Cleveland

A pleasant waiting environment can make transit trips seem shorter, while traffic and pollution make waits seem longer than they really are, according to a new study.

Laying track isn't enough to build a successful transit system -- as some cities are learning the hard way.

It's not enough for highway builders to carve out land at great public expense so they can jam more cars into cities. Now they want you to believe their projects are great for the neighborhoods that bear the brunt of the added traffic and pollution.

As I wrote this morning, the CTA is currently requiring bus operators to drive no faster than 3 mph when passing by the long, raised Loop Link bus rapid transit platforms. This is to ensure that the buses' rearview mirrors don't strike customers who are standing too close to the platform edge. Unfortunately, this has been a big factor in why bus speeds along the corridor, which opened on Sunday, have so far shown little or no improvement over the old 3 mph rush-hour average.

It was a sad day in Washington, DC, last year when Harriet Tregoning left the DC Office of Planning. But it’s becoming clear that she's a great addition at HUD.

Atlantic Senior Editor Ta-Nehisi Coates was in Cleveland last week talking about his acclaimed long-form article, "The Case for Reparations," which reviews the history of economic and social oppression of African Americans.

Cleveland's Healthline is widely viewed as the best bus rapid transit project in the country -- and for many good reasons. Running on dedicated center lanes, the Healthline isn't bogged down by car traffic on the most congested portions of its 7.1-mile route. With about 14,000 daily trips, the Healthline has increased ridership nearly 50 percent (though some of that is attributable to elimination of redundant routes), and local officials credit it with spurring billions of dollars of development nearby.

Cleveland doesn't look like a dying Rust Belt city these days in the Little Italy and University Circle neighborhoods. In fact, it looks like it's thriving.

Opponents of the CTA’s plan to build fast, reliable bus rapid transit on Ashland Avenue have argued that, despite the success of BRT in numerous international and U.S. cities, Ashland is a unique street where converting car lanes to dedicated bus lanes won’t work. Streetsblog readers also have asked for examples of systems that share the elements of the CTA’s plan: a four-lane street converted to two travel lanes plus center-running bus lanes, with most left turns prohibited, on-street parking, and some local, curbside bus service retained.