Cleveland Paper’s Fact-Free Take on Transit: “Wheezing” Buses Pollute Downtown

There's a big debate happening in Cleveland right now about where buses fit in the city's newly redesigned Public Square. Mayor Frank Jackson and his local media mouthpiece, the Plain Dealer editorial board, have come down firmly on the side of booting buses off the square, even though it's the hub for the regional bus system, with about 20,000 transfers daily.

The redesign has disrupted bus route patterns, slowing down transit trips and making connections much less convenient for bus riders. The bus reroutes also cost the regional transit agency millions of dollars a year, which threatens service throughout the transit system.

Transit advocates have charged that the mayor's decision is all about pleasing affluent visitors who don't want to rub elbows with transit riders when they come to the new park. The mayor's office has countered by saying that pedestrian safety is the paramount concern -- and also, somehow, that allowing buses on the square elevates the threat of terrorism.

But it was the Plain Dealer's knock on "wheezing, block-long buses" in a recent editorial that really rankled local blogger Tim Kovach, who works as an air quality planner. In fact, closing the square to buses will measurably worsen air quality in the region, he says:

Kovach calculates that rerouting buses outside the square will lead to between "535.98 and 860.96 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) per year." He concludes:

What we're also reading today: GJEL Accident Attorneys says Oakland's policy of making downtown street parking free around the holidays undermines the city's purported goal of stimulating spending at local businesses. And Seattle Transit Blog asks whether Sound Transit will opt for trains with open gangways, which can carry more passengers, in its next light rail vehicle purchase.