“We demand our share. We should not have to come and beg for a basic right.”

[dvorak01]

imo- bring back the cable cars and be unique

but seriously, light rail would be awesome in columbia i think.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

I'm all for light rail and every other kind of public transit, but that's a whole other discussion. Most people don't ride public transit because it's trendy. They ride it because it works. When I lived in Chicago, I took public transit every day, even though I had a car, because if you were headed most places in the city core, it was not only cheaper than driving, it was faster and less irritating. Jump on the train, read the paper, have a cup of coffee, and boom, you're at work. Columbia, conversely, doesn't have a metro population of 10 million, $35/day parking downtown, or jammed expressways from 6:30am-8pm. It's relatively easy to drive in Columbia. No tolls. The traffic flows through downtown relatively well, with a few exceptions. Plenty of parking.

Should there be future-proof infrastructure for tomorrow's transit needs in Columbia? Sure. But facts are facts: Light rail costs a LOT of money. Like $20million a mile on the LOW end. That's almost double the CMRTA's entire budget, and that'd barely get us from Five Points to the State House.

[Columbiadata]

I'm diggin' the regional cooperation on the issue among the area's mayors.

http://www.columbiabusinessreport.co...fic-woes?rss=0

[moedog2]

Originally Posted by g-man430

Really? Really? Really? When did riding a bus become a right? And the people who don't ride the bus are supposed to pay for you to ride it also? How about you pay to ride the bus instead of asking the rest of us to. This is just another government boondoggle where they keep spending more and more of taxpayer dollars on something that keeps getting a larger and larger deficit: Richland pays the fare for bus service - Local / Metro - TheState.com

“We’re not there with a hand out,” Schneider said.

It's not a hand out? Then what is it then? My suggestion: privatize the system like you see with Megabus and have the citizens who ride the bus pay for the fare themselves. Oh and think i'm alone with these opinions? Check out the comments at the bottom of the article and you'll see that i'm not.

Are these forums really supposed to be about politics? This post seems very inappropriate to me.

[Woodlands]

"31% the amount of the bus system that runs in the unicorporated County" This is part of the problem with our metro.. THE CITY IS IN THE COUNTY.. This is not Richmond or VA cities that are literally carved out of the County.. In SC you pay City and County property taxes if you live in an incorporated area. You have both a City AND a County Council reps in the incorporated areas unless the County District doesnt include any section of the City.. which I dont think is the case in Richland County. Its foolish for County Council to say we dont want to support the system because its benefiting "the city".. if they dont want to support the system for other reasons then fine.. but this whole City vs County thing is shortsighted and stupid

[VA palmetto]

Our dependence to Mideastern terrorist funding oil was greatly increased by Obama's decision to reject a pipeline from Canada. Oh well, let them sell it all to our enemies in China, I guess the Democrats are saying. But then, they don't consider the communist murderous regime in China to be enemies.

As a physicist, I am very pro alternative energy, even more so since studying Japan's efforts in this field. Just like cancer research, which I have also worked in, 95% of it doesn't really go anywhere. It's that 5% that really makes a difference that you keep pushing for, because it can change so much. That's another reason I don't like Obama. He funds his political cronies under guise of supporting alternative energy (Solyndra), when all he cares about is greasing his palm and war chest. Now if the Republicans were the party of the rich, why do they all combined have less money than Obama alone, even though you would expect more contributions to their party in a primary year?

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by VA palmetto

Our dependence to Mideastern terrorist funding oil was greatly increased by Obama's decision to reject a pipeline from Canada. Oh well, let them sell it all to our enemies in China, I guess the Democrats are saying. But then, they don't consider the communist murderous regime in China to be enemies.

As a physicist, I am very pro alternative energy, even more so since studying Japan's efforts in this field. Just like cancer research, which I have also worked in, 95% of it doesn't really go anywhere. It's that 5% that really makes a difference that you keep pushing for, because it can change so much. That's another reason I don't like Obama. He funds his political cronies under guise of supporting alternative energy (Solyndra), when all he cares about is greasing his palm and war chest. Now if the Republicans were the party of the rich, why do they all combined have less money than Obama alone, even though you would expect more contributions to their party in a primary year?

Save it for the politics board.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

I'm all for light rail and every other kind of public transit, but that's a whole other discussion. Most people don't ride public transit because it's trendy. They ride it because it works. When I lived in Chicago, I took public transit every day, even though I had a car, because if you were headed most places in the city core, it was not only cheaper than driving, it was faster and less irritating. Jump on the train, read the paper, have a cup of coffee, and boom, you're at work. Columbia, conversely, doesn't have a metro population of 10 million, $35/day parking downtown, or jammed expressways from 6:30am-8pm. It's relatively easy to drive in Columbia. No tolls. The traffic flows through downtown relatively well, with a few exceptions. Plenty of parking.

Should there be future-proof infrastructure for tomorrow's transit needs in Columbia? Sure. But facts are facts: Light rail costs a LOT of money. Like $20million a mile on the LOW end. That's almost double the CMRTA's entire budget, and that'd barely get us from Five Points to the State House.

Good post, I felt it bears repeating.

[Woodlands]

Originally Posted by Brandon Hoffman

Good post, I felt it bears repeating.

You wonder why the City invests so heavily in parking garages? It seems like they build a new one every five years or so.. By building more parking garages.. guess what.. more people will drive downtown. The problem in Columbia and most mid size southern cities is that even if you increased transit options and reduced the number of spaces downtown.. it may cause businesses, particuliarly offices to move out to the suburbs..which may have been part of the case (the non political part) for SCANAs departure. If you ran a commuter train down the existing tracks from Newberry to downtown Columbia or an express bus.. not sure that it would be widely used unless the state gave employers an incentive to encourage their employees to use transit (commuter subsidy like in DC and other areas) AND there would need to be a better circulator bus system or trolley to ferry people around downtown who commute in and are now car-less... Seems like a huge shift in local thinking.. that would likely also need to come with $5 gas

[ranger17]

i'd add as someone who lives in a burb but enjoys hitting Cola itself (and this may be a bit of a sidetrack); that transit system should include something to allow for visitors to park once and shuttle between the Main st area, 5 Points, and the Vista. That in itself may bring in more visitors downtown; when one doesnt have to deal with the current "well i'll park by Mast first, then drive down by Whit Ash, then hop back in car and run over to "x" place in 5 Points to grab a bite, etc"....

Transit should add convenience as well as cut traffic and parking, but if it's geared to help only one main customer base that may not be enough to keep it afloat.

just my .02