The HealthLine's Impact on Cleveland

The bus rapid transit route known as the HealthLine has been in operation in Cleveland for ten years, with a measurably positive impact on the city, measured in development investment.

1 minute read

November 8, 2018, 11:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Bus Rapid Transit

Paul Sableman / Flickr

"Ten years ago, while the economy plummeted, a national first called the HealthLine began in October to take riders up and down Euclid Avenue," writes Grant Segall.

"Today, the Regional Transit Authority estimates that the $200 million invested in its HealthLine has spurred about $9.5 billion in development along the resurging Euclid Corridor, a remarkable return of $190 per dollar," explains Segall.

Local officials celebrated the 10th anniversary of the HealthLine's launch yesterday, on November 7, 2018.

"Fast, frequent and 24/7, the HealthLine runs from a revamped Public Square past converted condominiums, a swanky Nine complex, a chandelier-topped Playhouse Square, a Cleveland State Campus transformed from fortress to welcome mat, a renovated mansion newly hosting the Children’s Museum, a new University Hospitals Rainbow clinic, an ever-expanding Cleveland Clinic, a mushrooming University Circle and other spiffed-up sites before reaching Stokes/Windermere," writes Segall.

Planetizen has also noted the positive impact on the city, as well as the national significance of the HealthLine's model, on several occasions over the years. Here's what we found from our archives on those subjects:

Sunday, November 4, 2018 in The Plain Dealer

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

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