CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) –
RTA is taking extra steps during this extreme heat to make sure drivers and passengers stay cool and safe.
It’s hard to avoid the heat altogether when buses and trains are your modes of transportation. RTA drivers are baking behind the wheel and passengers are waiting in sweltering shelters.
“It’s hot, ridiculously hot,” Cynthia Cremeans exclaimed while waiting 15 minutes for a bus.
But supervisors are checking in with everybody during this heat advisory. They look for signs of heat exhaustion in both passengers and drivers and even pass out water.
“It helps cool down the body temp,” said one RTA bus driver.
All the buses and trains are air conditioned, but that doesn’t mean it’s always comfortable on board.
“It’s hard to keep it entirely cool with those doors opening and closing all the time,” explained Mary Shaffer of Greater Cleveland RTA. “You will feel that warm air come in and the cool air back when the doors close.”
“It was cool on the bus I was on, but on the rapid it was kind of hot,” said Anthony Rondell.
“Some of them are all right, they have air conditioning, but some of them it’s as hot on the bus as it is off the bus,” said Cremeans.
Shaffer says riders can keep cool by minimizing their exposure outside prior to boarding.
“With our real time information, you can go online and get the next bus or train that’s coming to you,” Shaffer explained. “That way you can wait inside for the longest amount of time.”
There is an air quality advisory in effect for Thursday. Every little bit helps, especially downtown. Riding the RTA or carpooling can reduce the haze and the pollution in the heavy air.
SOURCE: 19ActionNews.com
