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The Current TARTA Downtown Loop to Be Replaced by
Cherry/Huron Loop
Special to The Truth
The Toledo Area Regional
Transit Authority (TARTA) is the local public transit system
for the Toledo, Ohio area. Its annual ridership is
approximately three million trips and the majority of this
ridership is along its 32 fixed routes. Of these routes, all
but four are radial in nature, originating or terminating
within the Central Business District (CBD), and stopping at
four separate downtown transit transfer points.
Service to these stops is
provided on the “Loop,” a dedicated bus-only lane that
surrounds a 12-block area bounded by Jackson, Summit,
Jefferson, and Erie Streets. The Loop and its original five
stations were opened for service in 1982 on the basis of the
current regional demand patterns. At that time, downtown
Toledo was the primary destination in the metropolitan area.
Subsequent shifts in land
use, employment activity, commercial development, and
overall travel patterns have made the Loop less useful,
however. There have been significant changes in the more
than 30 years since the Loop was built.
Downtown has changed.
Viewpoints on how traffic and transit can assist downtown
development have changed. The origins and destinations of
where TARTA’s passengers live, work, and wish to journey to
in their daily lives have changed, and TARTA also needs to
continue to change.
“With a single downtown
hub, the efficiency of buses coming downtown has decreased,”
said Steve Stkinson, communications director for TARTA. “We
have used the loop less and less.”
Proposed central transit
“Hub” The TARTA Transit Hub project addresses the current
Loop issue through the acquisition of a new centralized
transit facility in downtown Toledo and the reconfiguration
of surrounding streets to improve bus operations, transit
connectivity, and access to downtown Toledo. In addition to
improvements to local bus service, the project also includes
streetscape and connectivity upgrades that will benefit
pedestrians and bicyclists.
The Goodwill building has
been identified as a preferred transit center location
through a multiyear alternatives evaluation and stakeholder
engagement process. The project will feature an indoor
transit center waiting area and commercial space, ticketing
center and administrative offices headquarters. The location
is transit rich, situated within two blocks of Toledo’s
current primary transit hub: the Jackson Street/Government
transit loop station.
The proposed TARTA
Downtown Transit Hub area is served today by all TARTA
routes in the network. It is positioned along the inbound
corridor for most routes serving the northwestern service
area and represents a natural downtown gateway or service
terminal area for the remaining inbound routes. Cherry
Street, its retail frontage corridor and a major arterial,
has been identified as a transit enhancement priority area
through TARTA’s strategic planning process.
“Demand has shifted to
Jackson Street but it has not been as efficient as having a
stop at Cherry/Huron will be,” said Atkinson. “We are making
it more comfortable for passengers and we need a place where
passengers have a one-stop shop.”
The site intersects three
neighborhood areas: the downtown business district, the
Civic Center, and the Vistula/United North historic
mixed-use and residential neighborhood. Land uses in the
immediate area include subsidized housing towers along
Cherry Street, government office buildings, other office
properties and places of worship.
The Cherry Street/Huron
Street intersection fronts one of the highest concentrations
of affordable housing in the city. The Goodwill building
features the only sidewalk-oriented retail space in the
surrounding Civic Center and Cherry Street corridor area.
The building presents a turnkey solution for a well-lit,
visible and sidewalk-oriented indoor transit waiting area
with activating and neighborhood-supporting retail. Locating
the transit center at Cherry and Huron complements downtown
planning initiatives to create a more walkable environment
(see Downtown Toledo Master Plan 2017 and Cherry Street
Legacy Plan 2009).
Cherry Street borders the
northern edge of downtown Toledo. It is a wide corridor with
over 8000 daily vehicle movements. The 2017 Downtown Master
Plan identifies the objective to redesign the street to
improve non-motorized connectivity between the Vistula
neighborhood and downtown, with Huron Street as a major
pedestrian gateway. The transit center presents an
opportunity to focus pedestrian infrastructure at
Cherry/Huron, connecting bus bays and destinations on all
sides of the intersection.
The proposed Transit Hub
is an existing two-story structure at 612 N. Huron Street in
downtown Toledo. This building will contain a
climate-controlled indoor waiting area of approximately
5,000 square feet. The waiting area will provide various
amenities, including restrooms and water fountains, an
information area and attendant booth or service counter, and
an active monitoring technology to be monitored by TARTA
customer service and security personnel. TARTA will use the
upper floor of this building for administrative and office
functions. The building has roof-top parking, and will
include a sheltered bicycle parking station. Street
furniture will also be installed, including bicycle racks,
benches, trash receptacles, wayfinding and directional
signage, traffic control related to multiuse path crossings,
and outdoor canopies. |
