Cincinnati Streetcar Under Construction (Mason: military, transport, eat)

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by natininja

I mostly agree with you, but your nephew is wrong in that the streetcar will get stuck in traffic, just like buses do. They operate in the street, in the same lane as bikes, trucks, and cars. They're still a much smoother ride, since tracks don't have bumps like roads do. And they are great for the elderly and disabled (and cyclists), since the platform is at the same level as the curb.

Since lower income people are the most likely to ride transit, it will definitely be something they use. Tickets should cost no more than a bus fare, and perhaps less. Frankly, I would like to see the fare as low as possible. Free might be problematic for attracting vagrants, but it's worth experimenting. The downtown portion of the streetcar system in Portland is free.

Did you read the article on the Portland streetcars 10 year anniversay? What caught my eye was the average speed of 7 to 12mph, hardly a speed demon. At that rate the 4 mile route would take around 20 minutes, almost enough time to take a nap.

[motorman]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Did you read the article on the Portland streetcars 10 year anniversay? What caught my eye was the average speed of 7 to 12mph, hardly a speed demon. At that rate the 4 mile route would take around 20 minutes, almost enough time to take a nap.

So what are we hearing, kjbrill...that the next time you drop in and "do downtown" that you'll be walking those four miles? (Shouldn't take too long, according the Enquirer's ace reporter, Barry Horstman... )

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

They may throw out all of the current bids and start the process over again.

At least WLIWRadio posted this pertinent information. Some of you guys are acting like the city is moving ahead with the over budget bids and all of us supporters are fine with it. That's not the case.

To quote Dohoney, and so that we are all clear on what's happening at the moment:

“The one on the high end is obviously way off, but we need to look at all of them to try to make some sense of this. Then the question becomes, do we try to get the price down, do we start all over or do we maybe make some adjustments on funding? Right now, I just don’t know.”

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by TomJones123

At least WLIWRadio posted this pertinent information. Some of you guys are acting like the city is moving ahead with the over budget bids and all of us supporters are fine with it. That's not the case.

To quote Dohoney, and so that we are all clear on what's happening at the moment:

I'm not terribly experienced in the government bidding process, but what how does the city vetoing the bids make a huge impact? They already told the gov what they could do....so I suppose they can come back and drop the price a little bit to try to win the job.....but by a significant amount?

Time and time again, the government promises the moon by underestimating costs and overestimating revenues. Those losses have to be funded somewhere.....what other assets is the city going to have to sell to fund these losses? That well is going to go dry pretty quick. Then what?

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by flashes1

I'm not terribly experienced in the government bidding process, but what how does the city vetoing the bids make a huge impact? They already told the gov what they could do....so I suppose they can come back and drop the price a little bit to try to win the job.....but by a significant amount?

- do we try to get the price down
- do we start all over
- do we maybe make some adjustments on funding

[TomJones123]

Originally Posted by flashes1

Time and time again, the government promises the moon by underestimating costs and overestimating revenues. Those losses have to be funded somewhere.....what other assets is the city going to have to sell to fund these losses? That well is going to go dry pretty quick. Then what?

flashes1, not sure if you read the entire article, I didn't until just now, but if you check the bottom the Enquirer breaks down several more options Cincinnati has in navigating budgetary issues on the street car. I won't spam up the forums, since we all have the link.

[Serpens]

Originally Posted by rrtechno

Sure am seeing a lot of comments that "It's going over budget. Oh well. When does any government project stay within budget?" like it's no big deal.

I have family members who have worked on designs and oversaw construction of many school building projects in recent years that were completed before deadlines and under budget. It can be done if the planning is done properly.

Good for them (seriously). I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's hard to be surprised when projects like these go over budget.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Did you read the article on the Portland streetcars 10 year anniversay? What caught my eye was the average speed of 7 to 12mph, hardly a speed demon. At that rate the 4 mile route would take around 20 minutes, almost enough time to take a nap.

Yeah, I guess the 2 hours it would take to walk the same distance would be better... especially at night and in the cold rain.

The point of a street car is to provide rapid transportation in typically difficult/dense travel areas. In Portland, the streetcars move at about 25 MPH. They slow for sharp turns and stops. All I know is that my street car ride from my hotel to the OHSU Air Tram was a lot more convenient than driving and a hell of a lot cheaper than paying $100/day to rent a car and park. I gladly paid the $6.10 for the round trip.

[unusualfire]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Did you read the article on the Portland streetcars 10 year anniversay? What caught my eye was the average speed of 7 to 12mph, hardly a speed demon. At that rate the 4 mile route would take around 20 minutes, almost enough time to take a nap.

It's a loop. Why would someone pay to goto point A to point A in a single trip?

[flashes1]

Originally Posted by Serpens

Good for them (seriously). I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's hard to be surprised when projects like these go over budget.

It should actually be very surprising if these projects go over budget.....if we had competent leaders who were held accountable by the voters. But because the leaders are allowed to skate free-----financially astute citizens look at their projections as the crape that they are. You have to assume projects will cost at least twice as much as government projections and generate at least half the revenue/visitors that they project.

Here's how the government works though-----promise huge returns and grand vision at the planning stage of a project to secure funding----talk about all the new businesses and jobs that will be created ....heck it will pay for itself!!!......then when it goes grossly overbudget and looks like it won't deliever on all the promised future investemnet half way thru the project......tell everyone that since they've spent so much time and money on it already, they can't stop construction now.