[PRCo] Re: Cleveland

[Herb Brannon]

Nothing, except that PATransit exercised it's right to operate over tracks
which it owned at the expense of the County Commissioners. There was really
no need to keep those tracks.
On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 5:02 PM, Dwight Long <dwightlong at verizon.net> wrote:

>
> Herb
>
> What was the perceived advantage of that somewhat circuitous rerouting of
> 49?
>
> Dwight
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Herb Brannon" <hrbran at cavtel.net>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 2:16 PM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Cleveland
>
>
> >I worked in the Service, Rates & Planning Dept (SRP) as a Planning
> > Assistant. SRP is the planning and testing arm of the Operations
> Division.
> > The main planning area was called Long Range Planning and Development and
> > was part of the Executive Management. Working in SRP was an interesting
> > and
> > fun job. Not as much fun as operating the buses and cars but nonetheless
> > not bad at all.
> > One of the fun things I did was "vehicle to route testing".  When new
> > routes or methods of operation were proposed it was the job of SRP to
> > check
> > out the routing and the type vehicle selected to operate on the new route
> > or service to make sure all clearances were OK, streets could be
> navigated
> > without too much trouble, passenger pick-up areas were safe, etc. This
> > testing also set the actual running times as opposed to the proposed
> > running times given in the original written proposal.  When a routing was
> > to be tested we would call the division which would be operating the
> > service to set a date to begin testing. Local 85 of the ATU would be
> > notified as would the Instruction Department. The date would be set and
> > myself representing Service, Rates & Planning along with a Training
> > Instructor from the Instruction Dept, a representative of the Amalgamated
> > Transit Union, and the operator of the vehicle would start the proposed
> > route from one end to the other then back again. We would all note safety
> > concerns, traffic bottlenecks, parking problems, passenger
> > boarding/alighting  concerns,  proposed bus/car stops and any thing else
> > we
> > saw. Over the next few days the same group would "time" the route during
> > AM
> > Peak, Base Day, and PM Peak periods. Everyone then met, discussed the
> > items
> > and decided if the proposal was a yes or a no.
> >
> > Another thing I did was go to citizens groups to answer questions on new
> > or
> > existing service. These were mostly church groups and they complained a
> > lot. A much better audience I confronted were  the students at the Boyce
> > Campus of Allegheny County Community College. Myself and another guy,
> > (Arthur Carter) who began working in SRP when I did, went to ACC on
> > several
> > occasions to talk with students on the new services PATransit was
> > instituting to that campus.
> >
> > I worked on one streetcar routing change. That was sending the
> > 49-Arlington
> > Warrington on a new Sunday/Holiday downtown loop. The normal 49 loop was
> > Ft. Pitt, Grant, Liberty, Wood, Ft. Pitt. We tested and, for a short
> time,
> > put into service Smithfield, 4th, Ross, Forbes, Grant, Liberty, Wood, Ft.
> > Pitt. It lasted a few months until bus drivers coming inbound on Forbes
> > claimed the streetcar sitting on Forbes near Grant caused a safety
> problem
> > since they had to squeeze by between the curb and the trolley.
> >
> > There was lots and lots of  not so glamorous work such as checking new
> > timetable master sheets for accuracy, checking maps for accuracy, being a
> > "go-fer", running things back and forth between SRP and the operating
> > divisions, etc.
> >
> > Like I said it was fun but not near as much fun as pressing down on the
> > power pedal of a 1700 series PCC and feeling the car pick up speed on the
> > right of way.
> >
> > On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 10:45 AM, Phillip Clark Campbell
> > <pcc_sr at yahoo.com>wrote:
> >
> >> Mr.Brashear,
> >> I should have written "Cleveland and CVSR are growing."
> >> It is very impressive; considering the times and the
> >> economy, it is even much more impressive.  Mr.Brannon's
> >> enthusiasm is subtle but very clear.  It is nice to take part
> >> in positive growth.  I wish Cleveland, CVSR and you
> >> continued success Mr.Brannon.
> >>
> >> I was reading through old list emails.  You wrote you worked in the
> >> Planning department of Pat.  Could you please detail some of
> >> your experiences and the challenges you faced and how they
> >> were resolved?
> >>
> >> Your writing recently is riveting, very well organized with very good
> >> information.  You seem to have many good resources and use
> >> them well.  Thank you for your efforts.  You seemed very quiet
> >> when I was reading the
> >>  archives.
> >>
> >>
> >> Phil
> >>
> >>
> >> My apologies Mr.Brashear.  Yahoo extends the quote area below;
> >> I am not able to respond below your comment to follow your example.
> >> There isa way to trick the computer but I forget what it is at this
> >> moment.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> >________________________________
> >> >
> >> >
> >> On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:44 AM, Phillip Clark Campbell
> >> ><pcc_sr at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> >> This is a very impressive resume of the CVSR Mr.Brannon.  It is
> >> >> very much in line with the current Cleveland transit system.  They
> >> >> seem
> >> >> to not only counter trends in other cities where massive cutbacks are
> >> >> the rule but Cleveland and Ohio are growing.  They seem to be
> >> >> systems to emulate.
> >> >
> >> >From: Derrick Brashear <shadow at gmail.com>
> >> >To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
> >> >Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 10:48 AM
> >> >Subject: [PRCo] Re: East Broad Top Railroad won't run this summer |
> News
> >> | CentreDaily.com
> >> >
> >> >Cleveland, yes. Ohio? Well, it seems like transit in Ohio is all the 3
> >> >Cs (basically, the places I'd be willing to live)
> >> >and the rest of it is "hey, can we put another road to some new
> >> >suburban development?"
> >> >
> >> >--
> >> >Derrick
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Herb Brannon
> > In Cuyahoga Valley National Park
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>


-- 
Herb Brannon
In Cuyahoga Valley National Park