Coleman Talks About Light Rail Request
Mayor Coleman sits down with NBC 4, talking candidly about his proposal for light rail.
COLUMBUS, Ohio —Mayor Michael Coleman requested $334.5 million last week from President-Elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package.
$200 million of that federal funding is earmarked for a 13-mile light rail system that would travel from downtown Columbus to the Delaware County line.
NBC 4 viewers sent emails and wrote comments about the multi-million-dollar projects. Some of those emails praised Coleman, saying, “The system has to start somewhere … a comprehensive system takes time and doesn’t come overnight.“
But others questioned the use of the funding writing, “The last thing this city needs is a light rail system. Who is going to ride this train?“
For a week, NBC 4 has been trying to take your questions to Coleman and Friday, he sat down with NBC 4‘s Mikaela Hunt for almost an hour—to give you answers.
“I felt it was important to at least ask or we shall not receive … and I don’t know if we’ll see a dime,“ Coleman said.
Coleman was very candid about his request for the light rail money.
The federal stimulus money is most readily available for infrastructure and “green” requests that invest in Columbus’ future.
“What makes our need for light rail in Columbus so great compared to some other things out there? Maybe if you could explain that to people who might wonder,“ Hunt asked.
“Well the future of our country—the future of our competitive cities or cities that are competitive—will be those that consider job creation, economy, environment, transportation,“ Coleman said.
Coleman said a light rail system could mean a potential 11,000 jobs in the Central Ohio area.
“If we get it, we’ll have a look at what the timeline will be. It won’t be next year. We won’t build tracks next year. There’s engineering studies and all that. But we have a good foundation on which to build,“ Coleman said.
He understands the hesitation of some Central Ohioans about the project.
“I know people are going to have to talk about it, get used to it, have a community discussion,“ he said. “If Columbus is left behind, we’ll be a system far worse off than we are today.“
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Reader Reactions
Yawwwwwn…onmybike and planner, my how you guys can bore the socks off of someone. Did you guys hug your tree today? Were you able to breathe the air okay today? My guess is the air felt just fine, so let’s address your continued dillusion of building a boondoggle light rail project shall we?
Even though rail supporters are few and far between, let’s go back to the personal safety issue. Rather than use words, let’s watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRdYW0QFYPg
Yeah, I’m dying to put more tax money into public transit. Spare me that this wouldn’t happen on a choo choo train.
Hey remember the beheading on the bus? No? Let me help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQLNs7FKJI
Hey ladies and kids, come jump on the choo choo train - and bus, cause the choo choo train ain’t gonna take you where you want to go, you’ll still need to ride the bus.
Why stop here, enjoy some more:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DUldjZnWG_w
Oh yeah, onmybike, you are mistaken with your optimistic Cleveland report. Checkout:
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/08/rta_leaders_favor_25cent_fare.html
Dude, get this straight: Mass transit = mass subsidies for VERY FEW people. Roads are subsidized for MASSES of people.
Also, planner - I attended a few of the streetcar meetings - wow what a popular project that was - ha! You are mistaken - there were several Short North businesses that were very concerned about construction. Trust me, the overwhelming sentiment at the meetings was that this project didn’t have a chance in he*l. Guess what? They were right!
Hey - let’s not forget Concinnati. They are a mess (as are nearly all the transit agencies) as reported here:
http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/12/15/daily14.html
Oh yeah - thanks for the Portland mode split info. Care to share with us central Ohio’s mode split? What did you say? Huh? Maybe 3% using transit? Wow, let’s spend $1,000,000,000,000,000 building dumb choo choo projects!
Listen kids, most people have a problem with the whole Obama money package and the continued running up of the national debt. To throw good (?) money after bad, i.e., choo choo projects, is a complete waste.
The masses, repeat, masses, want to pay for roads because they use them. If we go with alternative fuels and the gas tax revenues decline, guess what? You create another tax. How do you pay the other tax? With the money you were paying in gas taxes! See, its even Steven.
Now, go hug your tree, put on your gas mask and go play outside in the all natural snow.
Cotastinks-
during the streetcar public comment period, the overwhelming majority of business owners in the Short North signed a petition supporting the streetcar. A few did not, but it was because of concerns of parking modifications along High Street (which will most likely not be impacted depending on the design). Nobody expressed any concern about business drying up during construction.
Not only do other cities see “success” when it comes to transit, as posted earlier, Columbus’ numbers aren’t shabby either:
From May, a 7% ridership increase
http://tinyurl.com/8nh4nd
From October, a 15% increase
http://tinyurl.com/9b8x6m
This in November from COTA:
“COTA officials have attributed much of the increase in ridership to higher gasoline prices in 2008.
However, as gas prices retreat, people appear to be staying with transit.
“We believe that our ongoing service expansion program, which is adding about 60,000 service
hours annually, the acquisition of new coaches for the expansion of our bus fleet, and our
commitment to customer service are keeping our customers aboard,” said Bill Lhota, COTA
President/CEO.
The transit authority has also experienced significant increases in monthly pass sales. In October,
sales of Local monthly passes increased by 10.7 percent and Express pass sales were up an
unprecedented 44 percent.“
http://tinyurl.com/8ew5ch
I don’t understand how the sane arguments some are making against transit can’t be used on other government spending and comparable infrastructure projects.
As to businesses and the streetcar construction, from what I remember of the original plan it goes in small segments and takes a short amount (3-6 months) of time per segment. Compared to the current construction on High St. which is putting businesses at risk. Not to mention better foot traffic through the area once the rail line is complete.
The only problem with alternative fuel vehicles is the cost. Those that probably need them the most, those who need a fairly steady transportation budget month to month, won’t be able to afford the first few rounds of these vehicles.
portland’s light rail carries 26% of rush hour commuters (making it 73% commuters driving rather than 87%), and combined with the bus system eliminates over 200,000 car trips a day. 44% of adults in the region use the light rail at least twice a month. (trimet.org) and weekly ridership has increased for 20 consecutive years.
in dc, 42% of those working in the central core or in parts of arlington county use mass transit according to wmata.com.
the GCRTA in cleveland was recognized as the best transit system in North America by the APTA in 2007 (must not be that bad…) and reported a 5th year of gains in ridership in 2007 with over 57.3 million rides provided. Their reported assets exceeded their liabilities at the end of 07 by $608 million. that is straight from their 2007 financial report on riderta.com
these are just a couple of examples, but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information out there and it seems tough to define what ‘success’ is exactly, but the news isn’t all bad as was apparent when i started looking…
so Cotastinks, your brilliant solution is to dump massive amounts of new cars on the road that are powered by alternatives. I assume you mean electric cars or something thereof, cause that is the only viable option…fuel cells are a pipe dream and biofuels have air quality issues and will jack up your food costs as well… So the only viable alternative is plug-in electrics.
So the question is, HOW DO WE PAY FOR ALL THE ROADS YOU WANT TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN WITHOUT A FUEL TAX??? The fuel tax right now is huge and it doesnt even come close to funding and maintaining all the roads and bridges we have (hence the majority of infrastructure requests in this bailout). I hope you like massive increases in all income, sales, and property taxes to start to cover it, as well as massive taxes on your electric bill. Youre gonna get your toll roads too in that system, no doubt. Enjoy…
onmybike - you are something else. I agree with redharley that debating you few rail supporters is fruitless. I mean, cmon: businesses on Parsons would like to vote on the I-70/71 project? Do have any idea what putting choo choo tracks and other supporting equipment on High street will do to businesses in the campus and short north area? They would (not will, cause light rail will never happen) go belly up.
Talk to anyone from Pittsburg who is old enough (you know, like older than 40..) that was around when they built their streetcar. Buisneses went bankrupt bacuse of all the street closures and construction.
Let’s not digress though. Light rail is a proven money pit. Tell me what city you’d like to pick which has rail, and I’ll tell you the financial distress they are in transit-wise, the fares they are raising, and the taxes they want to raise.
Face it: A minority (less than 10%...in Columbus, less than 5%) of the public are using transit. Portland, your fricken mecca for transit weenies, has probably triple the bus service of Columbus, light rail and streetcars, and yet ~ 87% of their commuters do what? DRIVE!
Why don’t we talk about Cleveland’s Waterfront light rail line. I’ve ridden it a few times. At most there were maybe 5 people on the train. It cost millions, and yet nobody rides it. I triple frickin dare you to challenge me on the success of Cleveland’s light rail line.
Let me help you clowns. The answer is alternative powered CARS, not some inflexible light rail line. Oh yeah, the Polaris area is Columbus, annexed by Mayor McCheese and his City Council, so if you want to whine about sprawl, go to them.
While you are at home and mommy is fixing you your breakfast onmybike (let me guess, riding a bike in this weather is “cool”), ask her how many people she knows that want to subsidize a light rail project to the tune of a $1,000,000,000. Maybe she can talk some sense into you. I kinda doubt it though.
Thanks for assuming the worst.
I’ve held a job every year since I was 14 and I am gainfully employed at the moment while I work to finish my degree.
I chose to sell my car for a lot of reasons and I am happy I did. I’ve been home for the past week due to my own illness and helping my parents with a few things. I’ve borrowed a car a few times to go to work and class and was asked by a co-worker Thursday, when we we’re getting hit with the nasty weather, if I was rethinking things. I could honestly say that I enjoy it. It’s nice being able to hop on COTA, let someone else do the driving and be dropped off practically at the door of my destination. No navigating icy roads, glazed over parking lots or fighting for a space on campus.
I would love to see this go on the ballot, provided we put every single dime of public spending on the ballot as well. Especially road projects. I don’t get why you feel this needs to be on the ballot, when so many freeway projects are done with little regard to public opinion. Out on 161 in Johnstown, there are a handful of local businesses that are feeling the ill effects of redoing that stretch of roadway. On Parson, we have businesses that have been told by ODOT to get ready to pack up when the Split gets redone. I’m sure they would love to see that go to the ballot.
Since this conversation is obviously fruitless, I will leave with a couple of observations of the participants.
“planner” most likely works for the MORPC and is busy planning the lives of others as he/she sees fit.
“osupleasure” must own a house of ill repute somewhere near one of the proposed light rail stations.
and…. if “onmybike” were to get a job, he/she could be “inmycar”
Nuff said.
So now, light rail is a “safety and health” issue, because it will prevent asthma, birth defects, lung disease and diabetes ??
OK…...then I propose we ask for ANOTHER $200 million for a “lifestyle police force”........they can do a MUCH better job of reducing these health issues than light rail can. They can patrol McDonald’s and smack those Big Macs out of the hands of the obese, shoot those who dare light a cigarette and hold pregnant mothers down and force prenatal vitamins down their throats !! We can probably have such a force for a lot less money than the $200 million, but since we are trying to stimulate the economy with tax dollars, I propose we pay them at least $250,000 a year. so that we get some more of that money back with the Obama tax increase for those over that amount.
onmybike actually said something that makes sense…. that is “provide a wide range of options to our citizens and allow them, not anyone else, the free choice to determine how they get around…..“
So FREE CHOICE it is. Put this up as a ballot initiative, and see how many in Franklin County want to pony up the cash to fund this mess, and don’t take a DIME (of OUR money) from the Feds until the rest of the funding for it has been approved by the electorate.
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