38th Annual ARSC/SAM
Conference (Cleveland, Ohio, March 10-14, 2004)
Travel
Information
By Air
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is served by at least eleven
commercial airlines and is a major hub for Continental Airlines. Southwest
Airlines probably offers the most discount flights to Cleveland. On
average, the busiest times at Hopkins are 6:00 to 7:30 a.m. and 4:30
to 6:30 p.m.
Air travelers will enjoy the ease and speed of getting from the airport
to the conference hotel, for just $1.50, via Cleveland’s rapid-transit
system (details below).
By Train
Amtrak operates two routes that serve Cleveland: the “Lake Shore
Limited” (connecting Boston, New York, Albany, and Chicago) and
the “Capitol Limited” (connecting Washington DC, Pittsburgh,
and Chicago). For schedule information, call (800) 872-7245 or visit:
www.amtrak.com.
Cleveland’s Amtrak station is located at 200 Cleveland Memorial
Shoreway, about one mile from the conference hotel. The station offers
rental-car and taxi service, but the easiest connection (during the
day), direct to Tower City Center, is via the RTA Waterfront Line (details
below).
By Car
From the East: Take I-90 West, which merges with Ohio
Route 2 (to form the “Cleveland Memorial Shoreway”), at
the eastern approach to the city. Past East 55th Street, follow the
signs for Route 2 West (not I-90), and exit the Shoreway at East 9th
Street. Turn left, to head south on East 9th. Go three traffic lights,
to St. Clair Avenue. Turn right and take St. Clair about four blocks,
to West 3rd Street. Turn left onto West 3rd and go two blocks to the
end of West 3rd, at Superior Avenue—the site of the hotel.
From the West: Take I-90 East to the Ontario Street
exit (171B). The exit ramp will put you on Ontario Street, heading north.
Drive approximately 0.6 mile to St. Clair Avenue. Turn left onto St.
Clair and go one block to West 3rd Street. Turn left onto West 3rd and
go two blocks to the end of West 3rd, at Superior Avenue—the site
of the hotel.
From the South, via I-71: I-71 North merges with I-90,
on the southern approach to downtown Cleveland. Leave I-71/90 at the
Ontario Street exit (171B). The exit ramp will put you on Ontario Street,
heading north. Drive approximately 0.6 mile to St. Clair Avenue. Turn
left onto St. Clair and go one block to West 3rd Street. Turn left onto
West 3rd and go two blocks to the end of West 3rd, at Superior Avenue—the
site of the hotel.
From the South, via I-77: Near Cleveland, leave I-77
at the I-90 East exit (on your left), following the sign for “Erie
PA and East 9th Street.” Take the East 9th Street exit (163C)
and merge onto East 14th Street. Take a slight right onto Orange Avenue
/ Ohio Route 8 / Ohio Route 87, which becomes Ohio Route 14 and then
Ontario Street. Continue north on Ontario Street, approximately 0.6
mile, to St. Clair Avenue. Turn left onto St. Clair and go one block
to West 3rd Street. Turn left onto West 3rd and go two blocks to the
end of West 3rd, at Superior Avenue—the site of the hotel.
Parking Options
1. The Renaissance Cleveland Hotel offers indoor valet-only parking
at $16 per day. Unlike the other parking options listed below, the Renaissance
daily rate includes unlimited in-and-out privileges. The garage is attached
to the hotel building, with a street entrance on Superior Avenue, at
West 3rd Street.
2. An outdoor self-park “surface” lot operated by Imperial
Parking (IMPARK) is located across Superior Avenue from the hotel, at
the corner of Superior and West 3rd Street. This lot has a Pay Station
that accepts credit cards and paper currency. Rates are:
- $9 Weekday Maximum
- $6 Weekday Early Bird Special (arriving before 9 a.m.)
- $5 after 1 p.m. weekdays, and all day Saturday and Sunday.
3. Tower City Center Parking maintains a large lot, located beneath
and behind the Tower City complex. On weekdays, the minimum self-park
charge is $3, with all-day (24-hour) parking priced at a maximum of
$11. Parking is free on weekends (12:01 a.m. Saturday until midnight
Sunday). An escalator and elevators connect the Tower City lot with
“The Avenue at Tower City”—a short indoor walk from
the lobby of the Renaissance hotel. Note that the principal street access
to the Tower City lot is on Huron Road, just west of Ontario Street.
Caution: For indoor parking, the maximum permissible vehicle height
is 6'-11"; also, vehicles over 7'-2" must use the Canal Road
entrance to the outdoor lot. A localized street map and more details
can be found at this Web page: http://www.towercityparking.com/default.asp
4. Most on-street parking within walking distance of Tower City and
the conference hotel is metered and therefore impractical for long-term
parking on weekdays. However, meters need not be fed after 6:30 p.m.
or on weekends. To complicate matters, parking on some nearby streets
is completely prohibited from one hour before until two hours after
“major events” at Jacobs Field and Gund Arena. Your vehicle
might be towed if you choose to park on those streets, at the wrong
time. Check the signs carefully and don’t park in a space with
a meter covered by a cloth or plastic bag!
By Taxi
One-way taxi fare from Hopkins airport to downtown Cleveland is likely
to run $20 to $25, plus tax. One lower-cost alternative at the airport,
the Royal Fleet Shuttle Service, provides transport to and from downtown
hotels for $10 per person, each way.
Please note that taxis are not plentiful in most Cleveland neighborhoods.
Locals seldom use them. While it’s easy to “hail a cab”
at the airport or on Public Square, a phone call will probably be required
to order a taxi in other parts of town. For more transportation options,
please read on …
By
Rapid Transit
between the Airport and Tower City Center
We recommend that conference attendees use the light-rail passenger
service of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). It
takes less than thirty minutes to ride the RTA Red Line train from the
airport to downtown Cleveland’s Tower City Station, and the one-way
fare is just $1.50. This is by far the least expensive option for public
transport, to and from the airport.
By the way, locals refer to RTA trains as “The Rapid”—to
distinguish RTA rail service from the RTA bus lines.
RTA’s Airport Station is located on the lowest level of the Cleveland
Hopkins terminal complex. To reach the entrance to the Red Line Rapid,
take the escalators or elevators (located near the center of the Ticketing
and Baggage Claim levels) down to the Rapid.
You’ll need to pay your fare with exact change, but a bill changer
is available, near the RTA turnstile.
The Red Line is the only RTA Rapid Line at the airport. Departing trains
go in just one direction: east, from the airport toward downtown Cleveland.
(No chance of confusion here!)
A Red Line train leaves the Airport Station every fifteen minutes,
between 4:30 a.m. and 12:59 a.m., seven days a week. Take the train
to the Tower City Station, in the heart of downtown Cleveland.
For
your eventual departure home, be sure to allow plenty of time for the
trip from downtown to the airport. Please note that the last westbound
train for the airport departs Tower City Station at 12:24 a.m., each
day.
within Tower City Center
Get off the RTA train at Tower City Station. The Rapid platform is
on the basement level of Tower City Center. Leave the platform and ride
the escalator up. When you get off the escalator, you will be on the
middle level of Tower City Center. Go first to your left (just a few
paces, to reach a main corridor), turn right (into that corridor), and
continue walking in that same northerly direction, toward Public Square.
When you reach the front of the Tower City complex, you’ll be
in a large open foyer with a high vaulted ceiling and many brass-and-glass
doors that open onto Public Square. Don’t go outdoors; instead,
turn to your left and look for a large brass “Renaissance Cleveland
Hotel” sign, over the entrance to a passageway. In the passage,
walk past a little newsstand, go through a set of brass doors, and continue
up a staircase into the lobby of the Renaissance. The Front Desk will
be on your left.
RTA Waterfront Line and Downtown Street Map
We urge everyone to print a one-page map, from this RTA Web Page:
http://www.riderta.com/pdfs/maps/WFLmap.pdf
This simplified map shows major downtown streets, key tourist sites,
and the route of the RTA Waterfront Line. The Waterfront Line provides
convenient transportation from Tower City Center to the “Entertainment
Flats,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Great Lakes
Science Center, and Cleveland’s Amtrak station—for $1.50
each way.
If you expect to travel beyond the hotel on your arrival day, you might
wish to purchase an All-Day Pass (at the Airport Rapid turnstile), for
$3.00. The pass (also available at the Tower City Station) will allow
you to ride anywhere within the entire RTA system—via trains or
buses—until 3:00 a.m. the following day.
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