Tag: Politics

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Ohio facing ‘mobility crisis’ as transportation choices rapidly decline

Many people are aware of the dramatic cuts taking place at Ohio’s local transit authorities, but at the same time Ohio’s intercity public transportation modes – bus carriers, Amtrak, and airlines – are also seeing sharp service declines. According to All Aboard Ohio, these decreases in service are leaving many Ohioans stranded as they look for travel connections between Ohio’s many cities, towns, suburbs, and rural hamlets.

“Ohio is facing a serious mobility crisis,” said Bill Hutchison, president of All Aboard Ohio. “Ohio’s public officials and transportation company executives need to recognize a problem exists and start working together to address the lack of travel options.”

Intercity public transportation choices in Ohio. 1979 vs. 2009

The news comes out the non-profit’s new Transportation Report Card (pdf) in which the organization gave Ohio a “lump of coal” for the declining transportation choices. In the report, the following data illustrates that decline over the past 30 years.

  • Bus companies like Greyhound and Continental Trailways eliminated more than two-thirds of their Ohio departures and dozens of routes between 1979 and 2004;
  • In the past five years bus services have stabilized, but with some losses (Sandusky and downtown Dayton stops eliminated) and gains (Megabus adds Chicago service to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo);
  • Ohio has lost 1,000 route miles of Amtrak train service from 1979-2005 and saw service levels decline by 60 percent from 84 trains per week to 34;
  • Amtrak in Ohio has also stabilized since 2005 yet offers inconvenient middle-of-the-night services on just three routes;
  • Airlines have been in retreat after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with Ohio airports losing seat-mile capacity ranging from 10-100 percent, mostly due to cuts in short-distance flights;
  • Losses accelerated since 2007 due to high fuel prices and the recession. Since 2007, airports in Ohio and within 100 miles of Ohio have seen their scheduled domestic departures decrease 7-39 percent.

According to All Aboard Ohio, these cuts have an especially negative impact on Ohio’s growing elderly population, disabled citizens, and lower- and working-class families who can not afford to own their own or reliably maintain their own car.

“Given the sorry state of intercity public transportation in Ohio, it’s probably better that you travel to grandma’s house this holiday season because it’s more difficult for her to visit you,” said Hutchison.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that Ohio residents over the age of 65 currently make up 16 percent of the state’s population – a number expected to grow to 20 percent by 2030. It is also estimated that in Ohio’s larger urban areas like Cincinnati and Cleveland, roughly 20 to 25 percent of the households have no car at all.

“While one can attribute this decline in transportation options to many factors, I believe it’s mostly due to complacency. Too many just blandly plod along and accept their fate without a fight. Well, we don’t accept it and this report is an early salvo in our fight.”

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News Politics Transportation

The Quickest Way to a Misleading Generalization is Always Through COAST

Over the course of the past two years I have been privileged to debate the merits of rail transportation with COAST’s Mark Miller on several occasions. These conversations often lasted extended periods of time and often included a statement from Miller that went something like this: “I’m not opposed to rail, I just want the voters to have a say on the matter…I actually think a better transportation system would be a good thing for Cincinnati.”

The problem is that these words are not followed up by actions that support them. COAST decided to draft an all-encompassing charter amendment that would have forced all passenger rail investments to go before a public vote no matter how big or small. Since COAST’s special interest agenda against passenger rail options for Cincinnatians failed miserably at the polls November 3rd, the group has continued to hammer away at the merits of all passenger rail transportation.

COAST’s most recent press conference held outside of City Hall quickly turned into a “chaos filled with lies” and even a minor shoving match according to reports (here & here).

In COAST’s most recent blog post entitled “The Most Expensive Distance Between Two Points is Always a Rail Line,” they cite a recent story from the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail Reporter that identified a recent decision by a Network Rail manager to send their employees to a conference by bus instead of by rail due to costs. The sweeping claim, made by COAST, didn’t take long to garner a response on their very own blog:

“Go to National Express, they have both bus and train fares on their website for the UK. A same-day, one-way ticket from Coventry to Reading by rail in 37 pounds and takes 1 hour 15 minutes. A same-day, one-way ticket from Coventry to Reading by bus is 18 pounds 60 cents, and takes 4 hours 55 minutes. If three hours and forty minutes is worth less than $30.49, take the bus. Otherwise the train is a better idea.”

Time valuation aside, there is still that sweeping claim that a rail line is always the most expensive distance between two points. What about air travel? If you were making late Thanksgiving travel plans from Cincinnati to Chicago a roundtrip air ticket would cost you around $473 on Delta, while a roundtrip train ticket would cost you around $105 on Amtrak.

Even with that said, I wonder how much a last minute trip from Cincinnati to Chicago would cost on a helicopter, taxi cab, luxury ocean liner (if possible), a jet pack, or limousine. Don’t be fooled by COAST’s deceiving tactics that are geared to do nothing more than promote their own special interest agenda and muddy the debate surrounding public transportation. But perhaps urban strategist Aaron Renn summed it up best when he discussed COAST’s agenda earlier this year:

“Organizations that exist simply to oppose things without any positive vision of what they want to achieve deserve a skeptical eye.”

Support Cincinnati and its transportation choices.

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News Politics Transportation

Cincinnatians show their support for strong public assets

After a long and tiring campaign, Cincinnatians cast their votes and made it loud and clear that they are supportive of passenger rail in Cincinnati. With all the votes in, Issue 9 has been defeated 56.2% to 43.8%.

But in a night of many important issues, Cincinnatians showed their support for strong public assets even during tough economic times. Levies for the Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati/Hamilton County Public Library System, and Cincinnati Public Schools all passed along with others. Mayor Mallory won his reelection bid and the Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment was defeated.

As Carol Coletta said, “It’s a great day to live in Cincinnati. Citizens vote to support library, Museum Center, and stopped non-support of transit.”

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News

Get out and vote!

Be sure to get out and vote today regardless of your political leanings or beliefs. This election is an extremely important one for Cincinnati as voters decide on the fate of the City’s Water Works department, whether or not passenger rail transportation is something we support or place additional red tape around, whether we want casinos in Ohio and one at Broadway Commons, whether we want to provide funding for the Cincinnati Museum Center and our public library system.

It’s no secret that those of us here at UrbanCincy feel strongly about many of these issues, but most notably, we urge you to VOTE NO ON ISSUE 9. The passage of Issue 9 will create additional red tape and government inefficiencies. It will cost taxpayers money and leave Cincinnati out of the loop for key federal funding cycles.

The polls are open from 6:30am to 7:30pm. Find your polling location here. Go out and support a local business as you watch the results come in. Grammer’s will be updating results live, and Arnold’s Bar & Grill will be the official election night party for Cincinnatians for Progress and the No on 9 campaign.

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Cincinnati takes critical step towards preserving historic Over-the-Rhine

The City of Cincinnati has been facing increasing pressure in regards to its policy on historic preservation, and now intends to create a special task force related to the economic development and historic preservation of one of the nation’s most important historic districts: Over-the-Rhine.

The vote is music to the ears of local preservation organizations that have been pushing for new policies in regards to historic preservation throughout the city and specifically in Over-the-Rhine. The Over-the-Rhine Foundation and Cincinnati Preservation Association first made the suggestions earlier this year and have been pushing the issue for more several years.

Interesting to note that only five of City Council’s nine members voted for the new task force. Council members Chris Bortz (C), Jeff Berding (D), Leslie Ghiz (R) and Chris Monzel (R) all voted against the measure (all four of these council members are running for reelection this November 3rd).

The move also comes on the heels of my recent appearance on City Talk Radio where we discussed (listen to the show) historic preservation in Cincinnati specifically focusing on Over-the-Rhine. During the show I discussed several critical items that must be addressed from a policy level to make historic preservation a priority in Cincinnati.

Relaxed parking requirements: Minimum parking requirements can become costly for developers working in historic districts where parking can be quite difficult to incorporate, especially for small developers. Relaxed parking requirements in historic districts can reduce cost burdens and help preserve the integrity of the neighborhoods.

Make preservation a policy priority: The City should adjust its policies to make historic preservation a priority. In cities like Savannah and Charleston they do just this by aggressively mandating preservation and even to the extent of purchasing historic properties in danger of demolition so that they can be placed in good hands and restored. City code officials need to adopt work practices that treat historic properties differently from the rest, with an emphasis on stabilization instead of demolition.

Remove the cost barriers: Relaxed parking requirements are just one way to remove the cost barriers and improve the attractiveness of investing in urban historic districts. Investment in quality public assets like parks, transportation and other infrastructure help create the dynamic urban environments that many urban dwellers demand. Investing in these improvements at the public level can make for lower capital costs for developers and/or improve the desirability of a historic neighborhood thus making price points more effective for private investment.