OCtoCincy

Great video- Before I moved to Cincinnati I used to ride the Pacific Surfliner every few weeks while visiting friends in San Diego. I remember one train that was insanely packed. Every single seat- I asked the conductor how many people were on the train- he said, "we're completely full- so about 400 people." I was blown away! This was a sunday, by the way.

Great Article. Everything would be better if Jean-Luc Picard said, "Make it so"

absolutely awesome.

I had emailed all of them about a week ago and got a response back from 1 member. Unfortunately, he implied the streetcar was dead and defended bumping up lower ranked projects.

Gotcha-- But if city council voted on one plan, would they have to approve a route change? If so- we no longer have a majority since Bortz will probably continue to recuse himself.

But it was administered by OKI. All federal transportation funds directed to projects in OKI's service area must go through OKI. What makes you such a pessimist? Is it that the city has all of the funding necessary to build the originally intended first phase? Or that the mayor and a majority of council are supporting it? Please don't say things like "city has all of the funding necessary to build the originally intended phase" without explaining why we are currently stuck regarding funding-- It is my understanding that the uptown connector must be included. If this is the case- don't we not have the necessary to build the route?

Gotcha- Did a little more research- apparently the UC grant should be ok- but Michael Moore is quoted as saying he's not sure about the OKI grant.

It's sad we live in a world where thorough research is thrown to the side and cast off as the work of "special interests". This new report, or 500 more wouldn't make a difference in the mind of our state leaders.

After the response I got from a TRAC member where he defended removing Streetcar funds for lower ranked projects openly in an email with me, it's clear that this project is getting 0 state dollars. And unless the Fed plans to reroute the Urban Circulator grant (it currently is given to ODOT for them to give to Cincy), that money is gone as well. Several of you keep saying don't worry, everything is going to be ok- There has to be something you know that we don't- as all the public information says the streetcar is down to $64 million in bonds... since the OKI money can also potentially be withheld by the anti-Cincinnati amendment in the transportation budget. The only fix I see is a lawsuit by the city. I'm REALLY hoping there's more to this that I'm not aware of.

Senator Tom Patton as well- And Shannon Jones is the Majority Whip- the #2 Republican in the state senate and the author of Senate Bill 5- She's not just one senator- she's the second most powerful republican senator in the state.

Pacific coast republicans are very different from mid-west tea party-heavy republicans. very different views. If you read the quotes coming from republican senators and representatives all around Ohio against this project- it seems clear if this doesn't get off the round, it will NOT get state support until these people are out of office.

^ considering after Metro Moves failed it took another 9 years to get to where we are today... If this doesn't make it through, don't expect more progress on rail in this city for another decade. :(

Second email: "FYI - on that point I understand the concern with cutting the highest ranking project.... but lower ranked projects are not getting that funding... we are 62% over funded - we are poised to elimiate funding for at least 6 projects on the draft list and i dont think we will be adding any new projects" How are lower ranked projects not getting that funding? if I have a budget of $100 and rank 3 spending options by value as 1 2 and 3.. then give the 100 to project rank#2... that's giving the money to a lower ranked project. According to a post earlier in this forum, ODOT recommended dropping from 26 projects to 15. If the TRAC member I spoke with is correct, 5 projects ODOT recommended removing may not be removed...

Emailed a TRAC member and got a response. I sent a very nice email thanking him for his service on TRAC and praising the independent nature of the board. I also asked for his support on the Streetcar and mentioned my opinion that the streetcar is being attacked for political reasons and, as the ranking system showed, not that it is a bad project. His response said that "If the current recommendations are advanced - we are 62% over programmed in Tier I" and that that issue has nothing to do with political influence. The pessimist in me says he'll be voting against he Streetcar... Hopefully I'm wrong and that he's simply stating a fact!

They are building their case. I'm sure they are in talks with the AG of both Ohio and the US. They will not let a Blagojevich happen in Ohio. The Ohio AG is NOT going to raise a finger to punish any republican in our state. Mike DeWine is too busy suing Obama to be bothered.

It's not even greater cincinnati- it's just outside of columbus.

Sweet Lord in heaven. It doesn't have anything to do with state administered money. It has to do with the money that has already been awarded to the City, money that should be used to build the streetcar, that the removal of state administered funds should not impact because the City and their representatives are committed to building the Streetcar. Folks on this thread have already said that you could use the current funds to build between Fountain Square and Uptown, or between the Banks and Findlay. Just start. There are three appointees on council. If you want them to think that beginning and supporting this project are incumbent upon their first actual election, which will be in less than a year, than you should let that be known. There are no other politicians worth your time to contact. It doesn't work that way. You can't change the route without going through an entirely new environmental impact- funds are tied to the route as was approved. You can't just say- ok we'll do 5th street to findlay market now... That change would add another year of planning to the process. additionally- they can't start because they haven't been given the go ahead from the federal government yet on the environmental impact report.

What does that have to do with state money? The city is tapped out- there is no way they are getting the remainder of the ~30 million needed to begin construction. With regards to winburns vote, Email Thomas and Young. They are the only two who MIGHT change their vote. Qualls and Quinlivan are 100% behind the streetcar, the republicans are all 100% against it, and Bortz isn't allowed to vote.

See- what I hate about that is that Kasich doesn't care and Wray doesn't care. But they are the only two phone numbers I can get to. It's the other 8 people who matter. Not the two of them. Any way to contact the other TRAC board members?

TRAC Phone Number anyone? I'm fuming and need someone to call.

^ Thanks for the great explanation- can't wait for some pizza...

^ considering they were less than 3 minutes apart, it may not have been posted yet when he started writing it.

Yup- definitely going to be Lippert. Bortz's former aide Kitt Higgs is Lippert's campaign manager.

Once we've stayed in Libya for 10 days, we will have spent more than the $8 billion proposed for HSR from the stimulus package, and more than the federal government has ever dolled out for light rail/streetcar lines.

Did anyone here ask A Tavola if they wanted a bigger sign but were told by the city/developer restrictions they couldn't? They could have chosen to want a small minimalist design. I would take todays Signs on Vine, which do a perfect job of telling me where Senate is and where Lavomatic is, over some god-awful flashy neon or two story tall sign as seen in the 70's photo above.