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Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman attended a news conference this morning in Virgina along with several other mayors and governors to hear President-Elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus plan to boost the nation’s economy.
Coleman has recently written a letter to Obama seeking federal funding dollars for a variety of economic development projects in Central Ohio, including:
- $32 million for development in RiverSouth
- $26 million in Targeted Industry Cluster Job Creation
- $63.9 million in LEED Certified Infrastructure Development
- $12.6 million in Carbon Footprint Reduction
and………
- $200 million for the development of a new Regional Rail Project
The brief overview of the new regional rail project describes it as a combination of the “best elements” from both the previous North Corridor Light Rail Proposal and the more recent Downtown Streetcar Proposal. The new passenger rail system is being proposed to run northward from Downtown to the Delaware County Line with a combination of on-street rail grades and right-of-way railroad tracks.
The city has already partnered with MORPC and COTA on the preliminary work for this project, and it is being called the new “first step” towards a more comprehensive regional passenger rail network.
More details will be posted as soon as we get them. Stay tuned.
“I can tell you from experience that there are issues on the main lines regarding capacity. It’s the reason COTA has been working to bring higher capacity buses to Columbus. The reason why they’ve been working to add more buses over the last year and specifically addressed the issues with the #2 in their last round, 1/5/09, of service improvements.”
So the solution is to add more buses until rail is really needed in very long run. Increasing bus frequency, rerouting some routes, creating bus lanes, and adding high capacity buses all are much better and cheaper alternatives for Columbus’ problems. The majority of light rail systems in this country run on 5-7 minute frequencies, but running a stretch bus every 2 minutes seems like a better option.
A rail system will only be better than buses if their (required) capacity is much higher than more/extended buses with high frequency. And besides, rail systems suffer from the same capacity problems as buses, so the mere existence of rail won’t promise you a more comfortable ride.
“Maybe you don’t view parking downtown as a problem, but don’t you see what parking garages do to the urban landscape? How can you have a vibrant downtown area when a parking garage takes up a whole city block? If we continue to neglect any comprehensive rail system, more and more parking garages will be built and downtown Columbus will slowly die.”
If there ever comes a need to build numerous huge parking garages downtown, then that would suggest that open land is scarce, which in turn would require that downtown be filled in and dense, right? If downtown is filled in, then traffic will become a major issue, preventing people from driving downtown. Further, the scarcity of land would suggest that many people are in the area at once, which would lead to transit capacity issues, which would also require rail transit. I totally agree that if Columbus ever gets to the point where city-block size garages are needed, then we are ready for rail. But lets be real, that wont happen for a very long time.
Besides, there’s a much easier (and cheaper) solution to the scenario you painted: land-use regulation.
“As for previous discussions that a city like Columbus is too spread out to support light rail, look no further than Charlotte as a model.”
You can also look at the light rail line in Trenton NJ for a example of a light rail line that didnt create lots of new high density developments.
We have to look at the whole picture: was Charlotte’s downtown ever as devastated as ours? Was there ever an anti-downtown stigma? Didn’t they already have a vibrant and denser downtown full of banking jobs? How many freeways lead to their downtown area? Is Charlotte’s downtown area considered an inner-city area? etc.
This is both big news and very good news. I am cautiously optimistic, given the current state of the United States’ financial affairs. But if soon to be President Obama is going to be giving handouts for the sake of economic development and infrastructure renewal, why shouldn’t Columbus be in that line? Why complain about it? If Alaska can get a bridge built to nowhere, then Columbus surely deserves a regional rail transit system, at the very least.
Take the money now and use it for rail, because the time may come, perhaps sooner than later, when the oil supply runs dry, and our highway system and our much romanticized fleet of personal automobiles are rendered useless. By then, even if federal money still exists for rail, it will be too late to do anything with it due to the total collapse of our infrastructure. We need to build the path to our future on the back of what we’ve got in place now, while we’ve still got it.
“Not to mention allowing people who are working the minimum wage jobs, living pay check to pay check and at the poverty line make their own decisions and have a reasonable, reliable and efficient option to access jobs and education. Building up a system dependent on car travel leaves a number of people behind. It creates a bias where potential employers are leery to hire individuals solely based on method of travel.”
Again, a bus system can fulfill these needs.
While on the issue of social justice, a bus system would allow for many routes to penetrate throughout a given neighborhood, instead of concentrating all service on one corridor. That in turn, would prevent the expected sharp increases in land prices that occur around a single transit line (which is why rail lines attract dense residential development), thereby allowing poorer people easier access to transit. They will neither be priced out of their neighborhood, nor have to walk a far distance through a gentrified area to reach the station. Use buses as a feeder line to a light rail line along high street makes no sense either. It would be better to just radiate bus routes from downtown into those poorer neighborhoods instead of forcing them to transfer onto a rail line in an area that will have become too expensive for them to enjoy.
“Take the money now and use it for rail, because the time may come, perhaps sooner than later, when the oil supply runs dry, and our highway system and our much romanticized fleet of personal automobiles are rendered useless. By then, even if federal money still exists for rail, it will be too late to do anything with it due to the total collapse of our infrastructure. We need to build the path to our future on the back of what we’ve got in place now, while we’ve still got it.”
These really are nightmare scenarios that will never come to fruition. Higher fuel efficiency standards, hybrid/electric cars would offer a quicker and much more comprehensive move away from oil then commuter rail lines. In order to make it feasible for the average Columbus resident to not have to use their car, commuter rails would have to be everywhere, either within walking distance or through the use of bus feeder lines. We literally would have to reconfigure every post-1950′s development. American cities just are not designed for transit use, and it would cost trillions of dollars to rebuild America into a transit-friendly country like Japan.
By the time that system could ever be constructed, hybrid and electric cars will already be here. If ever the situation becomes so suddenly dire (which it will not), the government could quickly invest 50 billion dollars into electric car research and production and bring us the electric car in a couple of years at most.
Anyways, thanks for the good convo everyone, but I must go to bed.
“Use buses as a feeder line to a light rail line along high street makes no sense either.”
Then you are ignoring what most good transit systems utilize.
Rail is typically designed to work on a separate right of way or grade (like a subway or elevated platform or just it’s own right of way) with fewer stops over a larger area. This allows you to cover a larger distance over a shorter amount of time. Taking the #16 bus to Easton for a job might take me an hour (it really does take over an hour) where a rail line with an Easton stop might take half that or less.
Buses on the other hand work best by either using condensed service areas with many stops or covering a larger areas with a fewer. They have their place as circulators or as express buses/BRT where rail option don’t or can’t exist. But trying to run a service extending from Polaris to Reynoldsburg on the current #1 can cause a lot of issues.
Instead we need to find a way to utilize the best of both. I look at some of the fantasy maps and with rail lines around the city, you could easily tweak COTA to run buses as circulators between the spokes. Covering far less area and providing much faster and more reliable service.
Did we just get trolled?
I must have missed the part of Coleman’s proposal that advocated completely replacing buses with light rail. This is just a piece of the puzzle. It’s merely the beginning, not the final solution. And of course no two cities are the same, so you can always point to a difference that between Columbus and another city to discount any comparison. But if you want to play that game, I would bet that Columbus is a hell of a lot more like Charlotte than Trenton.
“These really are nightmare scenarios that will never come to fruition. Higher fuel efficiency standards, hybrid/electric cars would offer a quicker and much more comprehensive move away from oil then commuter rail lines.”
This erroneously assumes, of course, that something or someone is going to be in place to build hybrid/electric cars. Recent events cast a rather long and dark shadow over that notion, however:
Analyst: Chrysler could face bankruptcy; GM, Ford struggling
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-07-03-detroit-automakers-crisis_N.htm
Even Toyota and Honda are struggling these days:
Toyota, Honda U.S. Slump Ends Gains Dating to Mid-90s
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=awccynbrjD5g&refer=asia
As for the idea that this is a nightmare scenario that will never come to fruition, I beg to differ. Contrary to the delusions of flat-Earth economists, the world is round, and so therefore, all resources extracted from the ground beneath us, are finite in supply. Sooner or later, the oil will run out. It’s not a question of if, but a question of when. We cannot assume that our present world scenario, based almost completely upon oil for its’ continued operation, will indeed continue indefinitely. Moreover, the fact that the United States is so dependent on foreign oil for our operations is a serious threat to our national security. The moral and responsible thing to do is to either develop one or more alternative, renewable fuel sources, or else retrofit our infrastructure to become a lower-energy, less oil-dependent society.
To paraphrase Whitney Young, It is better to be prepared for a crisis and not have one than to have a crisis and not be prepared. With a rail system in place that can be readily powered by alternative fuel sources, we will be much better prepared to preserve our society when the time comes that oil is no longer readily available.
Can someone help me understand how the light rail system connects from the railroad tracks to High St using 18th avenue? Isn’t 18th one way and not a direct shot to High St? What about 11th which is atleast a direct route and takes commuters by the fairgrounds?
Also do we really think commuters will want to travel at a high rate of speed until they hit the campus area and then crawl at 15-20 mph to make it through the heavy congestion of campus, the SN and the Downtown. Why shouldn’t light rail follow the railroad tracks all the way to the convention center, where the old train station used to be…seems more efficient and convenient.
Do we really want to subsidize and encourage more growth in the Northern corridor? Isn’t Delaware country already suffering from too much growth. What about the other growth corridors out west and east, why not build lines that enough growth in areas where it is needed and not already congested, ie the southside.
I’m all in favor of good mass transit, but this seems rushed and not fully thought out, there can be no worse fate for the advocates of mass transit to have a system built that does not work or is underutilized. I worry that the overall Obama stimulus plan will be viewed as a boondoogle if every other big city mayor has these type of “shovel ready” but not really well thought out and supported by the populace projects. What a way to sink the hopes of the people than to have a bunch of projects funded that lack support of have limited impact…is this about solving transporation isssues or more about prestige and spending a lot of cash?
Some of the other projects seem odd to me also…why is river south included? Do we really need federal funds to restore the old police building and make it and city hall energy efficient? talk about limited impact projects…gasp….
many of these projects reek of political payback for well connected white folks…where is the money for the neighborhood health centers, homeless shelters, health department programs…seems we are more interested in buying stuff that has appeal to the upper and upper middle classes and have given no thought to the real needs of the lower and lower middle classes…business as usual in Cowlumbus Ohio, still trying to impress the girls at the school dance.
what do people not get about Appropriations for Infrastructure Development?
local and state governments were not asked to submit proposals for school funding, community centers, health departments, homeless shelters, elder services, etc… The government is planning to fund long-term infrastructure development and invest in new energy and transportation (or so they say, I’ll give anyone that one). So if Columbus had floated a proposal to do all these other things it would have been shot down. People can gripe about the game, but as the game is actually what is being played in real life, you can’t criticize those who are playing it well.
The railroad right-of-way south of 17th is too narrow for both freight and passenger rail. The two rail lines are at different elevations – notice the different bridge heights at 17th and 11th. I don’t think light rail would share tracks with freight. One way streets can be changed.
The north corridor rail project was very well thought out in the ’90′s as part of the COTA 2020 plan. I believe preliminary engineering studies were underway but the project was halted in ’06(?).
After seeing the map, I really have to wonder – why no love for the southside? Seems like a natural to add an extra mile of rail to serve German Village, Merion Village and the Brewery District. Those areas already have residents who are living car-free or car-light who would be a natural additional rider base. Seems like a pretty big oversight to me. Maybe crossing 70 is the problem, with the reconstruction soon to be underway?
I wouldn’t let that stop me from supporting this plan, but I gotta ask why.
That was the issue with the streetcar line Joe, with them redo-ing the overpass, they didn’t want to build the tracks until after that was done.
i’ve got to believe the southside loses out until the 70/71 split is completed and new bridges/caps are completed. just a guess though. it does make me wonder why no money is in this for 70/71 (not that I really want it). since that is ODOT, would that be Strickland’s request?
as for missing links – airport? i know we cannot have it all, one line has to be started before it has spokes. but the airport link is fairly crucial in my opinion.
Well Strickland has asked for the 3C funds, which would potentially include the airport link.
^^is there a link to info about the airport link and the 3C project?
I love how the naysayers are all calling for more funds for policemen, salt trucks, more buses, etceteras. Obama laid it out long ago that these funds are going to be awarded to substantial infrastructure projects meant to reduce energy dependence. Light rail is the EXACT type of project that Obama is talking about. Putting forth a proposal to spend bailout money on buses or salt trucks would net the city $0. This is an incredible opportunity to get rail started in Columbus at next to no cost, and the window isn’t going to be open for long.
I’ll be sitting down with Bill Lhota this afternoon to talk about this new announcement. I’m compiling questions from the discussion here. Please post any other questions you might have for him by Noon.