A project that began nearly 50 years ago as a vision for stimulating economic growth and improving the quality of life in Northeast Ohio is now a reality.

The ribbon was officially cut today on the HealthLine, the nation’s first federally funded Bus Rapid Transit system. Cleveland sports legends Lenny Barker, Kevin Mack, and Campy Russell joined area youth athletes in the official ribbon-cutting duties. Local, state, and national officials joined the public in sending the hybrid vehicle on its maiden voyage with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA)

The celebration continues all the weekend. On Saturday, Oct. 25, there will be a Community Open House & Scavenger Hunt along the HealthLine route. At 6 p.m., a free family concert downtown on Mall B features entertainment from the Disney Channel, and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. A fireworks show choreographed to rock classics concludes the evening.

Service on all RTA trains and buses routes is free Saturday and Sunday. Weekend details.

Local foundations, the business community, non-profit organizations, the cities of Cleveland and East Cleveland, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and RTA all played a role in the planning of the event. The unveiling of the line presents an opportunity to bring Clevelanders together – drawing attention to our city’s many cultural and intellectual assets, celebrating what has been accomplished and what the future holds – pumping new life and energy into our town.

RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese is thankful for the community support.

From businesses and foundations, to our cultural institutions and civic leaders, we were all in agreement that the city needed to celebrate the current and anticipated $4.3 billion in new development along the route,” says Calabrese. “Donations, both cash and in-kind, took this idea and turn it into reality. We believe the events planned for this weekend should attract folks from throughout the region.

The HealthLine connects the region’s two largest employment centers – downtown and University Circle. Beyond this, it’s the connection to the region’s new economy. Industrialists — like Rockefeller and Severance — made Euclid Avenue a showplace for the city. Along the route, one will find world-class health care, and a world-renowned orchestra, inspiring art and architecture, and nationally respected centers for learning and entertainment. The once-famous avenue is also becoming a place for tech firms, empty nesters and Iron Chefs. And soon, it will be a place to display advancements in medical technology, with the creation of the Medical Mart.

Creating a fast link between downtown and University Circle will address a logistic issue that has hindered the city’s development for a number of years – the separation of hotels, major employers and venues in Cleveland’s central business district from cultural institutions, hospital systems and research centers. The short 20-minute commute will change the definition of what is perceived to be the city’s “center.” It will also change the direction in which people are commuting – with Warehouse residents boarding the HealthLine in the morning for a day of work in University Circle and Case students catching a ride at night for a game at Progressive Field.

Like Silicon Valley in California and the Quadrangle in the Carolinas, the HealthLine route is Northeast Ohio’s center for job creation and research. It’s also a catalyst for redevelopment. More than $4.3 billion in development has occurred or has been committed along the route. This includes rehabilitation of old buildings into housing and retail centers, new locations for business startups, and major expansions at universities, museums and hospitals. Signs of this investment can already be seen in downtown, midtown, University Circle and East Cleveland.

The HealthLine will be the first federally funded Bus Rapid Transit line – putting Cleveland in the national spotlight. The transit system offers the benefits of rail without the tracks. This includes a faster commute through dedicated transit lanes and rail stations, off-board fare payment, and traffic signal prioritization.

Green thinking is an integral part of the HealthLine. The 21 hybrid-electric vehicles used on the line are powered by clean diesel engines and electric transmissions with 100 kW motors and 600-volt nickel hydride battery packs. This unique power train reduces particulate emissions while dramatically improving fuel efficiency. Along Euclid Avenue, the planting of 1,500 trees has greened up the streetscape, and dedicated bike lanes provide commuters another green alternative to driving.

About RTA:

RTA is the nation’s 13th-largest public-transit system, serving more than 45 percent of all public-transit riders in Ohio. Its 2,753 employees operate 108 rail cars on 34 miles of track and 624 buses on 1,606 route miles.

Jaywalkers and nonworking fare machines were among minor glitches on the RTA HeathLine’s first day of operation Monday.

The bus/rapid transit system runs on Euclid Avenue from Public Square to the Stokes/Windermere station in East Cleveland.

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority had touted the fare vending machines in each station as a major factor in speeding up the route since people would prepay and board quickly at the front or back doors.

But the machines weren’t working Monday morning and likely won’t until next week, said RTA spokesman Jerry Masek. He said testing of the machines is incomplete, and, for now, drivers will collect the fares.

Jaywalkers, however, are likely to be a recurring problem, officials said.

Transit police were busy Monday issuing warnings to people who exited the vehicle, hopped off the station’s platform located in the center of Euclid Avenue, then crossed the street and traffic, Masek said. Riders existing the HealthLine need to walk to the end of the station and use the cross walk at the traffic light.

Riders will be given a grace period before RTA starts issuing tickets, he said.

Also Monday, many people appeared to be unaware that they were supposed to board the new vehicle instead of the popular No. 6 bus it replaces, Masek said. The transit authority may post temporary signs about the HealthLine.

A number of RTA officials were in and around the HealthLine before 6 a.m. Monday to help riders, Masek said. They also passed out cards listing new fares on all RTA bus and rail systems that went into effect Monday. Most riders were aware of the fare increases, Masek said.

That above may all sound nice and everything but, I think its retarded. You got this big ass pole sticking right in the middle of the aisle on these buses.  So if a driver is going fast and then slam on his breaks and they’re walking to find a seat at the same time all the other shit is going on, they’re going to smack dead into the pole.

The far has gone up once again. Mind you this is not cause of gas; far from it. They built this big dumb ass pointless Heathline in the dead center of the street and it the vehicles alone where 1 million bucks a piece and I believe there is 10-15 of them. Yes its cause of that. There was nothing wrong with the old regular buses and bus stops we had. They went and wasted money on shit we didn’t even need. Knowing damn well the coaches is going to be vandalized within the next week or so.

No telling when the prices to ride the bus is going to drop. Which I doubt will be any time soon. I’m better off paying for a car note and gas than riding the bus. People were riding the bus to get a relief from driving with the gas prices rising well they mind as well dust off their keys and hop right back in their cars cause riding a bus and paying for gas is no different.

Update:

Riding the ‘HealthLine’, I’ve noticed a few things. First the pay boxes are outside in the bus stops, not on the bus. They do it this way because they think it’ll be faster that way and so they can fine you when you don’t have your tickets when the Transit Authority make random checks. Second these random checks the transit authority make don’t really solve anything. There’s days they don’t check at all and there are days they’ll check once. When they do make these checks, the people with no tickets just watch out for them and get off at that stop they’re standing at and the transit police don’t even check them.

The transit police just hops right on the bus and check those who is still on and not those who is getting off. Thirdly, the fines are from $80 to $250 and if you have a certain amount, they’ll put you in jail. Some people tend to get away with getting these fines because when they see that the transit police is about to get on the bus, they’ll run like a bat out of hell off the bus [most of the time these multiple offenders are of course black]. Now the bus has to sit here while the transit police make a report so in case there’s a transit officer patrolling in that area, they can catch him/her. I honestly believe they did it this way so they can get all that money back they wasted making the HealthLine a reality. It’s a pain in the ass and it’s pretty stupid. The bus drivers drive so slow up the street and often times there are 3 of them going one way at once and there’s usually two of them with little to no people on them. Then when someone is in their ‘lane’ they don’t even give the person a chance to move out-of-the-way, they prefer blowing the person ear-drums out with their loud and obnoxious horn. I can see if they were late but half the time – most of the time they’re on time and doing below the speed limit, so what’s the fucking hurry?

For one way, it’s $2.25; for an all day pass it’s $5.00. The fare is supposedly supposed to go up yet again at the end of the year. It wouldn’t have to go up any higher if they didn’t make this waste of space in the middle of the damn street. Ohio’s tax is $7.25 in some places and $10.00 in others. People are leaving by the boat loads and they want to constantly raise every damn thing. In a minute all you’re going to see is tumbleweed and crack heads on every single corner; they’ll be the only one who can’t afford to leave.

Fast link my ass, I can get out and run faster than the damn buses that crawl up the street like they could be doing something else. If my knees would let me, I would. The HealthLine has been in fruition for a good solid 3-4 years now. Where the hell are the jobs they’re supposedly talking about huh? Who got the jobs? RTA’s Transit Police?

They need to get bus drivers with better attitude. I remember on one occurrence when the fare boxes weren’t working and I got on the bus to pay. The old bag got mad and asked me did I do it right. Bitch I fix and build computers for a living, I think I can work a punk ass fare box! She acted as if me paying my fare on the bus was a huge disturbance. I so wanted to tell her if she didn’t like her job she should quit, if she can’t quit she should learn to deal with her misfortune and be grateful her old wrinkly ass still have a job.  Oh but don’t be on the regular buses and they’re driving slow. Not because they’re early but because they’re talking to someone who should be sitting their asses down in a seat and not distracting the driver. You think my language is bad? Well this woman who was driving a 2241 bus; I remember the number for some odd reason, I would have remembered her name but she didn’t have a name plate any where. She was cursing so bad she could make a sailor blush. Cursing loud in front of elders and children. I wanted to so badly to kick that man who was blocking the walkway just to talk to the driver in the back of his damn head. They’re smoking on the buses, talking on their cell phones, yelling off the bus; conversing with people on the side-walk, waving hi to people they know. Do that shit when you’re in your car…alone. Not when there are other people lives in danger here.They have no regard for anyone else, they’re nasty and disrespectful. I should put not all in here some where huh? Well yea not all of em are but the majority are. Especially the women drivers. Picking their nails, texting, eating, keeping up with the drama amongst the people who supposed to be seated but standing in the aisle crowding the bus up and slowing down the flow of things.

Another thing, people with wheelchairs, they don’t care. They just let the person roll on the bus; get in the wheelchair area of the bus and then they’re about their business. They don’t tie the person down, use restraints or anything. With these crazy ass drivers literally stomping down on the breaks, the person could fly out of their chair, then who can spell ‘lawsuit’? Yep, you got it; hopefully they can as dumb as these Clevelanders are. RTA has had a lot of accidents due to dumb ass drivers in the past few years, you would think they would be more cautious. They only thing they did was pretty much put a loud-speaker on the outside of the bus that says that “the bus is turning” and to “look both ways”. After that last incident where the bus driver turned her bus right into someone who was in the cross walk crossing the street. The poor man had the right away of course. Here people can turn on a red light and things like that. The woman that hit him was on her cellphone; she was suspended. I think she’s in jail now. Shit she better be; vehicle manslaughter. The way they cut people off, they cause a lot of accidents that way. They think because they’re riding a bigger vehicle they can do what they want. One day they should hop in their car and forget they’re in a car and cut someone off. Or be behind a bus that cut them off and see if they like it. I mean that’s if they’re driving; I’m seeing more bus drivers catching the bus to their job than anyone else.

If I had a choice I would ride a bike or simply walk but I’m pretty much disabled and at the moment sadly, RTA is my only option.