cbradkee wrote >>
It sounds like any such light rail would have to be awfully comprehensive given the hub and spoke design of the city. Yes, perhaps not all at once, but eventually. Wouldn't this be unbelievably expensive...
Of course, the plan with building any starter line is to add to it over time. People like to point to more comprehensive systems in cities like New York or Chicago, but those systems started with one line too. It takes time to build comprehensiveness. And that's fine. So let's start small.
Anyway, it's no secret that the Columbus Metro Region is growing. As we continue to add hundreds of thousands of new residents over the next few years, we're going to see our highways get more and more congested. Many of them (315, 670, 71, 70) have little room to expand and add more lanes. So what's the alternative? Do you think we should wait until those highways are running at 300% capacity before we start to build the first step towards a more comprehensive solution?
cbradkee wrote >>
Personally I would most likely never use a light rail system anyway.
I hear this a lot, and as always, it is 100% beside the point. You pay for a lot of roads in the region (and throughout the state) that you don't use either.
You don't have to ride a light rail system to benefit from it. If you can put a few thousand people on the train, it means a few thousand people less on the roads, and less congested roads for you to enjoy. Transit-Oriented Development will sprout up around rail stops. You don't necessarily have to ride the rail to get there, but you can still benefit from a new places (cliche alert) to live, work, and play.
I agree with you that it is still very easy to drive anywhere in Columbus (although I hate rush hour more than anything), and a light rail system in 2009 doesn't make sense for 100% of the population to ride.
Doubling back to my original LTE, it sounds like you're not comparing apples to apples in terms of costs associated with driving vs costs associated with light rail. Everyone wants to make assumptions about how expensive the train tickets will be, but no one ever compares it to the 50-cents-per-mile it costs to drive and operate and maintain a motor vehicle.
That's all I'm asking for. Let's put all of the cards on the table before weighing our options if we're going to make comparisons and smart decisions.
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