Do you support the proposed Ohio Rail (3-C Connector)? (Columbus: homes, schools)
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I Think you US needs to drop the Car-Culture. Its not healthy and its expensive and Oil won't last forever. I'm eagerly watching Ohio with or without the Stimulus , i beleave that Medium to Large network will be built , demand is high. What i would like to see by 2030 is at least 2 or 3 light Rail lines in Every Ohio city with a population of 200,000+ or a Metro of 500,000. Commuter Rail should extend like fingers out of every Ohio city with 400,000+ , High Speed Rail with speeds of 120-160 connecting almost every Major City and linking into the PA/NY networks that are planned and the Midwestern Network. Mag-Rail Tech isn't ready yet , its way to expensive for regular High Speed Rail projects or Regular rail, its more like , example if your In't Airport 10 miles outside Downtown you would build a Mag-Rail line to connect it. Other then that its way to expensive and shouldn't be sold as a possible HSR or Rail use. Or should be privately funded. Now you can currently and always look at my state or the Northeast to see how great and Rail network is. My state has 3 light Rail networks & 107 miles of Tracks , by 2025 we should have 280 miles of Tracks and another 2-4 networks serving all of NJ's largest cities. About 550,000 ppl use Rail in NJ daily, not including Light Rail, which is another 60,000-100,000. 2.6 million ppl in NJ use Transit each day. So if it can work here , it can work there.
I can't figure out the tremendous advantage a train line from Cincinnati, to Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland would be.
First, I acknowledge, that other countries have very efficient train service -- but are they economically self sustaining? In the vast majority of instances, the answer is NO. And let's face it we are BROKE - we HAVE NO MONEY - not for trains, not for medical care, not for education, not for anything! The way it stands now, we will have to borrow money from the Chinese to pay the Japanese for trains which will be under-utilized.
It makes no sense - a train system would have the disadvantage of automobile - slow without its advantage -- flexibilty and the disadvantages of air travel -- loss of flexibility without its advantage - speed.
I travel regularly from Cincinnati to Columbus. If I take the train, first I have to go when the train wants, not when I want. When I get to Columbus, then what? If I want to visit my daughter in Upper Arlington, how do I get there -- she doesn't have a car.
Then if we want to go to dinner somewhere, how do we get there? If I want to buy her some groceries (she is a student at OSU), how do I do that?
I can't figure out the tremendous advantage a train line from Cincinnati, to Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland would be.
First, I acknowledge, that other countries have very efficient train service -- but are they economically self sustaining? In the vast majority of instances, the answer is NO. And let's face it we are BROKE - we HAVE NO MONEY - not for trains, not for medical care, not for education, not for anything! The way it stands now, we will have to borrow money from the Chinese to pay the Japanese for trains which will be under-utilized.
It makes no sense - a train system would have the disadvantage of automobile - slow without its advantage -- flexibilty and the disadvantages of air travel -- loss of flexibility without its advantage - speed.
I travel regularly from Cincinnati to Columbus. If I take the train, first I have to go when the train wants, not when I want. When I get to Columbus, then what? If I want to visit my daughter in Upper Arlington, how do I get there -- she doesn't have a car.
Then if we want to go to dinner somewhere, how do we get there? If I want to buy her some groceries (she is a student at OSU), how do I do that?
These train people don't want to hear that. It's their way and that is it, nothing else. They are worse than the gun nuts and the pro diversity crowd. They want everyone to give up their cars and ride around on mass transit. Then supposedly we are all going to live at the train station, because these low life scumbags think that no one should have a yard, and we all should live at high rise buildings right near the tracks! Quit telling people how to live our lives!
Once again I reiterate: THIS TRAIN IS A COMPLETELY STUPID IDEA, AND A COLOSSAL WASTE OF MONEY!
If they are going to use freight lines ROW with public -private crossing it will never be a true High Speed Rail System.There is a reason that the freight haulers got out of passenger service...its a money loser and so is Amtrak.Lets get serious here one mile of a true Euro-Japanese High Speed Rail System would cost one Billion per mile this 12 Billion for Amtrak and Ohio[the old Big Four Line CCC&ST.LOUIS RR]is a joke.They have the Acela[150+ m.p.h.] now and it crawls in congested Northeast areas,plus you throw in idiots at crossings you have a lot of pending legal action and the railroads dont want no part of it.Even if they started now i don't see it up and running anytime soon!
I've listened to a fair amount of WLW's reasons why it won't work. And I'll have to say, in the short term, the plan IS cost-prohibitive and won't attract even a modest amount of riders. And you certainly can drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland round trip for less than one way train fare.
HOWEVER, I ultimately believe:
This plan is way ahead of it's time and one day in the future we may be glad we built (and improved upon) this rail connector
I'd like to ultimately see other places in OH and even connections to other states.
I'd like to see our rail infrastructure strengthened to move even more freight...GASP! (And I'm a trucker!) While there will always be a need for solo and (especially) team truck drivers, it's getting harder every day to expect truckers to be away from home & family for weeks at a time like we traditionally have. The idea of improving our rail infrastructure to haul more containers and trailers on rail cars would be a good one, IMHO. Perhaps it may not reduce the number of local trucks appreciably, but I'm guessing the rural interstates might have a lot less truck traffic on them.
One of the arguments against rail is that, if it were profitable, private interests would've long ago jumped on the opportunity. I disagree with that. Railroads don't pay their own way ANYWHERE in the world, as far as I know. Not even in Europe, where they are FAR more successful than on this side of the Atlantic. As much as I'm against government growth and spending, this is one thing we should be funding, FWIW.
I've listened to a fair amount of WLW's reasons why it won't work. And I'll have to say, in the short term, the plan IS cost-prohibitive and won't attract even a modest amount of riders. And you certainly can drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland round trip for less than one way train fare.
HOWEVER, I ultimately believe:
This plan is way ahead of it's time and one day in the future we may be glad we built (and improved upon) this rail connector
I'd like to ultimately see other places in OH and even connections to other states.
I'd like to see our rail infrastructure strengthened to move even more freight...GASP! (And I'm a trucker!) While there will always be a need for solo and (especially) team truck drivers, it's getting harder every day to expect truckers to be away from home & family for weeks at a time like we traditionally have. The idea of improving our rail infrastructure to haul more containers and trailers on rail cars would be a good one, IMHO. Perhaps it may not reduce the number of local trucks appreciably, but I'm guessing the rural interstates might have a lot less truck traffic on them.
One of the arguments against rail is that, if it were profitable, private interests would've long ago jumped on the opportunity. I disagree with that. Railroads don't pay their own way ANYWHERE in the world, as far as I know. Not even in Europe, where they are FAR more successful than on this side of the Atlantic. As much as I'm against government growth and spending, this is one thing we should be funding, FWIW.
The most succesful railroad in the history of the United States was private. Great Northern I think it was called. The feds got mad about it because it was so much more efficient than there subsidized rail roads they started passing laws that put it out of business.
And yes, if this were a profitable venture private interests would have already jumped on it. This is certain to be an economic disaster. Look at Amtrak.
There is a long history of privately owned "public" transportation. It always works better than government funded transportation. And it's always cheaper.
I suggest you read Walter Block's "The Privatization of Roads and Highways"
Then if we want to go to dinner somewhere, how do we get there? If I want to buy her some groceries (she is a student at OSU), how do I do that?
good point. This is why private industry would do better at this. They either address concerns like these (assuming there are a substantial amount of other people in similar situations) or they go broke.
The government cant go broke. Doesn't matter to them whether or not you ride this thing.
Look how they do subways in the Northeast. They offer discounts to people that ride those things all the time. But when do these people ride? During rush hour. If it were run by a private industry then it would cost MORE during rush hour. Not less. This woud spread relieve congestion.
It's sort of like going to a restaurant. On friday night you pay full price. You can get the same meal on Tuesday afternoon cheaper. This keeps the crowds on Friday night down as some people would rather pay the dicounted price on Tuesday. This benefits the restaurant employees as well as the customers. Both the ones willing to pay full price and those that would rather eat on tuesday.
But the government does the exact opposite and encourages overcrowding. I hope I'm wrong but I see this as being a disaster.
Hopefully they have a stop at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. Only way I can see using it.
Also, what if I'm completely wrong and it is a big success and brings all kind of economic growth to the 3 cs and dayton. What about Toledo? What about Marietta? What about Youngstown? Dont they deserve some help also?
How come the government decides the winners and losers? These decisions are made for political calculations. Not based on what consumer wants. This is almost certainly gonna be a disaster.
Another disadvantage of this plan is the government will steal land from people that aren't willing to sell it. The private businessman wouldn't be able to just swipe property from people. All he would do is change the route a little bit.
I can see all kinds of court cases over government land swipes. Just one more thing that would be avoided if it were left to the capitalist.
Another disadvantage of this plan is the government will steal land from people that aren't willing to sell it. The private businessman wouldn't be able to just swipe property from people. All he would do is change the route a little bit.
I can see all kinds of court cases over government land swipes. Just one more thing that would be avoided if it were left to the capitalist.
The Govt always takes stealing over other choices , which makes me mad. But luckily it rarely happens here, in the NE , except in a Large Project case.
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