- May 14: Ride RTA to the Hooley at Kamm's Corners
- May 15: Ride RTA to reach the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon
- May 20: Celebrate Bike to Work Day
- May 27-29: Flats East Bank offers a free, family-friendly event
- Message from the General Manager: Thank you!
- Applause !! RTA honors bus operators and Transit Police officers
- West Side Market ripe with visitors, fruits and vegetables
- For Your Safety: Sign up now for emergency alerts from the County
May 14: Ride RTA to the Hooley at Kamm's Corners
More than 30,000 people are expected to jam Kamm’s Corners on Saturday, May 14.
The annual Hooley celebraton brings food, fun and music to West Park from noon-8 p.m.
Lorain Avenue will be closed between Rocky River Drive and West 165th Street.
Officials encourage you to walk or take public transportation.
The best RTA routes are 49, 75 and 86. For Hooley info, call 216-252-6559.
May 15: Ride RTA to reach the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon
Whether you are running in the 26-mile Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, or just going to watch, RTA could be your best partner that day.
Sunday, May 15: Ride any Rapid line to the Tower City Station, and walk outside. At 7 a.m., more than 16,000 runners will start the race on Ontario Street, in front of Quicken Loans Arena. The finish line is on Lakeside Avenue at West 3rd Street, with race-related booths and activities to follow nearby on Mall C.
Friday-Saturday, May 13-14: A Health and Fitness Expo will be held at the Huntington Convention Center, 300 Lakeside Ave. To reach this event, ride the free B-Line trolley on Friday, and the free C-Line trolley on Saturday.
Marathon runners will go through portions of Downtown, Ohio City, Tremont, Detroit-Shoreway and Lakewood. Bus service in those areas may be affected for short periods. For updates, check Service Alerts.
May 20: Celebrate Bike to Work Day
RTA supports National Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 20.
Persons can ride free with their bicycles that day on RTA buses and trains. As part of RTA’s Rack-N-Roll program, a three-unit bike rack is mounted on the front of every bus. There is a designated space for bicycles inside Rapid cars and on HealthLine vehicles, with bike racks at many stations.
Bike Cleveland will host a Bike to Work Day party Downtown from 7-9 a.m. at The Bike Rack, 2148 E. Fourth St. This is a full service bicycle parking and commuter center, operated by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
RTA staff will be on hand with a bus and a three-unit bike rack, to demonstrate how easy they are to use.
May is National Bike Month. Watch for a new ad campaign, We Are All Drivers, on the sides of several RTA buses.
May 27-29: Flats East Bank offers a free, family-friendly event
Scene magzine hosts A Taste of Summer -- a free, family-friendly event -- on Memorial Day weekend at Flats East Bank. Hours are:
- 4-10 p.m. on Friday, May 27.
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Noon-10 p.m. on Saturday-Sunday, May 28-29.
RTA’s Waterfront Line provides the fastest trip to Flats East Bank.
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Less than 3 minutes to ride the Waterfront Line from the Tower City Station to the Flats East Bank Station. The Waterfront Line operates seven days a week until midnight, with service every 15 minutes.
- 1 minute 20 seconds to walk from the Flats East Bank Station to the front door of the Aloft Hotel and its three adjacent restaurants.
- 2 minutes 15 seconds to walk from the Flats East Bank Station to the front door of the Punch Bowl Social restaurant.
The event features a variety of summertime finger foods, two outdoor stages with local music and entertainment, family games, and a giant TV screen to watch local sports events.
Message from the General Manager: Thank you!
We asked for your comments, and we heard you, loud and clear.
In April, RTA finished a round of public meetings to get your feedback on proposals to help close a $7 million budget gap. I attended most of the meetings, and your passion for public transit was evident in your comments. Here are the totals.
- Held 15 public meetings.
- Nearly 1,000 persons attended. More than 300 made public comments.
- More than 120 persons sent in written comments.
- Nearly 3,900 unique daily visitors read the Web site landing page to review the proposals.
- More than 150 people downloaded the PowerPoint presentation shown at the meetings.
Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to come to the meetings, become more informed about the issues. More than 370 customers signed petitions, urging more State funding for transit. We shared those with Ohio legislators in Columbus.
The official public comment period ended April 7, and since then, RTA staff has been reviewing e-mails, letters, and transcripts of the public meeting. We met with our Board of Trustees on April 26, and began discussing recommendations and next steps.
There are no easy answers. By law, we must balance our budget, and we will. But we will always listen to you and do as much as we can continue to provide high-quality service.
It has been reported that RTA is spending money on the Republican National Convention this summer. We are not. In fact, we hope to make money from increased ridership by visitors to our City. The new trolleys that arrived were purchased with State funds, and will replace those vehicles that are outdated and ready for retirement. They will remain here in service for many years to come.
On another note, I know that many of you were inconvenienced last month when track work affected the smooth flow of the Red Line. I thank you for your patience and support, while we completed needed upgrades. The track there is now safer, and your ride should be even smoother and quicker.
We all look forward to a great spring in Cleveland.
- Joe Calabrese
Applause !! RTA honors bus operators and Transit Police officers
Three RTA bus operators deserve a big “thumbs up” from you.
Aaron Tompkins, Douglas Swain and Leonard Brown work out of RTA’s Hayden Garage in East Cleveland. They are being honored with the General Manager’s Customer Service Award, after being nominated by customers.
“Customer service is the foundation of what we do,” said General Manager and CEO Joe Calabrese. “We are delighted that these 3 operators went ‘above and beyond’ to serve their customers. If you see them on your route, please offer them congratulations. They deserve it and appreciate it.”
Transit Police
Three officers -- Michael Czerwony, Mark Flynn and Lester Hill – have been chosen for this year’s Transit Police Exemplary Service Award.
Transit Police Chief John Joyce praised them for their work in setting up a new Community Policing program, and following through with great results.
“Transit Police began a Community Policing program in mid-2014 to increase communication and visibility of officers with bus and rail operators, to better address crime, social disorder and fear of crime,” Chief Joyce said.
“They have gone above and beyond expectations. They consistently make themselves available to address operator issues. This leads to increased safety for operators and customers, and a marked reductions in crime aboard RTA vehicles.”
West Side Market ripe with visitors, fruits and vegetables
Things are just peachy at the historic West Side Market. But finding a place to park could be about as hard as cracking open a walnut.
The issue: With expanded hours and changes to a nearby parking lot, the demand for parking is far greater than the supply.
The solution: Ride RTA. The Market is across the street from the West 25th Street Rapid Station, with Red Line Rapid service every 10-15 minutes. And, RTA buses make some 200 trips daily from Downtown to Ohio City. So on average, a bus serves the West Side Market every 7-8 minutes. Most people wait longer than that in line at a crowded grocery store. The bus routes are: 20, 22, 35, 45, 79A-B and 81.
Market hours: 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon-8 p.m. Sunday.
For Your Safety: Sign up now for emergency alerts from the County
Cuyahoga County is offering residents an opportunity to sign up for emergency alerts and other important information.
The County has launched a mass notification system, ReadyNotify, which is free to county residents. It will provide you with immediate information about emergency events and other important information, including County government news, County building closures, water boil alerts, and safety messages.
Registered users will be able to receive information via landline telephones, cell phones, text messages, e-mail and fax.
Registering with ReadyNotify will not interfere with your ability to receive alerts or other information through one of the many city-operated systems in the county. ReadyNotify provides county-level information and is intended to supplement city-operated mass notification systems.
- To sign-up, go here.
- For information on preparing for disasters, call 216-443-5700.