gildone

^How about a streamlined NEPA, then?

Yeah, I know that guy. Crank doesn't even begin to describe him... :wink: why not?

This is GREAT news. :banger: :clap: The NCTC would be an outstanding development generator for downtown. Who knows, it might also dial up the pressure for the Waterfront line extension. Besides, our Amtrak station is nothing but a glorified bus station. A classy station would sure help for when the 2-C/3-C gets going.

This is GREAT news. :banger: :clap: The NCTC would be an outstanding development generator for downtown. Who knows, it might also dial up the pressure for the Waterfront line extension. Besides, our Amtrak station is nothing but a glorified bus station. A classy station would sure help for when the 2-C/3-C gets going.

I'm wondering if projects that utilize existing infrastructure and will result in a net reduction in carbon emissions should be exempt from NEPA. Examples would be: Ohio Hub, West Shore Corridor, Euclid Corridor, Cincy Streetcar, Columbus Streetcar, etc.

I thought Joe C. killed the Waterfront Line extension? Too bad. That line needs to go somewhere besides an isolated parking lot. It's no wonder the ridership is so low.

Seeing all those people got me thinking... It would be great if in some future summer (after development catches up and some vitality returns) on a few weekends if Cleveland followed what NYC and some other cities did this past summer and close Euclid, say between Public Square and CSU to cars. I suppose I'm thinking too far ahead, though...

I know the transit systems need money, but I'm quite tired of advertising that is already beyond the saturation point. One of these days I'm going to come home, lift the lid on my commode, and see an ad that says "Drink Gatorade" or something.

Of course, it would be a pretty obvious, shallow, shameless act. But, junkies don't care as long as they get their fix...

A couple of not so good Red Line experiences in close proximity... Friday morning, I was boarding at Brook Park to get downtown. The 7:09 was canceled without explanation. Fortunately, I was early so it didn't bother me. A couple of people had to ask for late slips (btw, when proof of payment is adopted, how will people get "late slips"?). On Saturday morning the train I was on(#190) broke down at W. 117th (This would have been the 7:47 at Brook Park). This was definitely going to make me late and totally screw up my morning. Fortunately, I was able to call KJP and he graciously agreed to give me a ride to CSU where I was headed. That saved my rear end. (thanks KJP!).

Was at CSU yesterday and last night. In the evening (between 5:30 and 7 pm) I saw the buses running, but they didn't appear to be following the schedule. There were three vehicles running 5-10 minutes apart followed by considerable gaps. According to the schedule, it was supposed to be every 20 minutes. I walked up and down Euclid between Public Square and E.17th a couple of times during that time frame. BTW, when will the ticket machines in the stations be operational?

Here's the link (courtesy of KJP): http://wwwguardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/18/cuban-oil The article says there "may be more than 20 bbl". Be wary. As I have explained before in this thread, governments and the press like to publish the most optimistic estimates when it comes to oil fields-- usually the P10 estimate-- which means that there is a 10% probability that the field contains X amount. I would want to know what the P90 and P50 estimates are. The real amount will be somewhere between the P50 and P90 and it will be less than 20 billion barrels, perhaps almost half that. Also, this is deep water oil and there is a significant global shortage of drilling rigs. The embargo and choking down of global credit will also slow things down. My guess is that we will soon abandon the embargo because we'll want to buy their oil and our government will want American oil companies to get a piece of the pie.

AmrapinVA, Thanks for the reply. How do the city pairs you list compare to city pairs in the US (i.e. approximately same distance)? I only have more questions though... how does the cost structure of Japanese airlines compare to US ones? Labor costs, employee health care, level of government subsidies-- both direct (if any) and indirect, route structures etc. I'm not trying to argue with you, just trying to get an accurate a comparison as possible so I better understand the range of differences and flaws in the US aviation system. Interesting presentation on the state of the US Airline industry was given at the recent ASPO-USA conference in Sacramento: http://www.aspo-usa.org/aspousa4/proceedings/Boyd_Michael_ASPOUSA2008.pdf Interesting item mentioned was the archaic nature of our air traffic control system and associated routings wastes 15% of the airlines' fuel. That's pretty significant, if you ask me. The sad part is our government has no immediate plans to upgrade our ATC system. I've read about this before (and made passing comments about it somewhere on UO too, I think). The state of our infrastructure really stinks... An attendee at the conference posted his notes at the ASPO site. Apparently the man who gave the presentation, Michael Boyd, made the following statement at some point during it: "We can put a man on the moon, but are totally incompetent at creating a rail network that works!" He was getting at the lack of intermodal connections in our transport system. He said the airlines need to be more like Southwest too.

^As our #4 oil supplier, we need their oil as long as we don't make other arrangements-- like rebuilding our rail system, expanding mass transit, and halting automobile-centric development patterns. I'm no fan of Chavez-- just go to humanrightswatch.org and look him up, but the anti-American sentiment that took hold in Venezuela and has since been spreading throughout Central and South America has its roots in how the US government has treated the region over the past several decades. Our CIA carried out assassinations of democratically elected leaders in Central and South America (Torrijos in Panama and Jaime Roldos of Ecuador are two that come to mind), overthrown other democratically elected governments... such as Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954 (because he dared to try to get a fair deal from American banana growers who were taking advantage of his country and its people). Our CIA overthrew the democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile and installed the dictator Pinochet during the Nixon Admin (Henry Kissinger said about this that these issues were "too important for the Chilean people to decide for themselves"). In other words, what we're seeing via Chavez is blowback whether we like it or not. American power is on the wane worldwide and we've only our own government to blame for it-- democrats and republicans alike as this stuff goes back at least 55 years. Back to the topic at hand: don't get used to "low" oil prices. This recent drop is temporary. Global consumption has not dropped by much and overall depletion in global oil production can set in at any time now, but no one knows exactly when. Some apparently argued at the recent ASPO-USA meeting in Sacramento that depletion could begin in 2009. I'm not placing any bets on who's right or wrong, just saying that we shouldn't get complacent.

I just saw your post, AmrapinVA. I'm not trying to imply anything about "tricks" with the Japanese aviation system. I made a simple statement and asked a straightforward question in the hope of receiving constructive feedback and information to help clarify things. So they pay "a bit more" in Japan. How much more? If they are doing better than US airlines, I'm just trying to understand the reasons as to why. I don't think you can blame the consumer. If people aren't willing to pay the price, then the supply has to shrink accordingly. That's how the marketplace works.

Primarily, but you mention something I didn't think of...

Euclid appears to Cleveland's premier Avenue again... Now if we could just get some more TOD in Midtown. It would also be nice to see more re-development start east of UC...

My wife wanted to drop her car off at a mechanic in the vicinity of Bagley Rd and Blaze Industrial Pkwy in Berea and take the #68 bus home (we're a short walk from the stop at Bagley and Maple). Anyway, there was no stop anywhere near the location. She had our 3-year old with her. It seems the stop density is pretty low along that section of Bagley, even though there are lots of employers (light industrial area) along that stretch. It seems the nearest one west was in Olmsted Falls, and, unless she missed something, the next nearest one wast was at Bagley and Lindberg.

The specs for the road took into account the vehicle weight. Thanks for clarifying, Jerry!

From Richard Heinberg at the Post Carbon Institute: http://postcarbon.org/jet_set The Jet Set Submitted by Richard Heinberg on September 24, 2008 - 2:20pm. I’m just back from the excellent ASPO USA conference in Sacramento, where (among many other fascinating conversations) I enjoyed an illuminating discussion with a couple of air transport officials whose names and organizational affiliations shall remain confidential. They were much more candid than the scheduled speaker Michael Boyd, who regaled us over lunch about the minor modifications that the chronically inefficient airline industry may have to contemplate in the near future. My private interlocutors were more blunt. Over the next decade, the industry will undergo an overwhelming transformation. Today businesspeople and middle-class vacationers regard air travel as a normal and affordable, if increasingly tedious, option for getting from anywhere to anywhere else in a few hours. But as fuel becomes scarce and costly, airlines will go bankrupt and consolidate; most planes will be grounded and mothballed; routes will be cut. Small cities will lose commercial service altogether. Whole terminals at larger airports will be closed permanently. Air service will continue to connect large cities, but flights will be fewer and slower (speed reduces fuel efficiency), with every seat filled. And those flights will be much more expensive. In short, we will be returning to the days of the Jet Set, when only the wealthy flew. People were simply less mobile in the 1950s than they are today. And the future will likewise be characterized by declining mobility. The implications are far-reaching and take a while to appreciate. Think of the impacts to tourism, (including all its subsidiary components such as the hotel industry and the car rental companies), universities, far-flung families, the entertainment industry, scientific research. . . . Of course for the time being we will still need a few vertical-takeoff vehicles so that “Helicopter Ben” Bernanke can make his rounds, dropping billion-dollar checks on beleaguered bankers. But for the rest of us, there may be no better investment than a durable pair of shoes.

Bridge for the next century? Polymers and resins are oil-based. As this century progresses, we're going to have less and less of the stuff...

Drove down Euclid from UC to Public Square on Saturday. I was disappointed to see it appears that from UC east the road is asphalt not concrete. While that road at the stations is concrete, I still wonder if those big buses are going to warp the asphalt. Otherwise, it looks great. What a night and day difference between the Clinic and CSU. Just having the rebuilt street makes the area look less depressing, and the building renovations appear to be continuing.

Thank god... now with this financial mess we're entering, let's hope our country has enough money left next year to actually invest in passenger rail. I'm starting to wonder...

^oops. Sorry. What's really sad, is that I looked on the previous page and still missed it. Oh well, I've never claimed to be the brightest bulb on the tree...

"There's no end in sight to higher oil prices, unless the world economy absolutely collapses" -- Matt Simmons Full article at: http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/news/economy/500dollaroil_okeefe.fortune/index.htm ----- I highly recommend going to the link. Simmons is getting more and more blunt. He calls McCain clueless to a room full of conservative businessmen... Here comes $500 oil If Matt Simmons is right, the recent drop in crude prices is an illusion - and oil could be headed for the stratosphere. He's just hoping we can prevent civilization from imploding. By Brian O'Keefe, senior editor Last Updated: September 22, 2008: 4:43 PM EDT (Fortune Magazine) -- Matt Simmons is as perplexed as anyone that it has fallen to him to take on OPEC, Exxon, the Saudis, and all the other misguided defenders of conventional wisdom in the oil patch. Why should one investment banker with a penchant for research be required to point out what he regards as the obvious - that from here on out, oil supplies can't meet demand, and if we don't act soon to solve this crisis, World War III could be looming? Why should a man who scorns most environmentalists have to argue that locally grown produce and wind power are the way of the future? Why should a lifelong Republican need to be the one to point out that his party's new mantra - "Drill, baby, drill!" - won't really fix anything and that his party's presidential candidate is clueless about energy? That the spike in oil prices earlier this year wasn't a temporary market anomaly and the recent retreat in prices is just a misleading calm before a calamitous storm? That we're headed toward $500-a-barrel oil? "I find it ironic that here we have the biggest industry on earth, and I'm one of the few people to figure out that we have a major problem," he says, in his confident if not quite brash way. "And I did it all in my spare time. How stupid and tragic is that? I shouldn't be one of the only folks that actually has a handful of ideas of how we can keep from blowing each other up and get through this."....