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From The Newark Advocate:
Ohio Senate OKs rail plan; GOP still skeptical
Republicans who control the Ohio Senate will allow the state to pursue $250 million in federal stimulus funding for passenger rail service between major cities. But they want the full Legislature to approve any construction if Ohio gets the money. The Senate Highways and Transportation Committee made the stipulation Tuesday in the two-year transportation budget.
More news links:
Senate To Pursue Stimulus Dollars For Passenger Railway
Growing coalition lobbying for Ohio passenger rail plan in face of skeptical Republicans
Is It Time For Ohio To Get On Board?
mstimple – I didn’t realize that gas was the only expense associated with operating a car. AAA estimates 54 cents/mile. That 100 mile drive to Cleveland costs more than $50 by car.
Options and bo-boptions are what it’s all about. Solely relying on a car for every trip, short or long, is not for me. I think there’s enough room and demand in Ohio for passenger rail and highways to peacefully co-exist.
Two other questions: how would the 3C line compare with Greyhound in time and cost? And would Amtrak coach have wi-fi?
Brew – The IRS says 55 cents/mile. (Down from 58.5 cents the 2nd half of 2008.)
A.
ColumbusKid, in other threads regarding the same issue, we’ve shared a number of articles that have the Ohio GOP matched up fairly squarely against the 3C project. On 3C, they’re neither leading, following, or getting out of the way. They’re obstructing. Hence, on this issue, I call them obstructionist.
I realize they’re doing what they think is in our best interest. I never said they couldn’t. I just disagree and think the state’s best interest is to have the 3C project move forward.
mstimple – as for options, there’s nothing wrong if you and your girlfriend want to drive down to Cinci and talk, sing-along to some songs on the radio, hit the outlet mall (whatever you choose) en route to visit the parents. there’s no lambasting that.
but if i need to head down to Cinci or up to Cleveland for work, I can pay $20 and get a lot of work done on the route. Right now, 2 hours in car = 2 hours of virtual unproductivity. Extending the economics of the trip further, if I drive my job either has to pay to rent a car at $40+ per day + gas + airport parking; or pay me $.54 per mile to use my own car, which approaches $200 round trip. And for those 4-hours they are making that outlay for me to watch Ohio farmland pass by.
For personal travel the car might be the best option. But this route isn’t only used for personal travel and a train would be efficient and productive. And as for “outdated” comment, that I will lambast as completely errant. In Europe, Asia or other regions (heck the Boston, NYC, DC corridor) high speed train travel is the primary and contemporary mode of transit for many day business travelers.
mstimple: First, I second what others note about the other expenses of operating a car. I’d also note that when you use your car to take you and your girlfriend to your parents’ house, you’ve got two advantages over many prospective rail travelers: you’ve got a second person in the car, and you’ve got a place to park at your parents’ house.
Rail travel won’t always be the best option for families, because a car costs roughly the same amount to operate whether you’ve got five people in it or one, whereas five train tickets will run you (roughly) five times as much as one. For a single individual, though, especially one traveling to cities where he might have to pay to park downtown as well as put wear and tear on a car to get there, rail travel starts to look a lot more attractive. As long as I can get reception, I can also get more work done on a train than I can while driving.
From yesterday’s thread:
“Don’t just e-mail Sen. Patton…he’s a lost cause….e-mail his GOP colleagues in the Senate… like Jim Hughes, Bill Harris and others….”
From Ken Prendergast’s comments:
“I was told by someone close to the committee chairman that he received 1,000 phone calls, e-mails, letters and faxes asking him to support passenger rail development in Ohio,†Prendergast said. “Word is he got 500 calls in just one day. That’s called a groundswell and it apparently moved the chairman to rethink his earlier position to remove all of the passenger rail language from the bill.â€Â
Just goes to show we can’t pre-judge the outcome or let up in our efforts with anyone at the Statehouse. Keep up the calls and e-mails of support. Share your enthusiasm with family, friends, colleagues, strangers, etc. Urge them to get involved. Let’s keep the momentum going. Yay, Ohio!
Jefe – it still doesn’t make them “obstructionist”. They are reading the phone book, the dictionary, or the Bible as a way to end discussion on the topic and never allow it a vote. They have tried to stop it by saying they weren’t sure it was a good idea for the state. The only obstructing they are doing is towards an idea you find to have great merit.
As Walker said, we need to have options for ALL modes of transportation – this idea we are talking about included. We have to branch to other modes of tansportation because this system we are talking about won’t matter much to the poor living in Southeast Ohio Appalachia, or to farmers in the Northwest part of the state. It is good for those of us who would be along the route, but not others. That is why ALL options should be on the table to create a more efficent, friendly, and effective transportation system for the state.
Others not directly along the route can benefit as well. When I went to college in Massachusetts, Amtrak was my best option for coming home at Christmas break. Sure, my parents had to drive almost to Cleveland to drop me off or pick me up, but it was still worthwhile. Ohio residents could make a short drive to a station and access a rail system that could take them to virtually any major destination in the U.S. or Canada.
It would also make future lines possible down the road, thereby expanding the network to more of Ohio. The first step has to be taken though. And the 3-C corridor is the most populous in the country without rail service.
I’m not going to argue semantics. I just wish the OH GOP get on board because it’s quite clear that rail is coming back one way or the other.
As UncommonSense said, all the people you mention indirectly benefit when the state sees economic development as a result of 3C. More directly, the SE part of the state doesn’t benefit from the interstate either—but we still invest in it, as well we should. Just like we should rail.
Granted, for the sake of economic consistency, I still say we need higher gas taxes to actually pay for the externalities of driving. That would also help get rail going.
Again, I would just like to point I that I do support the #C Rail Project. It is just my argument that while most of us on this site do in fact support this plan, there may be many in the state (who do not live in urban centers or suburbs) who do not agree with this. What is best for the state is what should happen, and in this case a rail is probably best.
There will be indirect benefits for people who are not “directly” effected by rail, however in order for this project to be successful, organizations and people who support this cause will have to make their case to those people.
I don’t argue against your regional observations. I don’t think they can be extrapolated to defend the entire OH GOP, though.
I’m actually somewhat worried about the 3C’s long-term success. It has nothing to do with it being a good idea, however. It clearly is. It has to do with the silly cost-benefit analysis that thinks driving long distances is more efficient. The OH GOP is using an outdated mindset that thinks that driving is cost effective. I fear this mindset will hinder, if not kill, the 3C project and the greater Ohio Hub project.
When all economic factors (see here in a previous thread) are taken into account, driving is incredibly inefficient when placed next to modern rail. The OH GOP are off track, no pun intended.
UPDATE: Ohio ranks high in transportation, low in overall business climate.
If you look at the recent Quinnipiac University poll that showed 64% of all Ohioans polled supported the 3-C Plan, the geographic break down showed support was almsot as strong in off-the-corridor parts of the state as it is within the 3-C Corridor.
Another interesting demographic: a large percentage of people under age 25 supported the 3-C start-up. Critics can charge all they want that passenger rail is a “nostalgic” notion, but these numbers show that young people don’t suffer from that notion. It’s about being mobile and how that mobility contributes to their sense of “place”.
The full Quinnipiac College poll…. (part of a larger overall poll on Gov. Strickland’s performance)
Link: http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1322.xml?ReleaseID=1276
Go to the last two questions.
After reading some of the news reports about the Senate transportation battle over the budget, it looks like it might get interesting. The House will most likely reject the changes to the bill, sending it to a conference between the House and the Senate.
I don’t think it is the 3C Corridor project itself that is the problem for the GOP. I think the GOP is using 3C as their bargaining chip. They don’t want the seat belt provision, or the speeding camera provisions, and a couple of others. So, they are wavering on support for the 3C project knowing that Gov. Strickland really wants that, as a way to get the provisions they really don’t want in the bill out.
I think 3C is safe, it is just being used as a bargaining chip at this point.
More News Coverage:
- Rail-line upgrades along Ohio 13 coming soon
- Ohio passenger rail chugs ahead
- Passenger Rail In Columbus
Why was support the lowest in Central Ohio?
From the poll:
Cntrl NrthE NrthW SthE SthW WstCnt
Good idea 52% 70% 60% 62% 66% 65%
That makes no sense. Support was higher in areas that wouldn’t even be served.
It doesn’t surprise me that people in NE Ohio (Cleveland), NW Ohio (Toledo), or SW Ohio (Cincinnati) would support development of rail more than central Ohio. They already have some Amtrak service, so they may have a better idea of what to expect. SE and WC have me stumped.
God those comments on the nbc4 article just make me want to bash some peoples face in!
Other than that, i think the press for this has mostly been pretty positive, and its great to hear that the Amtrak study about the stations should be done in August, with trains by next year. Moving along!
Maybe because Central is where the legislators are?