John Schneider

Well said. Sadly, there are transit advocates who believe that rail transit should be used only in reaction to something, such as traffic congestion or the pre-existing availability of population density, rather than to create land use patterns and other conditions favorable to rail transit. When public transit was owned and financed by the private sector (before we started expanding road budgets almost entirely with general taxes at the outset), rail transit lines were built into undeveloped areas to develop them by transit/real estate/electric utility conglomerates. The population density followed. Unfortunately, some transit advocates will wait forever for the population density to somehow magically appear before agreeing to support development of rail transit. Design your transit system for the kind of city you want to result, then add the funding mechanisms to make it happen. ^ Truest words of the year, so far.

^ And for this, the City of Cincinnati gets a grand total of two regular stops within the city limits - three if you count the Boahouse which may be a stop for some special events.

Cranley is not unique is his view that transit is a social program. This view enables transit opponents to marginalize it. The Cincinnati Streetcar has challenged all of this in the most fundamental way, since rail is more likely to appeal to people across a wider spectrum. The opponents know this very well, know how rail is capturing new customers in other cities, and this is one reason they have opposed it so stridently. It's a game-changer, and frankly a lot of people like the way the game has been played for the last sixty or so years.

There is no public demand to build the Oasis Rail. Best evidence: this thread stated nine years ago, and as of today, we're on the 17th page. The Cincinnati Streecar thread started seven years ago, and we're on the 668th page. Among people in the know, the story is that former Hamilton County Commission John Dowlin, when he was president of OKI, needed something to do. So OKI staff cooked up the Oasis Rail plan for him to champion. Dowlin subsequently lost an election, and now it has fallen to Todd Portune to carry this torch, such as it is. I'm kind of amazed it has hung around so long with no prospect of ever getting built.

A long-time rail opponent. During MetroMoves, he called light rail the "Toonerville Trolley." Just one more person who has wagered his credibility on the wrong side of the bet. Will be fun the dredge up these quotes in a couple of years.

I've been looking at this too, but my conclusion is that there may not be enough stops. My benchmark is Portland's N/S streetcar line, where there are about 50% more stops per mile of track. And I think Portland could use a few more stops here and there. Portland stops near the CBD are every two blocks or so, but their blocks are half as long as ours 200 feet compared to our 400 feet most places. I don't think it's a big deal. We can add stops later if needed. Or remove them or convert them to "call stops" -- where you have to signal the driver to stop, like on a bus -- if some of them are seldom used. I know Tacoma has been adding stops to its streetcar line recently. And I'm guessing that evolving downtown will promote similar changes over time.

You can't force people to recognize their own ignorance, or to experience their entire city and gain a greater awareness of it. Some people just like to be afraid or want everything to be the same. That's their right. And to enjoy that right, they can stay in their suburban settings locked in their houses and cars. But don't prevent those of us who love cities from designing them and enjoying them the way we want to. It's awfully oppressive for suburbanites to deny us our pursuit of happiness. The only thing I object to is that the urbanists in their pursuit of happiness want to deny all of us suburbanities our own pursuit of happiness. Far as I am concerned, let the greater majority in numbers prevail. ^ I am unaware of this. Who supposedly feels this way?

Someone very close to the politics of City Hall said just the same thing to be a couple of minutes ago.

The NY Times article, if it appears, might draw a connection between this and Christie's ARC Tunnel hose job. That's why it was of interest to the NYC area. It will definitely appear, pehaps as early as Sunday. They were requesting info from me late last night. Wall Street Journal on the case too.

Dear Friend of Cincinnati, Today our city confirmed its will to continue along the path to a balanced transportation system. Our path has been up and down with lots of twists and turns and leaps of faith that took us to unknown places. But we soldiered-on, and now the path is wider and flatter for others to follow, not only here but in other cities that want to gain more citizens and become more competitive. So many people to thank, but first and foremost, I want to thank former Mayor Mark Mallory, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and City Manager Dohoney. Even though we reached our goal today, we wouldn't have even been in the game were in not for their leadership of the Cincinnati Streetcar over many years. Their support cost them dearly, and we should be forever grateful. And to our long-time champions on City Council -- Chris Seelbach, Yvette Simpson and Wendell Young whose eloquence and persistence following the election, working with PG Sittenfeld, brought their colleagues, Vice Mayor David Mann and Councilmember Kevin Flynn along to enable us to continue along our path. Mayor John Cranley was very gracious today in offering his congratulations to me and to others. I hope this period of divisiveness now passes and that we can all join with him and Christopher Smitherman, Charlie Winburn and Amy Murray to foster the city we all want to have. Were it not for Ryan Messer, who parachuted in to lead this effort forty or so days ago, we would not have succeeded. He brought new energy to our movement. He's the kind of leader who emerges every ten years or so here. Early-on, he recruited our attorney, Paul DeMarco, who used his contacts at the highest level of our nation's government to bring about the result we saw today, to assure the Feds we knew where we were going. Early-on, without a hint of hesitation, Karen Blatt volunteered our spiffy campaign office, and Ryan hired Scott Allison to execute the flawless campaign to gather signatures. Others -- Jean-Francois Flechet, Sean Lee, Rob Richardson, Jr, Margy Waller and Brad and Karen Hughes -- did whatever had to be done and were the wisest advisors and best team-players anyone could have. If I'm leaving someone out, and I probably am, I really apologize. Eric Avner of the Haile Foundation raised $9,000,000 in a little over 48 hours, enough to make City Council comfortable that the cost of operating the streetcar was assured for the first ten years. This was the keystone of the plan to save the streetcar. There were many memorable moments in this campaign. One I'll never forget was the December 10th meeting at First Lutheran Church near 12th and Race, the one where 450 people showed up to sign out petitions. Chris Heckman and Kristen Myers are members of the congregation, and they graciously arranged for the church to open its doors twice to us. I'm certain this set the tone for the whole campaign. Speaking of the campaign, we now have 11,000 Cincinnatians' names and addresses for our efforts going forward. The planning and execution of the signature-gathering was orchestrated with great precision by The Strategy Group and its able leader, Ian James, who made a critical judgment early-on that the number and intensity of our volunteers was more than adequate to gather the signatures. We wouldn't need paid signature-gatherers. Plus, it gave us all an opportunity to tell the streetcar's story in the way we know it. And by the way, we registered a bunch of streetcar supporters to vote in the process. Our thanks go well beyond Cincinnati to the many people in many cities who have been watching our project intently including especially Portland's mayor, Charlie Hales and his wife Nancy, who have joined us on many of our trips there over the years. He has been a guiding light for me over the years. We're not finished with the Portland trips. They have an early spring there. Most of all, we should all thank our spouses, families, employers and co-workers for tolerating our absences over the past days and nights. They were soldiers in this too. I've received many notes and texts from you guys, and I'll be getting back to you individually over the next few days. Suffice it to say that this effort could not have been sustained over all these years without the people on this list. I hope you'll rest and enjoy the holidays and that you'll return in the new year to work harder than ever to bring transportation choices to our city or to the city where you live. Meanwhile, I hear there's a party at Rheingeist Brewery tonight at 6:00p. Dunno the address, but if you follow those almost-abandoned streetcar tracks north on Elm Street to the end of the line, you're there. Thanks for everything, John Schneider

Ok, so the way I see this is: * Maximum of $69 million of local money to complete without further delays, which is less than the $74 million Deatrick forecast * $50 - 80 million of local money to cancel, which excludes any costs of litigation, loss of reputation, and the Present Value of economic benefits which have been estimated three times to be several hundred million dollars. What am I missing?

Back in the ball game.

The worm has turned.

^ Turned-in petition forms are continuosly shipped offsite for signature verification.

^ More than that now.

^ Got 96 sigs in five hours at Findlay today with a NY Times reporter following me around and interviewing people who signed or wouldn't sign. Great place to get sigs from all over town. Only five of the 96 were from 45202. And lots of non-Cincinnatians who couldn't sign were urging us on. Suggesting hitting Findlay tomorrow. Also, some bars and restaurants will happily let you walk around get sigs. I got 24 at Arnold's last night while mostly drinking beer at the bar.

Operating costs of $1 million per mile of track is a good ballpark figure for a starter streetcar system, and the costs per mile will probably decline as the system is expanded. I think Portland is spending about $8-9 million to operate its current 15 miles.

Now would be good time for everyone to step back and listen carefully, temper the nastiness and speculation on social media and let this play out. There a solution here if we don't trip over ourselves. We'll get there.

Yes, we believe this is about suppressing the signature-gathering. Cranley has apparently persuaded the unions that the streetcar is or will take their jobs and they fell for it. Do not be swayed or deterred. Keep getting more signatures.

Sorry. Chris Seelbach is correct. The Charter Amendment we're circulating petitions for requires such an entity to be formed, but that hasn't happened yet. Having said that, it is definitely doable if everyone pulls together. And they will.

A manipulative politician will create strife and conflict, then ride in on a white to rescue all those from that conflict. But.... German Lopez ‏@germanrlopez 4m Councilman @ChrisSeelbach says @Local12 report of private offer to underwrite streetcar operation costs is "not true." ^ Chris is correct.

450 people picked up petitions tonight, and the phone is still ringing with people wanting to know where to get them. Don't want to talk specifics about money except to say that it is pouring in. This level of organization is costly, and you can contribute here. https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=TO4E_wutGuazFuKIRSsRdkSTEkxhOlJ80iXZSKP5vxvqEo7hX9lPQ1W2-u0&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63 The dam has started to crack.

Yes it is. And everyone must file their taxes by April 15th. That's the deadline.

^ Right now at 1208 Race Street and on my kitchen table. And about 350 others, I'd say.

Read the language of the petition.