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you folks are forgetting there is now a world class casino/buffet in this town.
more motivation to construct an airport rail line to the west perimeter.
or not.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Transportation
Light Rail in Central Ohio
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geoyui
West Side
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Walker said:
Heh. My next question is that if a big loop is constructed to hit all of those points, what do you propose tearing down to build it? ;) Would probably rip through the middle of a lot of neighborhoods to be installed. Which is not entirely unheard of....Yeah, ripping through neighborhoods is probably not ideal. That's probably another reason why a cross shape would be best as that could run along some major roads/highways. This could lead to a central COTA/rail hub in the middle of the city.
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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stephentszuter said:
That brings up a good point--we had the streetcar in line for voters, but it was shot down. Wasn't it because of the funding channels? I think they wanted the businesses on High Street to fund the streetcar instead of the general public, correct?Can anyone shed some light on what happened there? I wonder if we can get this back on Mayor Coleman's agenda...
I see this falsehood being promoted all over the internet. Columbus has never voted on a streetcar. The last time the city was given the chance to vote on rail was in 1999, and it wasn't even listed on the ballot as a rail initiative, but simply a funding increase for COTA. So technically, Columbus has never been given the chance to vote on the issue. And people are right, if Cincinnati can push it through, so can Columbus. And they probably would have a couple years ago had it not been for the recession and Kasich.
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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cheap said:
not enough people use mass transit here.not enough people in this town want it here.
Coleman is the Dispatch's bitch,and the Dispatch doesn't want it here.
btw,young professionals do still move here.did you notice all the development downtown?
those aren't retirement villages being built,those are young professional internment camps.
Polls showing people don't want it?
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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bjones7 said:
I am not saying this subject can not be revisited by the city.( It seems to be revisited on CU every other conversation!) However the people have spoken and we have no rail! Majority rules! so does economics and politics (BIG REASON!)Mr Akron him self, playing the worlds smallest violin on this subject!
Again, Columbus has not voted on this issue. Where are you guys getting this majority stuff?
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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SamuraiJack said:
The last funding proposal was for a sales tax increase and it got soundly voted down. Not to mention there are several vocal folks in town who's heads pop out of their Gopher holes anytime the words 'light rail' cross a politician's lips and do everything in their power to kill it and bury it..even the Mayor has given up on it at this point and he was one of the biggest proponents..
Yes, a sales tax increase that didn't mention what it was for. So there has been no direct vote on the rail issue. And Columbus residents voted for a tax increase just a few years back. They're not opposed to tax increases, but they would like to know what that funding is going to, which wasn't the case the last time.
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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rus said:
Then prove it. Asking your friends doesn't count; sample size too small.For reference:
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/05/05/story10.html?page=all
There was a ton of business and public opposition in Cincinnati too, but when it was put to a public vote, it passed. I haven't seen any public polling on this in Columbus. An "informal poll" of real estate agents doesn't count.
Posted 10 months ago # -
bjones7
Worthington Ohio
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@jbcmh81 I never said voted. I said spoken aka as the reason there is no passenger rail. PERIOD.
@ All of CU. Correct me if I am wrong, but Light Rail/the Street Car subject has been visited in 2007 and 2009, and was there one time earlier?
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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rus said:
Then prove it. Asking your friends doesn't count; sample size too small.For reference:
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/05/05/story10.html?page=all
bjones7 said:
@jbcmh81 I never said voted. I said spoken aka as the reason there is no passenger rail. PERIOD.@ All of CU. Correct me if I am wrong, but Light Rail/the Street Car subject has been visited in 2007 and 2009, and was there one time earlier?
That makes no sense. So the city hasn't been given the chance to vote on the funding to build it, but since the city doesn't have it already, that means they don't want it? And before highways, no one wanted those either, I suppose?
The rail subject is brought up all the time. Maybe CU is not exactly the voice of the Columbus public when it comes to urban issues, but without any kind of polling, I'm not sure why so many people are dead set sure that they public would never support it.
Posted 10 months ago # -
MRipley
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stephentszuter said:
I beg to differ on the idea that not enough people want it... It seems that everyone I speak with agrees with me on the idea that we need/want rail.Do you have any sources/stats to back up the idea that not enough people in Central Ohio want rail? Also, I disagree with the idea that not enough people want to pay for it. I think the disconnect is how it is paid for. Do you have any sources/stats to back up the idea that not enough people want to pay for it? We did, after all, overwhelmingly approve the library tax to maintain current hours... in the middle of a recession.
Also, your .gif is unappreciated.
Considering that it has been voted against by a substantial majority it seems that it would be up to you to come with sources/data that back up your contention that it's wanted. Something other than your buddies.
We'll wait here.
Posted 10 months ago # -
jbcmh81
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geoyui said:
So which is it?In reality, it's neither. There was a single vote 13 years ago for a tax incease, but it didn't state was the tax money would go to. In fact, from what I read, that the funding was for rail wasn't allowed to be mentioned on the ballot at all. It was voted down, so people say that rail was voted down. In reality, they voted down a tax increase that had no targeted funding information attached. Rail wasn't voted down, a vague tax increase was. There has not been any vote or really any public polling in 13 years.
Posted 10 months ago # -
buckeye54
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I guess I'm suprised to see opposition to rail at all. I understand it costs money but I really haven't heard anyone from a wide variety of demographics,age groups, and party affiliations say that its a bad thing and most think it has its place in columbus even with a large expense.I mean I've heard self-proclaimed tea partiers I work with say they like the idea and these particular guys think pretty much everything that money is spent on columbus is a bad idea!
Posted 10 months ago # -
Twixlen
The Weston District
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cheap said:
what is it with this poll bullshit?3% of the population ride a bus.
take a guess what the other 97% do.
We've covered that ground - about a billion times. Public good encompasses everyone - that includes the 3%. Not everyone uses the library - but their tax dollars pay for it. Not everyone drives on all the roads - but their tax dollars pay for them. Saying that only "x" percentage currently use what is a less-than-efficient system, so we shouldn't expand on the options/systems in place is basically saying that nothing should be improved upon, ever.
Posted 10 months ago # -
NerosNeptune
Goodale Park
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cheap, surely you see the problem with your argument?
0% of people in Columbus take jet-packs to work, so clearly 0% want to, correct?
Posted 10 months ago # -
peanutnozone
Baltimore MD
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I'm sure this has been brought up, but if light rail is something wanted in Columbus...it should have dedicated right of way. If it's a street car hybrid, I honestly feel you don't get any benefit of the rail because you're subject to lights and traffic and whatnot, not to mention people would be like WTF there is a train in the road boom crash death!
I know there are signal priorities that can help to hasten travel though those segments but I feel like you wouldn't get that "wow this is MUCH faster than a bus" factor. I also speak from experience: our light rail here goes super slow because of the section when you on street level mixed with traffic, it's very annoying. Going a mile takes 15-20+ minutes. The other 15 minutes to the airport, 10 miles away, is only 15 minutes itself. There was also a time a bus crashed into it on the tracks, and trains further up were delayed for 2 hours. Had to pay 45 bucks to get to the airport, almost missed my flight. Wasn't happy.
At any rate I hope Columbus can finally get quality mass transit it deserves, Columbus has SO much going for it and it would only sweeten the pot.
ETA not saying Columbus doesn't have quality transit, COTA buses do a fine job in many areas. I meant to say that it should have improved or better transit, including a rail option. Hope I didn't ruffle any feathers.
Posted 10 months ago # -
The Peoples Champion
The Legion of Doom
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cheap said:
not enough people use mass transit here.not enough people in this town want it here.
those aren't retirement villages being built,those are young professional internment camps.
BINGO! Every city that has light rail has popular destination spots to go to. What, I'm supposed to endorse a plan, where taxpayers are paying millions of dollars, to build a light rail from OSU to downtown??
Columbus isn't big city enough to have a light rail. When Dayton has a better transit system than Columbus, the last thing we should be talking about is light rail. FFS, the buses stop at 12 am...
Posted 10 months ago #
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