RTA Rapid Transit explained

RTA Rapid Transit
Locale:Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Transit Type:Rapid transit
Semi-metro
Began Operation:
(first streetcar line);

(current lines)
;

(rapid transit);

(semi-metro)
Ended Operation:
(last streetcar use)
System Length: rapid transit
light rail[1]
Lines:1 rapid transit: Red
3 light rail: Blue, Green, Waterfront
Vehicles:40 rapid transit cars
34 light rail cars
Stations:18 rapid transit
34 light rail
Ridership: (rapid transit,)
(light rail,)
Annual Ridership: (rapid transit,)
(light rail,)
Owner:Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority

RTA Rapid Transit (generally known as The Rapid) is a rapid transit and semi-metro[2] system owned and operated by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA).

The system serves Cleveland and surrounding areas in Cuyahoga County. The system currently consists of four total service lines: one rapid transit rail line and three light rail lines.

Rail Lines

The four rail lines join at Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland, on the platform level of the former Cleveland Union Terminal.

Three rail lines share their tracks at Tri-C–Campus District and East 55th stations. This sharing of one route by light and heavy rail trains is quite unusual. The shared stations have connected platforms of two heights to accommodate the two kinds of trains. And the two types of trains both use the same maintenance facility since they both use the same track gauge and same source of power (overhead catenary).

Red Line

See main article: Red Line (RTA Rapid Transit). The Red Line, a heavy-rail route, runs in both directions on fully grade-separated rights-of-way built from 1955 to 1968. It serves Cleveland's southwest suburbs, with its southwestern terminus at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Heading northeast, the Red Line serves University Circle before heading to its northeastern terminus at the Louis Stokes Station at Windermere in East Cleveland.

Blue, Green, and Waterfront Lines

See main article: Blue Line (RTA Rapid Transit) and Green Line (RTA Rapid Transit). The Blue and Green light-rail lines (alternatively known as the RTA Shaker Rapid) were built from 1913 to 1936 as grade-separated lines closer to downtown and surface lines along street medians in the streetcar suburb of Shaker Heights.

The two lines part ways at Shaker Square, a historic mixed-use community in Cleveland proper, just west of the Shaker Heights border.The Blue Line veers southeast along Van Aken Boulevard until reaching its terminus near the intersection of Warrensville Center Road and Chagrin Boulevard (U.S. Route 422 and State Route 8). The Green line continues due east along Shaker Boulevard (State Route 87) until reaching its terminus at the intersection of Green Road.

See main article: Waterfront Line. The Waterfront Line, opened in 1996, extends the Blue and Green Lines from Tower City north through The Flats. It then travels northeast along the shoreline of Lake Erie, servicing the local Amtrak station and terminates at the Lakefront Municipal lot. The Waterfront light rail line provides access from Tower City Center to the Flats, Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Burke Lakefront Airport.

Stations

The RTA Rapid Transit system consists of a total of 47 stations.[3] The stations are fully or partially within the city limits of Cleveland, Shaker Heights, East Cleveland, and Brook Park.

†*Terminus and transfer stations
Terminal stations
Transfer stations
Closed stations
StationRapid Transit linesJurisdictionOpenedRebuiltADA access
Cleveland 1968 1994 1994
Cleveland 1997
Shaker Heights 1920 1981
Shaker Heights 1913 1980
Shaker Heights 1920 1981
Shaker Heights 1936 1980
Cleveland / Brook Park 1969 2017 2003
Cleveland 1920 1981, 2012 2012
Cleveland 1955 2014 2002
Shaker Heights 1915 1980
Cleveland / Shaker Heights 1913 1980
Cleveland 1948 1981
Cleveland 1996 1996
Cleveland 1920 2011 2011
Cleveland 1955 20212021
Cleveland 1920 1981
Cleveland 1955 2005 2005
Cleveland 1920 1981, 2019 2019
Shaker Heights 1915 1980
Cleveland 1955
Shaker Heights 1930 1981, 2019 2019
Cleveland 1996 1996
Shaker Heights 1936 1980, 1988 2001
Shaker Heights 1920 1981
Shaker Heights 1913 1980, 2017 2017
Shaker Heights 1920 1981, 2015 2015
Cleveland 2015 2015
Shaker Heights 1920 1981
Shaker Heights 1920 1980
Cleveland 1968 2011 2011
Cleveland 1996 1996
Cleveland 1920 1986 2006
Cleveland 1996 1996
Shaker Heights 1913 1980
Cleveland / Shaker Heights 1920 1981
Shaker Heights 1920 1980
Shaker Heights 1913 1981
East Cleveland 1955 1996 1996
†* Cleveland 1930 1990 1990
Cleveland 1930 2003, 2018 2018
Cleveland 1958 2000 2000
Shaker Heights 1928 1980, 2016 2016
Shaker Heights 1930 1981, 1999 1999
Cleveland 1999 1999
Cleveland 1955 1992 1992
Cleveland 1955 2004 2004
Cleveland 1955 2007 2007
Cleveland 1955 1999 1999
Shaker Heights 1936 1980
Cleveland 1958 1996 1996
†* East Cleveland 1955 1997 1997
Note: Euclid–East 120th Street station closed in 2015 and was replaced by Little Italy–University Circle station.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 29 November 2014 . Overview: Facts about the Greater Cleveland RTA . 2018-01-03 . Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
  2. Landgraf . Robert J. . Cleveland's Light Rail System in the 1980s: The Ongoing Revolution . Transportation Research Record . 1992 . 1361 . 259 . 7 May 2024 . 0361-1981.
  3. http://www.riderta.com/pdf/maps/System_Map_Main.pdf RTA system maps