Code,999077
Subject,Joe Calabrese
Date,10/15/08
Interviewer,Mark Tebeau
Abstract,"Joe Calabrese, CEO and General Manager of the Greater Cleveland RTA, discusses the importance of public transportation. Most of the discussion focuses on the Euclid Corridor Project and its impact on urban renewal, both in the short term and the long term.  "
Tags,"rta, euclid corridor, public transit, subway plan, environment, gas prices, university circle, downtwon development, medical economy"
Special Notes,
Minutes: ,25:34:00
0,Casual conversation before interview begins.
1,"CEO and General Manager of Greater Cleveland RTA. Born in Utica, New York ""40 plus years ago"" and has been in the transit industry for 33 years. Got involved in public transit out of grad school because of the first Arab oil embargo and experience of gasoline rationing. "
2,"Two best job offers out of grad school were a bus company and mobil oil, but ""knew oil was not the way to go"" as US was trying to reduce dependence on foreign oil. At the time US imported 1/3 foreign crude, now import 2/3 foreign crude. Beginning to see a second wave of attempt to lessen dependence on foreign oil, however now there are differences including global warming and other environmental concerns. "
3,"RTA is trying to help foster this by doing the Euclid Corridor Project which is hopefully going to attract new riders to public transit which is ""very green."" First job was at Central New York Regional Transit Authority as a management trainee. Had little knowledge about public transportation."
4,"Put himself through nine month training program getting experience in being a bus driver, maintenance worker, operations, and dispatch. Got a good background working in a system and felt it gave him some credibility to speak for employees. Was in first job for 11 years, started his own company selling goods to the public transit industry, then went back to CRTA as president. In February of 2000 Calabrese came to Cleveland. "
5,"Came to Cleveland and corridor project was ""approaching a 45 year dream."" Many people thought it would never happen because. In 1953 voted to build a subway which never happened.  "
6,"There was no RTA in 1953 so it was a county project which never acted on the vote until the bonding authority expired. Trolleys started disappearing and buses started taking their place, but buses were a slow system. People began talking between 50's and late 90's to connect the major economic generators. In the late 90's the idea of Bus Rapid Transit started coming from South America."
7,"Story is that Governor Voinovich went to Curitiba, Brazil and saw the world renowned bus rapid transit system and believed that would be the solution for Euclid Ave, delegation met in 1998 or 99 and started working on the process. At the same time, US Government became interested in bus rapid transit as way to develop rapid transit at lower capital and operating cost and were looking for demonstration projects."
8,"Preliminary designs were done before Calabrese arrived, but the major task was getting funded. Could not be funded locally but there was funding in DC for major capital transportation projects. Very competitive funding, but Cleveland beat 63 other cities for the funds. Many people wondering if the money could have been better spent on education or housing, however this money was given for transportation. Pittsburgh and Las Vegas were the other two cities in the top of the running."
9,"Cleveland was the winning project because of hope for economic development. Discusses criteria for rating process, the most important being ""travel time saving"" and ability to relieve congestion. Cleveland does not have a problem with congestion or large projected population growth, had to counter that issue with hope and promise of additional economic and urban renewal and allowed them to scored high.  "
10,"In 2000, Euclid Ave was not in good shape and trend was going downward. What's good for downtown was good for RTA, so helping fix city was a ""mutual win."" Regionally, Euclid is important which had a lot of unmet potential because people did not want to invest in the decaying urban area. Much more than an RTA project, supported by the business community and regional governments, this political pressure and unity with businesses pushed it to be successful"
11,"RTA required to track economic growth on the corridor. At groundbreaking in 2004, tracking 400 million worth of work on Euclid Ave, a few months ago (from time of interview) went up to 2.5 billion. Plain Dealer conducted their own study and found it was 4.3 billion."
12,"Most of the state historic tax credits given statewide were given to property owners on Euclid Ave to fix buildings. Land value in midtown has doubled in the past three years. Things happening in University Circle are ""amazing,"" which includes all kinds of major projects at hospitals and CMA, but also smaller projects like town homes, condos, and apartments to create living quarters for the 10,000 jobs coming to University Circle. "
13,"Good news that there is room on Euclid Ave to fill in. Thinks there are going to be incubator businesses , University Circle moving west, laboratories, housing, talking to one group about creating a central urban park. People are enthused. Won't know how far it could have bottomed out if they had never intervened in 2004."
14,"RTA works closely with East 4th and credits project with some of the growth. People are excited about upgraded sidewalks and landscaping, which he believes in inspiring people to build apartments, bars, and restaurants which are expanding onto Euclid. Lots of work going on between East 6th and East 9th. During construction there were 10,000 orange barrels, as they took their barrels down others came up which is a good sign of economic development.  "
15,
16,"Public Transit is on a resurgence, last year about 10.3 billion rides nationally, which is the largest number in 50 years. Over the last 10-12 years growing faster than vehicle miles in automobiles and airline miles traveled. Also see that trend in Cleveland, 6th consecutive year of increased ridership which is amazing considering losing population and jobs downtown. Typical weekday 200,000 customers, about 10% are on the Euclid Corridor."
17,"There are as many riders on the Number 6 bus line as all of the rail lines combined. Built in ridership base that will transfer from the number 6 to the Health Line. 48% of all public transit in the state is in Cleveland and provides more rides than Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo combined. "
18,"Health Line originally going to be named Silverline because the Bus Rapid Transit product is difficult to describe. Designed as if it was a rail system but the only difference is that vehicles have rubber tires. Wanted to give it a rail line name, like blue line and green line. "
19,"All aesthetics of the line were silver to go with the name, but the name had to change due to money. Did not want to use the traditional bus advertisement, so decided to sell the naming rights instead of the aesthetics. Expected businesses to buy naming rights but was eventually bought by a coalition of Clinic and UH. Named changed to Healthline instead of Silverline."
20,"Feels like the name works because the project promotes the health of the city, region, and economy. First example of naming rights in public transportation, which is good because over the next 25 years, million of dollars will be donated to maintain the line and the stations."
21,"Medical institution will be great for growth of Cleveland, especially with the medical mart. RTA provides tremendous service to Clinic and UH for employee's and patients. Believes that some of the gaps on the corridor will be filled with medical related businesses."
22,"Healthline is not a bus, it is an Rapid Transit Vehicle. Six cities, Eugene, Oregon, a system north of LA, Phoenix, AZ and in Florida, have issued orders for vehicles, another 12 are looking into them.  Paid work with the manufacturer to develop the vehicle, receiving royalties from other sales of the vehicles."
23,"System is much more than the vehicle. Two things that people will see are the station and the vehicles, however Bus Rapid Transit is more than those two things, exclusive bus lane, traffic signal control to make a 30 min trip less than 20, and first in the nation precision docking borrowed from Essen, Germany and Leeds, England which helps  elderly and persons with disabilities. "
24,Whole system that emulates world's best high tech rail systems in Cleveland at a fraction of the cost.
25,Idle conversation Audio Ends.
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