Grumpy

RTA actually has a policy against drivers assisting with Bikes, Here

Here's a follow-up article with 10 more. http://weburbanist.com/2009/07/20/senior-city-zens-2-10-more-of-the-worlds-oldest-still-inhabited-cities/

Yes, and no. The economy is a large part of why these cuts are happening, but if there was a dedicated funding source from the state so that RTA wasn't so dependant on sales tax revenues, the economy wouldn't have as big of an effect. To put it mildly, the service cuts aren't going to get reversed any time soon. When the recession ends, people start spending money (thus increasing the amount of sales tax revenues), and people start making more (thus increasing income tax going to the state, from which a pittance goes to transit) they we can talk about getting service back.

What's happening in October?

^I'm no lawyer, but I don't think I agree with your interpretation of the 4th Ammendment and how it applies. The police had every right to enter his home, as they had reason to believe that a crime (burglary) was in progress. Once inside the home, if they witnessed Dr. Gates commit a crime, in this case disorderly conduct, they have the right to arrest him. Based on what I've seen I think it was wrong of the officer to arrest Dr. Gates, but I think it was a judgement call and I just disagree with his judgement.

I can see where the $50K came from since they repaved the entire crossing, but I'd think if the crossing that's already there isn't too bad, but is wide enough (or close to wide enough), you could get by with spending a whole lot less.

^That's sad, but if they shoot themselves in the foot as far as Federal HSR funds, does that mean better chances of funds for the Ohio Hub?

KJP, any idea how much the crossing you showed cost? That can't be as expensive as some of the ideas mentioned throughout this thread; its just some pylons, extra signs, a little bit wider road, and a curb in the middle. If it works as a quiet crossing according to the FRA, I'd imagine a lot of communities would be interested. That couldn't have cost too much, and I would think the increased property taxes on the increase in property values of the homes near the tracks would make up for the cost within a few years.

I personnally don't buy the "another leg down" theory. For the recession to continue, the GDP has to go down, meaning things are getting worse. While I don't expect a significant recovery for years to come, I don't see a strong enough reason why things would get worse. I'm guessing the recession will officially be over with the 3rd quarter, but I doubt we'll see major improvements in unemployment till next summer. Then again, maybe I'm just in an optimistic mood today. The problem with this is, the state and most local governments have already cut back significantly, I think it would be hard to convince our leaders that they haven't done enough already. And when it comes to the Federal Government, it's hard to get anything major done in a hurry. By the time congress acts, the president agrees to it, and something actually happens, the recession will be over.

I'm going with neither is significantly lying. I'm assuming what's in the police report is the officer's view of what happened, and what Dr. Gates has said is his view of what happened. Some details are probably off, but I think they're both telling the truth as far as they can recall. Regardless of what was said before hand, when it was established that he was trying to get into his own home, the incident should have been over. He did eventually provide ID. As for the rest of this, while impolite, none of it is completely unexpected, inappropriate, or illegal, with the possible exception of threatening the officers. And if his threat is in the context of "I'm important and will get you fired" rather than just "you don't know who you're messing with" implying violent retribution, that's not a decent reason to place the man under arrest. Yes, they should have cuffed him. But when he did provide ID, they should have removed those cuffs, told him to have a nice day, and been on their way.

You know I've seen pictures of the progressive center before, but never paid attention to where it was. I'm not sure how big a bummer it is that there's not a tower in that spot.

Says the only person in the room with someone wearing a bow tie as his avatar.

One report I read said that his front door got stuck and he opened it by hitting it with his shoulder. (or something to that effect) If I saw someone doing that from a distance it might look like a break-in, regardless of how infirm the individual may actually be. Agreed. Stupid? Yes. Idiotic? Yes. Crazy? Yes. Overreaction? Yes. Racist? I'm not sure.

The Gates case seems somewhat questionable as far as how big a part race played in it. Up to the point where the prof showed his ID, it sounds like everything was done correctly; there's nothing wrong with a cop asking for ID to make sure you didn't just break into the house, but there's also nothing wrong with being ticked that cops showed up asking for your ID. After it was established that this is the guy's home, unless he was interfering with the cop's business, threatening him, or acting disorderly, there's no reason for the arrest, and the cop should have known this would blow up in his face. Without having been there and seen what happened though, its hard to say, but it looks to me from what I've heard like the cop was more of a jerk and an idiot than a racist.

Yesterday I saw someone in my building wearing a nice pinstripe suit and crocs.

I found this on Slate.Com. It makes a pretty good argument for modern roundabouts and the difference between them and traffic circles, though sortof ignores the difficulty of navigating on foot or bike. Don't Be So Square Why American drivers should learn to love the roundabout. By Tom Vanderbilt

I'd assume they'd get some form of impact resistant glass. It's commonly used in buildings in Hurricane prone areas in the south. I should hope it would be able to take a baseball.

I can ask the same questions in regard to cars; Why would someone want to drive on I-90 over the inner belt bridge when they can drive down Scranton or Columbus or W 3rd from Tremont to get downtown? Or that they can drive over Lorain or Detroit bridge? Where are people coming from that they would need a car lane on I-90? It's not like there aren't plenty of alternatives for drivers... If cars and trucks need the innerbelt bridge, why don't bikes and pedestrians? The latest articles I've seen have said that this multi-use path was no longer under consideration, if you've heard otherwise, that's good news.

In many places along I-77 through the states you mentioned the truck lanes are on the up-hill portions of the freeway where due to the grade, many heavily loaded trucks can't keep up with auto traffic. This way the trucks can slow down and use a lower gear to get the horsepower needed to pull a heavy load up the mountain side, without affecting cars that don't have a problem getting up the same hills.

When I was in High School in Ravenna, they didn't forbid kids from taking a foriegn language just because they already knew it. The catch is, the teachers had higher standards for pronounciation, grammer and spelling for the spanish speaking kids in my spanish classes. There was a guy whose family was from Guatamala that failed Spanish our sophomore year because he didn't study at all.

You know they do rent cars. Do the math. I bet you'd save more money renting cars than paying for insurance/maintenance/plates for a year on that car. No, my wife uses the car a couple times a week, so it wouldn't be a good deal to get rid of it. Insurance isn't that much since we both have good driving records, maintenance isn't too bad with so few miles going on it, the sucker's been paid off for a couple years now, and plates aren't that much. Plus its a pain in the butt to put car seats for the munchkins into a rental car. Sharing a car is probably the closest I'll get in the foreseeable future to car-free.

There has been some discussion up-thread about this and the advantages of including a way for pedestrians/bicyclists to get between Tremont and downtown via the bridge. I'm not suggesting that we be allowed to walk along the side of an interstate highway with nothing between pedestrians and traffic but a 10 foot shoulder (I'm pretty sure the Feds would have a problem with that.) I don't think that "ODOT will work on bike/pedestrian routes, which may include helping to extend the Towpath Trail from Tremont to downtown" is a guarantee that something will happen, and certainly don't think it's going to happen on the same timeline and with the same sense of urgency as getting these bridges done. Yes, ODOT has designed some nice looking bridges without a fight, but the fact that they've already determined it will be a concrete girder bridge is not a good sign. I agree that not all bridges need be interesting, but I think that given the location, we deserve a bridge with some more character than the 480 bridge.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised to see these cuts right after the state budget cut transportation subsidies again. $44.3 million in 2000 to $10.8 million in 2010, yet ridership across the state has gone up (for the most part). That on top of the loss of sales taxes because of the recession.... (self censoring myself here) This reminds me I need to express my opinion to my state representative/state senator again. Its been a few weeks since I told them what I thought of them and the bang up job they're doing. Has anyone suggested that the trolleys wouldn't remain free? Considering they are sponsersed, I don't think this is something we need to worry about.

That's disappointing. I'll take your word that there are some elegant concrete girder bridges, but I doubt ODOT is going to give us something attractive without a fight.

Winter can be nice without a car, but when your neighbors don't bother to shovel their sidewalks and you live half a mile from the bus stop it can get a little old. Thinking of freedom from the auto, I've been keeping track and since the first of June, I've driven a grand total of 110 miles. Not too bad considering 90 of that was one round trip to my Mom's. (I do need to visit more often.) Unless a Cleveland-Pittsburg train gets built, (and has a schedule & price that works for me) or I can convince my mom and my in-laws to move closer, I'll probably never be able to go car-free, but car-lite works well too. Mrs. Grumpy and I have been sharing a car since 2000.