John Schneider

If this were a game of poker, I'd much rather have the City's hand than Duke's hand.

Now, here's a truly ignorant Comment to a fairly ignorant LTE: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/letters/2012/09/10/streetcar-should-mirror-minneapolis-model/

This is a good article for us.

^ The City of Cincinnati's revenues are no longer declining. Hamilton County sales tax receipts are no longer declining. Ohio's revenues are no longer declining.

You know what the sad thing is? The I-75 widening project was carefully modeled in the early part of the last decade -- with and without light rail in the mix. Without LRT, our region will first endure years of construction lasting past 2020. Then around 2027 - 2030, the highway will become just as congested as it is today -- with over twice as many trucks, something like 25,000 a day. With LRT, the functional life of the highway is extended for many years as the train acts like a safety valve and captures commuters and others fleeing the crowded highway. That's why ODOT is preserving ROW is the new highway design. They know. Of course, there now are new factors -- higher fuel prices, less driving in general, re-urbanization, and changing freight patterns that may make the earlier projections better or worse. But it's not like this is a clear winner for the region. Here's the analysis I'd like to see: total up all the lost hours and wasted fuel due to the reconstruction of I-75, add up the property-damage accidents, injuries and loss of life caused on account of the construction. Add up the property value and tax roll losses due to the acquisition of ROW and because of increased highway noise and pollution. And then compare those sums to the Present Value of the future time savings, fuel savings, safety gains and property gains, if any. And see if we're really likely to be better off in the long run on account of this project. I have my doubts.

Please try again. Empty now.

^ I noted with interest that she is using Census "Journey to Work" data to try to establish that "everyone in Cincinnati drives." Over the years, nationwide, rail opponents have repeatedly cite these data to establish that "no one will ever use it." It's a universal tactic for rail opponents, which makes me suspect that she is simpatico with them. Cincinnati rail opponents have cited these data time and time again since 2001. But these are citywide data which have little relevance to the car-light populations of downtown and OTR. Plus, only about 20% of all trips are commute trips, so they don't describe the utility of what will be an important tool for all aspects of urban living. Having said that, I do think the Cincinnati Streetcar will be used for a lot for commute trips simply because 1% of all the Fortune 500 corporations in America, including two of the top 50, happen to be within a couple of blocks of the line.

^ "He doth protest too much, Methinks."

Actually, this problem does arise in other cities from time to time, and it has never stopped a light rail or streetcar project. In Minneapolis, the telephone company tried to hold up the project. A Federal Court suit resulted, and the phone company lost. Milwaukee is having similar issues with several utilties right now. Quimbob, I could definitely see a streetcar line on McMillan between Hughes Corner and DeSales Corner. Lots of vacant sites, lots of terrific buildings, and about the only way for UC's residential population to grow.

^ Say, for the sake of argument, this route were cheaper to build. I doubt it, but let's just assume that it is. But then look at the benefit side of the equation in terms of economic development. The entire east side of Clifton Avenue is tax-exempt property. Burnet Woods will never see development. All of the facing land of the University of Cincinnati except Wilson Auditorium and the College of Law has been recently and completely redeveloped. Good Samaritan is a non-profit with a fully built-out site. Then there are a bunch of fraternity and sorority houses. A high school. Not a lot of upside. But hey, we just want to build a rail line, and this one looks easy, so let's do it. E&S's ideal route, such as it is, reminds me of the logic behind the Oasis Rail Line. Guys, look, there are some tracks there, so let's put a train on them. No matter that half the walkable ridership is in the river, no matter that the line is flanked by a steep hill on the other side, no matter that it floods -- there are tracks there, so let's put a train there. You build these systems for a purpose, not simply because of the desire to have a train somewhere, anywhere, as long as it's cheap.

I have said that I am not opposed to this project, I just wish we had picked a different route. Such as?

^ He's moved around a lot. Started here as a helicopter weatherman for Fox 19, I think. Duke Energy a good corporate citizen? Wonder how many listeners bought that.

From the Republican platform: URBAN TRANSIT: "Infrastructure programs have traditionally been nonpartisan ... The current administration has changed that, replacing civil engineering with social engineering as it pursues an exclusively urban vision of dense housing and government transit." [as opposed to sprawl and government roads, I guess]

^ And ... more visible and much closer to the TV stations. Easy to do a crime stand-up there.

This is a poorly researched article. In addition to what people have pointed out here and written in the Comments to her article, I would add: * This is not a particularly auto-oriented city; perhaps the region is, but not the city per se. About 25 % of Cincinnati families don't have access to cars; about half of those living along the streetcar line didn't in the 2000 Census, thought that may have changed. * $2.00 to $2.25 fare? Where did that come from? The highest fare I've heard is $1.00. Amazing that CNU accepted this.

^ Dunno. I'm sure the City is tracking this, though.

^ Dunno. Also dunno where things stand with Duke.

Heard yesterday that the Federal Transit Administration completed its Final Review of the Cincinnati Streetcar project and that FTA judged to be one of the best -- if not the best -- of any of the new streetcar projects funded by FTA to date. Which sets Cincinnati up nicely for the expansion to Uptown.

^ In heels.

^ In the print edition, top of the OP-ED page. The Blue Ash caper has really hurt them. Now more communities will be wary of COAST.

Thanks Jake.

^ The don't fear it will fail. They fear it will succeed. Kinda up-ends their world-view.

With all due respect to your knowledge of the inner workings of the streetcar and the esteem which I hold for you on that subject, I wish you'd stop tossing around the $40,000 figure to somehow illustrate the value of Blue Ash Airport. As I said up thread, the income the city receives from the airport is only a small part of the value of the airport to the local economy. In 2006, Wilbur Smith Associates - an independent consulting firm that has produced more economic impact studies of airports than any other firm in the country - published a report stating that Blue Ash Airport is responsible for 75 jobs producing in excess of $7m in economic output. Your point in response was that little of that impact accrues to the city of Cincinnati, and that's probably true. But those jobs are local and the majority of that output stays in the metro area. Those on-airport businesses also pay income and property taxes, and the employees pay income tax, and their sales generate sales tax. These are locally-owned businesses employing local workers. By your logic, no municipality should ever build the road networks within an industrial park because those roads don't directly generate income to the municipality, and in fact cost money to maintain. You can't forget about the businesses that locate along those roads, though, which is what you seem to do with the businesses on Blue Ash Airport. Please don't try to portray the airport as strictly a $40,000 per year concern. The people that work on the airport and its allied businesses deserve better. I think this comes down to a value judgment. I hope the people displaced by the closing of airport businesses find employment at Lunken or at one of the other airports in the region. To me, if there is a regional demand for flight instruction hours, there is a demand for flight instructors. If there is a demand for fixed based operations at BAA, that demand is going somewhere. But back to the value judgment. Seventy-five jobs at BAA providing services to a mainly affluent clientele will probably shift somewhere else and some may be lost altogether, I dunno. Meanwhile, back along the streetcar line in downtown and OTR, many, many more jobs -- I don't recall the exact number -- are created using only one-third of the proceeds of the airport sale. People using the BAA have private planes or at least access to them, while 50% of the residents along the streetcar line don't even have access to cars. The City of Cincinnati is acting in the best interests of its citizens. Maybe the City of Blue Ash can use some of the $33 million for compensating the businesses and residents who are affected by the closing. Cincinnatians voted for the streetcar. Blue Ash residents voted for the park. So follow the will of the people.

^ There are no jobs at the Blue Ash Airport. It is not a controlled facility. A few times each summer, the city sends a crew over from Lunken to mow the grass. I'm not really picking a fight with the airport, although if it were truly a valuable asset with unique and irreplaceable local benefits, then Blue Ash would probably continue to operate it. My complaint is with the governance issue and how COAST is trying to manipulate it. I guess the other question I have is about those 75 jobs. I guess they are somehow aviation related. Don't you think they would just transfer to Lunken?

So the City of Cincinnati has a $36 million wasting asset producing less than $40,000 in gross income per year which it has agreed to sell to Blue Ash. It has accepted $6 of the million price upfront. Unwilling to accept the twice-expressed will of Cincinnati voters, COAST goes to another jurisdiction and tries to interfere with the contract that would liberate that stranded $36 million asset for other municipal purposes including $11 million for the streetcar. The effect of COAST's action here, if it were to be successful, would be to lock up the $36 million in the Cincinnati airport system for the exclusive of a bunch of affluent private pilots and corporations. Which further affirms my belief that COAST has no core principles and just acts opportunistically on whatever tactics present at the moment.