CLEVELAND, Ohio - If you stand in front of the Jack Cleveland Casino on Public Square on a weekday for 24 hours, you will see a staggering number of buses pass by -- 1,049 to be exact, and more than one per minute during the evening rush hour.

That's because all buses must now loop around, rather than through, newly renovated Public Square. And stats from the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority show bus traffic is especially congested in the square's southwest quadrant, in front of Tower City and the Jack.

If the RTA reopens the bus-only lane of Superior Avenue that cuts east and west through the center of the square, the number of buses passing the Jack drops by half, to 525 per day.

The RTA recently gave these and other bus-traffic figures to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson's administration.

On Aug. 1, buses were supposed to begin running on Superior, which was rebuilt at great expense to accommodate buses. But the mayor - never a fan of bisecting the square with buses -- delayed their return to further explore ways to keep new park space free of buses.

And Jackson, who has appointees on the RTA board, has the support of many downtown residents and civic leaders who were impressed by the large numbers of people who have enjoyed the square since its reopening in late June.

City Hall says its analysis is not completed and continues to be stingy with bus-traffic figures and other public records related to its analysis. I've asked for bus-traffic figures and have been told my request is being processed through the city's Law Department, which is where requests often go to die. Earlier, I also asked RTA for emails between its officials and City Hall and any related documents. I received those records this week.

RTA's records included a detailed analysis of the bus traffic on Public Square. Its analysis breaks down the number of buses passing each quadrant of the square when Superior is closed and when Superior is open to bus traffic. See the chart below this post.

Overall, 2,117 buses enter the square each weekday, but about half turn off the square before getting around to Tower City. This doesn't include another 150 buses from the Healthline, which has its own dedicated bus lane around the square, at least when it's not blocked by trucks and vehicles related to activities on the square.

RTA emails to the city say the agency wants buses to use Superior through the square. I've already explained RTA's reasoning. In short, Public Square is a major bus hub and delays cost money because delays require more buses to service a route. (I also pointed out before that Jackson will not endorse any plan to ban buses from the roadways that border the square. He, too, sees Public Square as key bus hub.)

The RTA emails say its officials could live with closing the center of the square to bus traffic on weekends. (Cars are already permanently banned from using Superior through the square.)

The city says it expects to release its findings and recommendation at the end of the month.

Okay, here's more bus traffic figures:

Number of buses currently traveling westbound on Superior through the center of the square: 0

Number of buses that would travel west on Superior if the square is reopened to buses: 437

Number of buses currently traveling eastbound through the center of the square: 0

Number of buses that would travel east on Superior if square is reopened: 524

Number of times a bus passes Public Square's southeast quadrant when Superior is closed: 1,070.

Number of times a bus would pass Public Square's southeast quadrant if Superior is reopened: 549