On Saturday, April 19 from noon to 4PM, Clevelanders for Public Transit (“CPT”) will canvass Riverview Tower, Market Square Park, and businesses along West 25th Street to add to the more than 100 transit riders and advocates who have sent letters to Mayor Justin Bibb demanding that dedicated bus lanes be included on West 25th Street from Detroit Road to Lorain Avenue as part of GCRTA’s 25Connects bus rapid transit (“BRT”) project.
The 25Connects project is a proposed $50 million BRT route on West 25th Street from Detroit Avenue to Brooklyn Centre. The section from Detroit to Lorain is the busiest and most congested section of the entire route. In fact, every hour throughout the day, 24 buses travel on West 25th Street between Detroit Road and Lorain Avenue. Thousands of bus riders travel West 25th Street along this stretch every day. Indeed, the bus lines that travel this stretch carry more riders than the HealthLine. These riders deserve to get where they need to go quickly and reliably – one surefire way to do this is through dedicated bus lanes.
GCRTA is recommending that a dedicated bus lane be included in this stretch. However, Mayor Bibb’s administration must approve or deny this plan and indications are that City Hall is likely to deny the plan, thus preserving the status quo.
“I can’t help but feel that the removal of bus lanes will create yet another example of a transit project that was compromised due to the complaints of a few individuals over the hundreds of transit riders who use this corridor,” said transit rider Jason Zhang in a March 15 written public comment to Cleveland City Council. He felt the need to speak up when he learned that a letter of opposition to the project signed by a few business owners, some of them Bibb donors, was made publicly available. Yet, Mayor Bibb apparently would rather kowtow to a few political donors on West 25th than stand by his campaign slogans that Cleveland Can’t Wait to put People Over Cars.
If you take a bus along West 25th as it is now, you will see buses inching slowly up the corridor, picking up dozens of riders while operators carefully weave in and out of the parking lane. You will see inefficient, slow transit along one of the busiest transit corridors in Cleveland. That’s why dedicated bus lanes are so needed in this stretch of the 25Connects project.
A Trendsetter for Future Projects
CPT is calling on GCRTA to make significant improvements for future BRT lines, not just on West 25th, but throughout Cuyahoga County. Spending tens millions on upgraded shelters and signage is not enough; riders demand quick and reliable service.
The West 25th line is the first in a series of plans to improve bus service for thousands of riders that rely on GCRTA daily to get to work, school, healthcare, and other important destinations throughout the community.
Other corridors that have secured funds for planning include Broadway and Lorain Avenues. GCRTA designated a total of 16 corridors as “priority” corridors in their 2020 strategic plan, and those routes could see improvements in the future.
Going for Gold to Reverse the Transit Death Spiral
“Too often, transit projects are watered down and do not result in major changes that actually improve service and grow ridership” says rider and transit advocate Jenna Thomas.
Instead, CPT is calling on GCRTA, the City of Cleveland, and Cuyahoga County to ‘go for the gold’ and implement major improvements that achieve a “gold” rating from the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) BRT scorecard, a rating system used worldwide. According to this scorecard, all BRT lines (not just gold) should include off-board fare collection to speed up service and platform-level boarding. Infrequent service, slow speeds, overcrowding, lack of enforcement of the right-of-way for bus priority, and long signal cycles are penalized under the BRT standard.
“Picture taking the Red Line train or a subway. Large vehicles are used, multiple doors open, everyone gets on, doors close and the vehicle moves quickly and arrives frequently. This is what BRT in Cleveland should be” said Thomas.
In the past 20 years, fares have doubled while GCRTA service has been reduced by 30%. Riders are tired of waiting years for transit improvements. There is no better time than now to reduce the transit death spiral by ‘going for the gold’ with major BRT improvements throughout Cuyahoga County to improve service and grow ridership.
CPT calls on GCRTA to make fast, frequent service the standard for all BRT projects, including West 25th Street.
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Clevelanders for Public Transit is a riders organization that builds power for affordable, accessible and equitable public transit in Northeast Ohio. CPT’s policy platform, Ending the Transit Death Spiral, was released in 2021. For more information, visit clefortransit.org.