By Joe Baur
Clevelanders have now had nearly a month to digest the new Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com of Northeast Ohio Media Group. The outlet broke out in grand fashion with a nationally ridiculed review of the Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain. Weeks later, the hard-nosed investigative reporting continues with their latest feature on the value of RTA’s Waterfront Line.
At face value, this does seem to be a step in the right direction. Serious transportation coverage would be a welcomed treat in a city where non-drivers make up a significant portion of the population. Unfortunately, we have to settle with reporter Mark Naymik’s recent video coverage.
In short, Naymik’s two minute and twenty second video mixed with an odd combination of still shots and b-roll amounts to, “I rode the Waterfront Line, didn’t see many professional people on it, therefore its hours should be reduced.”
No facts, no statistics – just anecdotal evidence to justify limiting one of the few public transit routes we have in a city overrun by speedy boulevards and elevated highways. If Naymik, fresh off his thrilling report on Cedar Point’s Fast Lane pass (a matter of grave importance!), cares so much for how our tax dollars are spent, then perhaps he should file a video report (but please, one that doesn’t look like it was produced in an hour) on the so-called Opportunity Corridor. The latter project is government waste at its finest.
Back to the Waterfront Line, Naymik even takes to showing viewers still shots of an empty Tower City rapid station. There’s nothing to indicate when this still was taken. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say he took it while working on this report. Instead, let’s ask why he couldn’t film a live action shot at the rapid station.
He uses a similar tactic to show the lack of ridership on the Waterfront Line. No live footage was shot on the train itself. And it’s not that he couldn’t have put forth the effort. Hell, I’ve filmed on a rapid train before.
The lone live shot RTA receives is an uncomfortably long, shaky shot where no riders can be seen waiting for the train. Of course, the train never passes by in Naymik’s shot. So it essentially proves that Clevelanders don’t sit at train stations when trains aren’t going by. Riveting stuff.
To be fair, I don’t doubt that the Waterfront Line isn’t one of RTA’s most traveled routes. As Naymik points out, not much of the planned development for the Flats has gone live just yet. He also makes the good point (the only in the report) that parking is still too readily available and underpriced to convince many car-attached Clevelanders to take transit.
Still, one has to wonder how Northeast Ohio Media Group (Cleveland.com or whatever they want to be called) allowed this unfinished, entirely anecdotal report to go live. Naymik goes so far as to comment that the only people he saw on the train were not wearing suits, because somehow attire is a requirement to equitable transportation options. If only Barney Stinson had been riding that day.
Some may take this as an attack on Naymik or Northeast Ohio Media Group. I truly hope that’s not the case, because that’s not at all the point. I don’t doubt Naymik is a pleasant fellow or that he meant well in his reporting. But that doesn’t cut it for a professional news outlet. If you’re going to commit to video, then get reporters that can make a video. We don’t need a Scorsese every time a Northeast Ohio Media Group reporter heads out with a camera, but it needs to be better than what I can slap together on iMovie with iPhone footage.
There is, however, one nugget of positivity to find in this story. If we get to close or alter transportation routes based on what we perceive as underused or wasteful, then I have a slew of thoroughfares that Naymik can investigate.
Once I stood over a balcony at an Indians game and didn’t see a single car passing by on Carnegie Avenue. Hey, Taxpayer!, as Naymik would say, let’s get rid of some of those wide lanes and give them to pedestrians or cyclists who might use them.
Hey, Taxpayer! The Detroit-Superior Bridge can be rather ghostly at times. Drivers already have the Shoreway and the Hope Memorial Bridge to go west, so how about closing the Detroit Bridge down to cyclists and pedestrians only?
Hey, Taxpayer! I have a plethora of transportation decisions I’d like to make based on my own feelings and experiences. But at least mine won’t screw over people who can’t afford suits and will make transportation a little more accessible to all. Plus my video won’t resemble something a first-time production college student would slap together on a hangover.
[Pictured, bottom: No cars on the Shoreway as the city’s biggest sporting event ends? Taxpayer waste. Let’s get rid of it!]
Joe Baur is a freelance writer, filmmaker and satirist with a diverse array of interests including travel, adventure, craft beer, health, urban issues, culture and politics. He ranks his allegiances in the order of Cleveland, the state of Ohio and the Rust Belt, and enjoys a fried egg on a variety of meats. Joe has a B.A. in Mass Communication with a focus on production from Miami University. Follow him at http://JoeBaur.com and on Twitter @BaurJoe.
16 Responses to “Northeast Ohio Media Group Wants To Make Transportation Policy”
Mark Naymik
Joe:
I’m always happy to answer questions so feel free to reach out. We have talked before. You seem to jump between questioning the content and the quality of the video. Sorry the video wasn’t polished. I think the content is more important. (The video, by the way, was produced while riding the train with an app called videoliscious, something I was trying out. It allows me to let you see what I see. You drag in photos and videos just shot while I give a voiceover and then upload it.) …. As for content, I’d love to give you statistics but RTA doesn’t track or ridership and refuses to release figures. (If you have figures that support its, ridership, send them my way.) Also, you should note as I did in the piece that the developer of the Flats East Bank pushed to have the Waterfront Line open for the project. Not sure if he promised riders. Why are the couple of thousand people working at the site not riding the Waterfront Line? I don’t have the answer but the fact is they are not riding it. Should the developer and employers do more to encourage ridership? Absolutely. And that’s a better focus of your advocacy. I am a columnist so I feel liberated to offer opinions. If my opinion becomes policy – then someone in power agreed with me. It’s fair to note that my criticism of the Waterfront Line was directed at the post-rush hour times. (I rode from 11:00 am through 3:30 pm). I’d love to see the Waterfront Line build up ridership during rush hour. (But I could have slammed the Waterfront Line by riding it during the morning rush hour, when it is also nearly as empty.)
Joe
Hey Mark,
Thanks for commenting. And yes, you’re correct that I jump between questioning the content and quality of the video. I think both warrant questioning. I’ll admit that I’m very sensitive to transit being criticized, mainly because of how inequitably it’s funded. That’s not to say it shouldn’t be criticized nor that a public agency shouldn’t be criticized. They absolutely should be, and I don’t doubt that the Waterfront Line is struggling early on. I sit on the RTA Citizens Advisory Board and have offered my fair share of criticism over various issues.
But the asphalt industry receives infinitely more funds than RTA or the Waterfront Line has. So myself and others who rely on transit in a heavily motorist-favored city get frustrated when transit is attacked as taxpayer waste, yet the endless amount of wasteful road projects or new road projects (Opportunity Corridor) don’t seem to receive the same amount of negative press.
You’re right that the developers could probably do more to promote transit, which is why I said you make a good point on how cheap parking will make it hard for longtime drivers to change their transportation habits. Cheaper parking seems to be thought of as a right around here.
Regarding the video, I agree the content is more important. So why upload something that isn’t polished or the best work of what Northeast Ohio Media Group can offer? For me it takes away from the story. I don’t think you’d see that quality of video on The New York Times’ website, and I want my city’s paper (or media group) to strive to be as good if not better than the best.
Moving forward, I hope Northeast Ohio Media Group takes a look at how underfunded RTA is compared to Cleveland’s overbuilt thoroughfares, especially since a large chunk of the city’s population rely solely on transit. To me, it’s one of the greatest ongoing injustices in the city.
Thanks again for taking the time. Cheers!
Roldo Bartimole
The Waterfront Line from the beginning has been a non-transit project that has cost
RTA the full cost of $69 million of local tax money. The downtown lobby (now
Greater Cleveland Partnership, formerly Cleveland Tomorrow). The downtown lobby
pushed RTA to take on the full cost when the feds would have paid, I believe, up to
80 percent of the cost. However, to get federal funding certain actions would have had
to be done by RTA. The downtown lobby wanted it NOW! It was really part of the Rock
& Roll Hall of fame building project that demanded immediacy. Then, of course, it proved
to be a total money loser, as it still is.
The tragedy is that RTA’s real duty should be to provide transportation to the transit
dependent population, of which there is plenty of need. But the transit-dependent people
have no lobby and get little attention.
Naymik’s piece is right on the button. There needs to be a transit reporter at the PD
who watches what’s done very carefully and consistently with an eye to providing
cheap transportation to those who need transportation to jobs, medical appointment
and to other destinations.
What we need from RTA is transparency about the cost of operating the line NOW
and the ridership numbers.
I hope Naymik keeps on probing those issues.
Roldo Bartimole
John Ettorre
Good discussion. As a former colleague of Mark’s (and Roldo’s) during his alt-weekly days, I know (sense?) that Mark may sometimes be a little uncomfortable with the silly faux-populist packaging that the new web-first org has decided to dive into, and strives to overcome those handcuffs that are beyond his control by delivering useful, meaty and serious content. It’s also heartening that he chooses to engage criticism this way. That ultimately leads to more light and less heat, which is a good thing for everyone.
Joe
Roldo,
Thank you for the comment.
I agree RTA should release any and all numbers the public demands, and that there’s nothing wrong in a report asking for it. I also agree that RTA needs to go where the transportation is needed. I think that’s a much more valuable story for a PD reporter to pursue than a narrative that simply feeds the angry Cleveland.com commenter’s hatred of public transportation. And since there are no numbers, this story still reads to me, “I rode the Waterfront Line, didn’t see many people, therefore it’s a waste.” Living downtown, I see plenty of empty, wide thoroughfares. Why not talk about those? I also still wonder why it matters if those riding the train are wearing suits or not.
There are countless wasteful road projects that don’t receive an ounce of the negative press the drastically underfunded RTA receives. How about looking at how much we spend on those road projects in a larger story that would undoubtedly explain why RTA can’t go to where the transportation is needed? Perhaps if we weren’t trying to maintain our overbuilt road infrastructure and add to it (Opportunity Corridor), ODOT would see fit to more fairly fund public transportation in this region.
Cheers,
Joe
Roldo Bartimole
Joe: I agree about wasteful road projects and in particular the
Opportunity (talk about Orwellian doublespeak) but why would
unnecessary and costly (all local revenue) be any different?
I think Naymik provided a service in pointing out the absurdity
of the Waterfront Line, a neglected subject for many years by the PD.
A jab was long overdue and follow-up is necessary.
Joe
Roldo,
Public transportation faces an uphill battle already in a region dominated by cars with drivers who are honking for cyclists to get out of the way and don’t think they should have to pay taxes for transit. So when RTA, a system that is drastically underfunded compared to the road industry, is attacked for wasteful spending, I wonder where all the criticism is for ODOT and their wasteful spending when they hold onto an infinitely larger piece of the pie.
As I said in the piece, I don’t think RTA is immune to criticism. Far from it. It just strikes me as picking on the little guy when asphalt has been bullying our region for decades when RTA has been doing the best they can with the crumbs ODOT gives them. Perhaps if we hadn’t so drastically over-funded roads and highways, more people would be living in the city and the Waterfront Line wouldn’t be such a ghost ride. I’d rather examine that.
Chris K.
Although these comments seem to be more about the reporting, I wanted to comment on my actual experiences being a downtown worker and riding the waterfront line. I have taken the bus from Euclid to downtown for the past 5 years. Since June I work in the new Flats East Bank building. In order to get here I have to get off the bus on 9th Street and either take the waterfront line or hop a trolley on Lakeside Ave. Neither is working out very well. The waterfront line runs every 15 minutes. When I get off my bus I always just miss the rapid and have to wait the whole 15 minutes. Down at the bottom of the stairs, where you wait for the train, nobody is around. There are no riders and no security. It is scary. I have contacted the RTA and asked them about security. Nothing has been done. I have stopped taking the waterfront line because of this. I ride during “rush hour” while it is daylight. There is no way I will go down there when the time changes and it is dark. After trying the waterfront line for two weeks, I started taking the trolley. Although the wait is only generally 10 minutes, the trolley will not drop riders on West 9th Street, closer to the building. I have contacted the General Manager directly as suggested on the RTA website. I was told I should be taking the waterfront line and not taking the trolley. I was told the trolley cannot stop, and will never stop, on West 9th Street – even though the trolley drives down that street. I have passed the point of frustration and landed in resignation. Nobody cares about this waterfront line issue, because NOBODY is riding it.
SpaceArt
WHERE start with all this…seriously. Horse left the barn far as autos and roads…People have fam,biz and other stuff all over the place and want or need a car…DO agree far as RTA should stick to taking care of folks who NEED the transport (IS a good system)FINALLY the economy,demographics are putting a skid to endless sprawl. DONT need the workers,buildings,etc. NO idea WHAT affect from MedMart,new Flats stuff and all that.in relation to DOwntown or even NEOhio..SUSPECT gonna be a success…which unfortunately started out with lot of bad baggage. IF want honest truth ? MedMart is gonna be a WILD unusual unofficial ‘science museum’ and then some considering technology out there..
IF want to see a REAL public wastrel…..AMTRACK…MUCH bigger template out there as indicator of what to expect. YES different markets,missions,etc.but still this ‘public entity’ which tend to overshadow each other…THIER DEFICITS are TOTALLY insane..SOMETHING like a accumulated $40 BILLION dollars…YAH different parts of THAT have positive revenue flow and all that but…BASICALLY “THAT” history doomed ANY “OHIO based home grown’ rail efforts….HOW much was that bullet train or high speed train they were talking about building? PERSONALLY I think someones wetdream or ANOTHER corporate cover to ‘sell something’ to voters,etc.THIS $6 BILLION PLUS ‘dream’ and THAT was before maintenance costs,bond costs,pensions,etc.etc. PUT THIS another way…did NOT help Mr.STRICKLAND when HE ran for OHIO gov re election 2010 campaign…the bad economy then certainly did NOT help Him EITHER and more pressing of the issues facing voters THAT year..BUT THAT hung all that over Him like a lead balloon which helped sink Him…
Opportunity COrridor…IF any value EASES this hideous serpentine stop and go ordeal thru Downtown…I have BEEN OVER at UNIV.CIRCLE during THEIR rushhour…HIDEOUS. ALMOST scary. ZIP around like mad things around their circular drives… MAYBE speaks LOUDER volumes about what CANT get at satellite med campuses or level of care or however want to interpret all that..
I DO remember vague talk about economic spur IN Local area…ok gas stations,fastfood,etc. Im listening to this wonderland Dream by certain PD architectural writer and rest on local shows about this econ boom and wannabe silicon valley and all that… Ohh realllly?!…
SAD part…RACE RELATIONS,ego, Yuppie McMansion thing and all that overlaying the whole discourse…. superiority complex…urban ruin porn rules toooo….
Evan
I am in complete agreement with Joe Baur this time. His analogy about shutting down occasional empty roads is spot on.
Mark Naymik is generally a good columnist, but this utter meretriciousness about the RTA Waterfront Line is at best superficial and at worst disingenuous. Naymik is clearly exploiting perceived low-hanging fruit to pretend to be PD’s ever-vigilant taxpayers’ watch dog.
Only a fraction of the renewed Flats has returned — for barely a couple of summer months — and Naymik postures like he’s wielding some long-range study about RTA ridership. Without so much as a Google-search for how other cities develop rail patronage, he decides to turn his thumbs down on the only new rail extension in Cleveland in decades.
I know bloggers (trolls) commenting under Cleveland.com do it all the time. But does Naymik, a genuine columnist, even think of the ramifications of such tea-party-style myopia?
Los Angeles has spent the last two decades pouring $billions into reinventing itself as a city with a viable rail-alternative city. The rest of the country thought this was nuts. But my friends there agree with media that its finally starting to pay off — as more rail lines feed into others and businesses finally see the advantage of such connectivity.
Los Angeles clearly has no choice but to find alternatives to its desperately clogged highways. Cleveland is not in such dire traffic conditions — but it a much more affordable opportunity to add another rail notch to its belt:
A point Naymik unforgivably sidesteps is the fact that the Waterfront Line is already HERE. The politics and studies and cash outlay are well behind us.
What’s more, Naymik seems clueless that the Waterfront Line is merely a two-mile spur of EXISTING rail lines — the merging of the Blue and the Green.
That means the same single operator on the same train simply adds another 10 minutes or so to the schedule. No extra equipment. No extra manpower.
The trick is, it has to be there as riders decide to be there. It can’t simply shut down when the crowds seem low — like the sleazy airlines — and expect some tourist waiting in vain at the station not to bristle and think WTF is wrong with this city. We can’t afford that to happen.
So, as the Flats grows, the Waterfront can quite affordably grow with it. As incremental bars, clubs, restaurants tourist attractions and HOUSING sprout, a handy rail connection will be right there.
Even Naymik intimated the tourists already respond well to the service; I would think a city so focused on tourism enhancements will find continued availability of the Waterfront Line — to the existing stadium, Flats, the Science Center and the Rock hall — paramount.
But please remember, Mark, you don’t develop mass-transit ridership by stopping ridership altogether.
SpaceArt
TECHNICALLY EVAN is correct…DID spend the $,DO have the gear,etc.etc. WHEN Flats was busy in Old days of 1990s as PartyCentral was a different matter…NO idea if IF hoped for REST of FLATS will occur or not..time will tell…to be HONEST. GOT LOT of underused office bldgs.,CONNECTED biz crews and all that and I AM SURE THEY want to FIX UP old stuff as condoes,apartments and whatever else to make those places VIABLE…NOW or NEVER…TIME will tell HOW viable MMPI GCH MEDMART or WHOEVER THE ‘new’ administrator of THAT complex is….
To be HONEST…a MEDMART is a good idea,etc. AFRAID dragged on so long,etc. lost something of a mojo… THEN again technology to rest is leaping ahead so fast STILL maybe a very viable idea and complex… I CAN understand WHY folks would latch onto THAT…
HOW far out the good econ and social multiplier affect from THAT affects area is anyones guess…
SpaceArt
CONSIDERING budgets, pension costs, DC and OUR state capital budgets,politics,etc. I HAVE VERY SERIOUS doubts about ANY NEW high cost public transit project….least as far as RTA is concerned…I THINK can forget the “dreams’ about literail going down Euclid Opportunity SilverLine HealthCareLine corridor as were…ACTUALLY I THINK chickens coming Home to roost on LOT of the nonprofit but ESPECIALLY the GOV stuff… WHAT has the politico battles,tax fights,etc. been about… Far as Mr.Bauer…hey…LEAST ON LORAIN bridge BICYCLISTS, walkers got OWN RAISED pathway WITH a GOOD protective concrete barrier so are safer…
CONSIDERING the nasty politico stuff, certain officials running for HIGHER office DOWNSTATE and all the rest of it I THINK end is near for fancy new funky mega projects… REPAVES,etc. are another story..
PS..forgive Me if I ramble on or maybe unfairly compare Fed stuff with OWN local efforts,entities but hey SOME context…my earlier comments about AMTRACK…
PUT it THIS way…ODOT or FEDS threw out $ app request for $ for that wannabe SHOREWAY fancy bridge connecting Mall C/Med Mart to museum stuff and Browns…BROWNS have OWN big walkway to THEIR stadium… THE $ requested for a TEMPERATURE, weather element ‘control’ bridge was INSANE…like $30-60 MILLION dollars… REST of ped bridges NOWHERE NEAR that pricey…
PUT ANOTHER way…HOW many Medmart,other visitors gonna be frothing at the mouth begging,panting to get to OUR science ctr,RockHall,etc. …….SERIOUSLY… WHAT politico can stand there and peddle some moddycoddle pamper project to HIGH paid out of towner whatever while rest of city has collapsing roads,chuckholes,etc Far as HOTEL thing itself…OK makes sense… SOME clowns over at CRAINS were talking about some fancy high dollar ‘statement building’…SOMEHOW I don’t think the visitors are gonna care…so long as neat,clean,functional,safe,good food,quiet,,able to get decent TV,etc. who cares otherwise… if want to do anything THIS DNA HELIX symbol put into side of building or a stature out front…NO brass,copper,etc. SCRAPPERS will steal it…
SpaceArt
IF can UNLOAD, FILL these big buildings THAT is more then half the battle….AND work for all..OTHER? Level,covered parking ‘garage’,whatever….if that unviable or unstable then not rentable,useable or taxable…BETTER a flattened corpse then a wreck dragging values down and a total pain all the way around…
SpaceArt
FEEL for You Chris K…. NOT surprised…Shame cuz RTA has good drivers,busses,etc.
SpaceArt
FLATS thing…HOW MANY of THEM HAVE cars,etc. GOT to ANY fancy housing deal,etc. See Beemers,volvo,hi end Americano,Hi end Japanese,etc. NORMALLY…see some poo worker clunker cars tooo…. far as CHRIS K…sounds like a gal who doesn’t want to get mugged,raped,etc. IT DOES happen…the occasional news story… CARRY mace or a CW. Or taser..whatever it takes. Have a throwdown purse….or wallet. MOST just want $ for some eightballs or cheap weed, ciggies,cheap booze…NORMALLY….
SpaceArt
Hey…deaths,jail,rehab,expat out,low birthrates,underground econ,etc. making folks THINK twice about what doing, TRYING to do or WHY should do things. CULLING of sorts…Heck of a thing to have to do or go thru….