Cleveland Transit Chief Reassures Metro Leaders on BRT

Cleveland has one of the first BRT lines in the country and is a model for a project in Nashville in the planning stages. Image courtesy Greater Cleveland RTA

Transit designers have been looking north to Cleveland, Ohio, for guidance on building a high-speed bus line connecting East Nashville to West End. The folks in Cleveland say the decision will require a leap of faith.

Cleveland built a seven-mile, $200 million line that began operating in 2008. The design is similar to plans in Nashville, where buses would have their own dedicated lanes along the median, thereby reducing the amount of space for other traffic.

Joe Calabrese is the regional transit chief in Cleveland and says it’s important to get the public behind such a disruptive project.

“You need to get them to be on your side or they’re going to make your life miserable for you – especially during the construction phase. But you also need leadership.”

Two years of building put a pinch on businesses in Cleveland. The city even offered them low-interest loans. One restaurant owner told the Plain Dealer in December 2007: “Breakfast is dead. Dinner is dead. People can’t cross the street.”

The Cleveland BRT line has now been given some of the credit for more than $4 billion in real estate investment along the route.

Nashville officials are finalizing plans before submitting them to the federal government in a competitive funding process.