Cleveland transit system gets new rapid transit cars

CLEVELAND'S problems of transportation parallel, to some extent, those of her larger sister cities in the United States. The rapid growth of the population, the shift of population to suburbs, and the concentration of offices and trades in the downtown area made a new approach to the passenger transportation problem necessary. Early public transportation in Cleveland was almost entirely by surface street cars. This gradually was changed to a combination of street cars and buses, and finally led to a combination of trolley coaches and buses. In Cleveland there is now one single rapid transit line from the downtown section to Shaker Heights, operated by the City of Shaker Heights. It runs on its own right-of-way, using street cars equipped for multiple unit service. It is of more than national significance that Cleveland has recently inaugurated the first part of a rapid transit line which is designed to provide mass transportation, from east to west, parallel to Lake Erie. The part which is in operation now runs from E. 142nd Street, the Windermere Station in eastern Cleveland, to the Public Square in Cleveland.