and there for there to be more frequent intercity trains. also more TOD needs to open on the waterfront line.
Agreed on all fronts. While local advocates don’t seem to have a strong preference, I do!
Three things:
First, the 3C + 1D Corridor should be extended to Louisville on the southwest end and Buffalo on the northeast end with an extension to Toronto if there's ridership potential for it.
Second: Cleveland is building BRT now but in short order it will be overcrowded, as someone else has said about the Healthline. Seriously, trackless trolleys or light rail (trams) should be considered instead and the existing rail transit lines should be converted to subway / heavy rail and expanded. And there's an abandoned trolley line underneath one of your bridges that's still in good condition, why not use it for trams or subway? Obviously not a short term goal.
Third: what's the deal with the state? It's like auto and highway interests have a death grip on the state government. This is typical in the US and I don't know what's going to change it other than "no gas" signs start appearing at gas stations and never get taken down until stations start closing forever.
I really like all three of your things. First, particularly the Louisville extension makes a ton of sense because of how connected Cinci and Louisville are culturally and economically. Second, while I’m a sceptic of trackless trolleys, I do agree that the BRT lines should be planned for upgrading them to higher order transit as the city rebounds and ridership grows. The rail is harder - I’d wait to see how much they can drive TOD along it before expanding personally. Third, yeah… the state legislature is corrupt, radical, and faces zero accountability because of our gerrymandered districts. It’s not just in bed to the highway lobby, but also the coal lobby, the oil lobby, the gun lobby, the anti-abortion extremists, and on and on. The FBI has called it the most corrupt state legislature in the nation. That’s why I mentioned the gerrymandering reform effort! It is an absolute necessity to save this state from those crooks.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Thanks for the reply! And yes, getting rid of the gerrymandering is the first thing that has to be done before the rest have a reasonable chance of not being blocked by Republicans in Columbus. :)
Hey man. Urbanist to Urbanist here. Just came across your channel. You’re doing great work. Sending my support for toronto, just subbed.
Also, was wondering I am open if you ever wanted to collaborate with me on any issues
Thanks!
I drive and use transit sometime to go downtown
Nice - what line(s) do you use?
@@HeartlandUrbanist I've only been on the red line. I gotta ride the rest lol
Good post! What is the truth for the Health Line? I heard that the city turned off the transit signal priority, making it just a regular bus line.
The signal priority is on, but apparently it's not as aggressive as it should be. The biggest issue seems to be that you have to scan in, making dwell times longer. You can now scan from multiple doors (at one point you had to board from the front) depending on your payment method. It's a shame, but it's still a lot better than the bus it replaced.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Thanks for finding out. This is not real BRT according to most definitions if one cannot just board and alight without delaying operations. I hope you can lobby to fix this.
@@ericbruun9020 By your definition the US doesn't even have bus rapid transit and I agree with it. What does BRT require?
Level boarding, preferably with high floors and high platforms.
Protected platforms, preferably with platform glass doors.
Fare gates at the station/platform entrance.
@@edwardmiessner6502 Transit is an industry without firm definitions. I think the article by Prof Vuchic in Journal of Public Transportation is a good one. But, yes, if the driver cannot concentrate on driving but must supervise fares, then it is a regular bus.
Great video! The only thing I disagree with is The narrative of climate refugees. It's very fatalistic and is on this pretense that greenhouse gas emissions are not going to slow down which I think they will in the coming decades. I hope people can stay in Miami and Phoenix whole Cleveland can leverage its lower rent and quality mass transit to attract people to Cleveland, possibly through immigration.
I don’t mean to be fatalistic about action on the climate crisis. But even with swift action, the impact of the emissions that are already released will continue to have an impact, so 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius of warming is more or less baked in and now the question is really can we prevent more than that.
Even with that amount of warming, I think people will choose to leave the south. Not all of them-I’m not saying those cities will go away. But I think the population flow we’ve seen for the last ~60 years will reverse.
Why does the waterfront line run so infrequently, and why is it considered a separate line form the other two? It make no sense that such a new rail line is run so weirdly
Good question. I think the Waterfront is pretty disconnected from the rest of the city and the "trip generators" there are just too inconsistent (Browns games generate a ton of rides, but the rest of the time the stadium generates none).
it doesn't help that the only Amtrak service that goes through Cleveland happens at 0 dark thirty in the morning and the Amtrak station is super sketchy and hard to get to. I really want to do a cross country Amtrak trip just to see things but I'd rather take a cheap Southwest flight to Chicago and start from there than try to leave from Cleveland at some ungodly time in the early morning
Totally agree. All of Ohio with the possible exception of Toledo has completely impractical Amtrak arrival and departure times.
Ohio urban planning representation hell yeah
💪💪💪
Is it just me or is the map at 14:15 confusing based on the title & legend? Negative damages improve income?! Really?!
I believe the idea is that there will be less weather related damage than there is today but I acknowledge it’s a bit of a confusing presentation of data.
what does "light" BRT mean? does it mean putting the fancy "bendy" busses on regular bus routes that have none of the BRT advantages?
No, it means a bus with some but not all of the BRT advantages - so maybe it has off-board payments, higher frequency, and raised platforms, but no dedicated lanes or signal priority.
Good, though very information dense, video! I feel there could be several improvements to the video:
1. Less one second shots, especially around the middle of the video, and more 5-10 second shots. The one second shots feel a bit disorienting and disconnected.
2. Minimum video and audio quality for interviewees. The audio quality for Sam Smucny's insights was poor and jarring relative to the rest of the video, and should have been improved if at all possible.
3. More information on present-day Cleveland's residential, commercial, and industrial centers, as well as Cleveland's transit hubs, in the Cleveland Primer.
A more general comment on the video as a whole: it feels like it could also be 25 rather than 15 minutes. It feels a little fast paced, and I think future videos would benefit from a bit slower speaking.
Overall, a great video. I'm happy to see a new urbanist CZcamsr!
I really appreciate all of this valuable feedback! I’m going to try to implement it - especially #1 and #3. I’ll have to look for options for #2. I’ve been recording Zoom calls with my interviewees and I want to make sure whatever process I’m using doesn’t make it harder for these great advocates to share their work with the channel.
Thanks again, I really appreciate the thoughts on how to the channel better!
I’ve been watching CZcams since the beginning. I only find these type of critiques on urbanism videos. Very interesting dynamic.
@@HeartlandUrbanist Of course! For #2 you could also try to fix the audio for better audio quality.
After watching this video, I'm realizing what Los Angeles has done over the last 30 years and will continue to do for decades, is not a common occurrence in other cities.
LA Metro went from having ZERO public transit rail lines in 1990 to SIX now and counting. Los Angeles has probably apent more on public transit than any other city in the USA over the last 30 years.
No disagreement here. LA is making tons of progress on transit, it just waited way too long to get serious about it. It's both an example of what to do and of what not to do.
People in LA taxed themselves for better transit in a way that people in Cleveland never will.
@HeartlandUrbanist I know what you mean, but it's never too late to do the right thing. These are generational infrastructure projects that will benefit the city for decades going forward.
A lot of it has to do with resident support. It just wasn't there before the 1990s, unfortunately. However, that's ancient history. Now we're on a rol, so there will be continuing construction and expansion for the foreseeable future.
Used Metro today to go to DTLA to have breakfast at this new eatery, jumped back on the Metro to see the progress of the Space Shuttle and George Lucas museums at Exposition Park. After which we took Metro back to DTLA to get some great donuts at Donut Man at Grand Central Market. Finally, we jumped back on the E line to East LA with our donut box in tow
We had a great day of it and it only cost me $1.05 to use Metro for the day. I'm 62 so I qualify for the Seniors off peak rate of 35 cents per ride with a 2 hour free transfer window. As I'm getting older, I much more appreciate getting around without a car. And that's a huge thing to say especially in LA.
@@retrojordans5That's absolutely true. If that had not happened, LA would have no Metro system today, absolutely none.
It's unfortunate that the residents of Cleveland won't do the same. But it's never too late.
BRT is superior to streetcars look at Cleveland
I was excited to watch this video until about 41 seconds in, when the word "equitable" was mentioned. I'm out.
About two seconds into reading this comment, I knew you shouldn't watch my channel. So at least it's consensual.
Have fun getting stuck in traffic
❤ I love this video of resourceful information 🙋🏾🚝🚇 thanks
You are so welcome!