CLEVELAND — Friday evening, Cleveland was taken over by more than a hundred thousand concertgoers and baseball fans arriving for one of three events — a Nicki Minaj concert, a Billy Joel concert, or a Guardians game.
Though it was a night of fun, some are questioning whether the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) was prepared to handle the crowds.
“I was led to believe they were ready for the big night, and they were gonna be making preparations for big crowds to be taking public transportation, but I sure didn’t see any of those plans being carried out, because it was horrible,” said Cathy Watkins, a former WKYC employee who attended the Billy Joel concert.
Watkins says a sea of people packed the train platforms and train cars headed toward downtown. She says the typical 30-minute train ride stretched nearly 45 minutes long, all while passengers stood shoulder-to-shoulder.
She got on at the Brook Park station and says the trains immediately filled, but as the train paused at each stop, she saw platforms full of people who needed to hop on the train too.
“We’ve taken the train for lots of Guardians games, and they’ve been big games and there have been a lot of people on the trains, but I never ever felt so unsafe as I did on that trip down,” said Watkins.
3News reached out to the RTA and RTA Board asking whether they were adequately prepared for the crowds and how many people came through their stations over the weekend.
Though they confirmed they did receive the questions, 3News has not heard back.
In May, GCRTA received $16 million in federal funding to make improvements to infrastructure. According to the RTA website, the money will go toward improving accessibility features like platform upgrades, redesigned ramps, and warning panels.
It’s unclear if those upgrades will help address crowd issues.