Cleveland's new
Regional Transit Authority HealthLine transformed a 46-minute trip along the nine-mile corridor into a route with its own reserved lanes, and through traffic lights that are programmed to give the busses priority. Fares are paid via vending machines at the 40 stops along the route.
The innovative approach to urban transportation has not gone unnoticed in neighboring Pennsylvania.
Writer Jon Schmitz praises Cleveland for its dedicated route that connects downtown with the Cleveland Clinic in a
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story,
Cleveland’s HealthLine bus route could be a model for Pittsburgh.
“The $197 million project literally remade Euclid Avenue, replacing ancient underground infrastructure and crumbling sidewalks, reconstructing the road surface, adding station kiosks and landscaping medians between the stops.”
Schmitz goes on to detail other aspects that make the line a benefit to both riders and the surrounding community.
"The organization aggressively assembled land, removed blighted buildings and developed stringent zoning in anticipation of improved transit in the corridor," notes Schmitz.