If you live in West Park, RTA could be your best friend this summer. Consider:
From June 2 through Aug. 10, children ride free on all buses and trains.
West Park is served by four major Red Line rail stations — Brookpark, Puritas-W. 150, West Park, and Triskett.
A trip planner is available 24/7 at www.rideRTA.com, or during business hours at 216-621-9500.
Children ride free
For the third straight year, children age 12 and younger can ride free on RTA from June 2 to Aug. 10. They must be accompanied by an adult age 18 or older, and there is a limit of three children per adult. In the first two years of the program, more than 135,000 children have received free rides.
Riding the Red Line
Trains operate until after midnight, seven days a week, with direct service to Hopkins International Airport, the West Side Market and Ohio City, Downtown, University Circle and Little Italy.
At the Tower City Station, transfer to the Waterfront Line to reach these popular destinations — Flats East Bank, Great Lakes Science Center, Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame and FirstEnergy Stadium. You can also transfer to the light-rail Blue and Green lines, to reach the historic Shaker Square.
Exiting at Tower City gives you direct access to free downtown trolley service and the HealthLine, which operates 24/7 on Euclid Avenue. The HealthLine stops at many summer fun destinations, including Playhouse Square, University Circle museums, and two universities.
Using the on-line trip planner
From the RTA Web site, you can access an on-line trip planner. If you plan to use it a lot, you can set up an account to store all your trip information.
Just tell the planner what your starting point and destination, and when you plan to leave (or need to arrive). I tested it out for a trip from my home in West Park to Cleveland City Hall. Here’s what it told me:
Walk to a bus stop on Puritas Avenue.
Board the 78 bus to the Puritas Rapid Station.
Ride the Red Line to the Tower City Station.
Transfer to the 79-79A bus, or walk to City Hall.
The trip planner even gave me the distance of each walk, how many calories it would burn, and the time each bus or train arrives.
So, now you know more about riding RTA. Go have a great summer!
Jerry Masek worked at RTA from 2000-2018.