Realneo.us has been on air for over 11 years (thanks to Norm Roulet for conceiving realneo and thanks to the Drupal coders who put the site together in such a robust and problem free engineering feat!).   Over the 11+ years that I have been involved with realneo and North East Ohio,  certain themes come up again and again (read Roldo for multi generational comparisons),  and certain viewpoints are challenged and one's thoughts are modified.

When one takes a ride on the RTA  (Cuyahoga County...Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit Authority...GCRTA) you can't miss the change in "tone".   

At every stop the operator admonishes - sometimes pretty aggressively - the passengers to "Exit the front door and pay the fare".      The fare is now $2.50 one way, so if you use the RTA for a trip to buy groceries, or go to work, you will pay $5.00 round trip.   If you are a minimum wage person, $5.00 is a substantial outlay.

Being verbally warned to "pay the fare" is a change in "tone" in NEO, and the overal tune is depressing and counter-productive.