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I'm sorry; I guess the diesel fumes from the old GM Fishbowl busses I rode back in the '70s have altered my brain. I love the idea of mass transit. I've ridden mass transit all over the world. I'd ride it here in Ohio if it were practical. But there is NO mass transit system, be it street car, bus, subway or train that pays for itself. Even in places densly populated like NY, NY and Chicago. Not even in Europe. And in America, we LOVE our cars. As well as the majority of infrastructure we have here are HIGHWAYS. So, while I wish we could build more mass transit, it's just not cost-effective,. Especially given the economic straights we're in. AND ESPECIALLY in Cincinnati. (WHAT? we haven't even decided who will be paying to reroute utility lines??? )
Too late. The time for this dead-horse argument has long since passed. At this point it's just ridiculous to counter argument something that is definitely happening. ... The opponents'/detractors' arguments failed eons ago. The streetcar is being built as we speak.
P.S. - I would love to not own a car and all the headaches associated with it - gas, car payments, insurance, maintenance, traffic, bad drivers, pay-to-park, accidents, etc.
I'm sorry; I guess the diesel fumes from the old GM Fishbowl busses I rode back in the '70s have altered my brain. I love the idea of mass transit. I've ridden mass transit all over the world. I'd ride it here in Ohio if it were practical. But there is NO mass transit system, be it street car, bus, subway or train that pays for itself. Even in places densly populated like NY, NY and Chicago. Not even in Europe. And in America, we LOVE our cars. As well as the majority of infrastructure we have here are HIGHWAYS. So, while I wish we could build more mass transit, it's just not cost-effective,. Especially given the economic straights we're in. AND ESPECIALLY in Cincinnati. (WHAT? we haven't even decided who will be paying to reroute utility lines??? )
It's curious how you mention the fact that transit systems don't pay for themselves, like that is somehow relevant in the choice of building roads over transit. Curious because roads do not pay for themselves, either. So why even mention that fact?
P.S. - I would love to not own a car and all the headaches associated with it - gas, car payments, insurance, maintenance, traffic, bad drivers, pay-to-park, accidents, etc.
I have spent many years not owning a car. I only wish I could return to that state here in Cincinnati.
I have spent many years not owning a car. I only wish I could return to that state here in Cincinnati.
I may own a car but barely use it. Cincinnati would be a whole lot more appealing to someone like me if its transit was better. Not only that but the pop density argument is bunk, transit encourages dense development just like highways encourage sprawl. (Of course zoning is to blame too, but Cincy is also reforming that too ).
As I've said many times before the basin neighborhoods of Cincinnati have the capacity to support densities comparable to most Chicago neighborhoods. In less than ideal situations it could even support NYC levels of density like it did in the 1800s, but at the very least we are talking about 15-20,000 people per square mile down there, more than enough to support transit in the streetcar area.
Suckers love to repeat the slogans the auto companies themselves concocted.
I will have to admit one thing, when I was young nearly all the guys worked on their cars. Part of it was economic necessity and part was pure satisfaction from being able to and keep up with the other guys. My father bought me an old used Chevrolet to commute back and forth to UC. Over the course of the 5 years, I replaced the driveshaft U-V joints, clutch, transmission gears, crankshaft main bearings, and of course spark plugs, points, brakes and other things like that. It got to the point where it needed a ring job but I decided that might be beyond my level and besides I needed special tools and a lot of down time for that. So I limped it through until I graduated by filling it full of Motor Honey (how many remember?) to reduce the oil burning.
That was also the heyday of the drag racing, with the strip near Beechmont Levy or the one over in Lawrenceburg. A couple of guys could actually afford to build a rod from the chassis up. The rest of us just helped build it, thrilled to be part of the action. Did we do it because the oil companies suggested we do - what a crock! We did it because it was a guy thing, bonding us together. Many of our fathers worked in factories, running machinery, so we had an idea of what mechanical was all about. Of course we also did some pretty stupid things. I remember one incident when we had worked a couple of weeks on building a new car to race at Beechmont, was really not broken in. Our first race day it struggled to win its preliminary heats. This was a blow to our ego. Someone said, we need some extra punch, I have a can of nitro fuel. Poured it into the gas tank and next trip down the track blew a piston clear through the header and the car hood. Scratch one new engine.
I did most of my own engine work until the electronic add-on systems made it too complicated to understand and required expensive equipment to diagnose. But mechanical work was different. This past fall I paid for my first brake replacements on two cars in over 50 years. I did like it when disc brakes became more standard as the pad replacement was a breeze compared to the knuckle busting springs of the old shoe brakes.
I have noticed the young guys are not working on their cars much at all. Across the street from me are two brothers which buck the trend. But I understand why, they are Jeep enthusiasts. I see them frequently lying on the garage floor under one of their jeeps. But if you own a jeep you had either be wealthy or willing to work.
I attribute the reduction in young guys not working on their cars to several things:
. Over the years their fathers increasing paid for work to be done, therefore they had no exposure to doing it themselves. A pretty scary proposition when you have no knowledge where to start.
. Their fathers could justify paying for car repair saying I can make more concentrating at my job than what this repair is costing me so I am ahead. Until the mechanic slaps you with a bill several times what you make per hour simply because he knows how and you don't.
. Working on a car can be a greasy, messy endeavor. You don't get your pinkies dirty much on a computer keyboard.
So the current generation still wants their cars, but they do not want to be bothered with them. This may continue until the economics are totally out of whack. I look around my neighborhood and the number of high-end SUVs amazes me. They are not particularly good road vehicles. And who needs 4-wheel drive in Mason when our street crews have the streets bare within 2 hours of any event? Oh, maybe there is a reason, you need it to get up your own driveway which you never clear.
But this contention the Oil Companies somehow mesmerized us into this state I strictly reject. We LOVE our cars as Crew Chief said for simply the same reason we like comfort food, it appeals to us! If we didn't like it we wouldn't do it.
This past weekend I was reading an article on the highway programs both China and India are launching. China's program dwarfs our interstate system and India's is comparable. I only have one question, if rail is the obvious solution to the future why are these two countries investing in such massive highway projects to elevate them to world status?
I have spent many years not owning a car. I only wish I could return to that state here in Cincinnati.
I haven't owned a car in 7 years and have lived in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Cincinnati car-free. In some ways, I find it easier to live here than in Chicago. Move to OTR, get a Zipcar membership and a 30-day metro pass. Metro is actually a really nice system compared to most in the US. It may not be rail based, but the busses are clean, efficient, and on time. Plus, Metro is really stepping up their game by making transit stops more user friendly. (compared to a decade ago with those red painted poles...good lord) With the addition of the Uptown Transit District and Metro*Plus service it'll be better than ever. The Streetcar will only make car-free life in downtown easier than it already is.
I haven't owned a car in 7 years and have lived in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Cincinnati car-free. In some ways, I find it easier to live here than in Chicago. Move to OTR, get a Zipcar membership and a 30-day metro pass. Metro is actually a really nice system compared to most in the US. It may not be rail based, but the busses are clean, efficient, and on time. Plus, Metro is really stepping up their game by making transit stops more user friendly. (compared to a decade ago with those red painted poles...good lord) With the addition of the Uptown Transit District and Metro*Plus service it'll be better than ever. The Streetcar will only make car-free life in downtown easier than it already is.
My wife travels to N. KY and Sharonville several times a month. If it were up to me I would ditch the car. I'm in CUF, right on the 17/19 route and take Metro often enough.
I attribute the reduction in young guys not working on their cars to several things:
. Over the years their fathers increasing paid for work to be done, therefore they had no exposure to doing it themselves. A pretty scary proposition when you have no knowledge where to start.
. Their fathers could justify paying for car repair saying I can make more concentrating at my job than what this repair is costing me so I am ahead. Until the mechanic slaps you with a bill several times what you make per hour simply because he knows how and you don't.
. Working on a car can be a greasy, messy endeavor. You don't get your pinkies dirty much on a computer keyboard.
My dad used to do work on cars in that same time period. The main reason I hear why this doesn't happen its simply that cars are a heck of a lot more complex than they used to be.
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I haven't owned a car in 7 years and have lived in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Cincinnati car-free. In some ways, I find it easier to live here than in Chicago. Move to OTR, get a Zipcar membership and a 30-day metro pass. Metro is actually a really nice system compared to most in the US. It may not be rail based, but the busses are clean, efficient, and on time. Plus, Metro is really stepping up their game by making transit stops more user friendly. (compared to a decade ago with those red painted poles...good lord) With the addition of the Uptown Transit District and Metro*Plus service it'll be better than ever. The Streetcar will only make car-free life in downtown easier than it already is.
Metro isn't bad compared to a lot of other systems in mid-sized cities, there are at least some parts of town where its frequent and make sense. It needs a lot of work still - pretty amazed that you can't get to say Rookwood Commons (even from downtown) very easily or a lot of other destinations where shopping abounds. They are doing good work though on improving it.
The main reason I hear why this doesn't happen its simply that cars are a heck of a lot more complex than they used to be.
My Pa told me the same thing, one reason why he doesnt work on them anymore.
But he did when he was younger.
I spent many a Saturday morning with him working on our Beetle and Ford. And when I got a car I did my own repairs and oil changes, too. Not just working on them but getting parts (from parts stores,mail order fromk Whitney, and from junkyards).
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Metro isn't bad compared to a lot of other systems in mid-sized cities,
I havn't used the Cincy bus system yet....so far, in this part of the US, im a regular rider on RTA in Dayton, and have used TARC in Louisville. RTA, now that im understanding it better, is a fairly reliable system, but is infrequent on the routes I used a lot....which are not the routes their customer base uses.
Louisville TARC isnt as sophisticated as RTA in thier hub/spoke/crosstown layout, but they do have high-frequency (15 minute headways) during weekdays on certain routes and very long transfer times...from, say 9 AM to 1 PM and you can re-use the transfer, so if you are doing a quick errand in the city you can pretty much ride to & from...with transfer...on one fare.
If I use the Cincy bus I'd probably be taking the one from Northside to the UC area (Duttenhoffers books), then OTR/Findlay Market Area and then downtown and back. Someting like that.
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