gildone

COMMENTARY: Ten Things Wrong With Sprawl By James M. McElfish, Jr. In just the next 34 years, the Census Bureau tells us, we 300 million Americans will be joined by another 92 million.(1) Where will all these people—mostly us and our direct descendants—live, work, play, worship, buy, sell, and serve? Where will 40 million additional households be located? What sort of built environment will we produce, and what will be the results for the nation’s and the environment’s well-being? The prevailing form of land development is popularly known as sprawl or exurban sprawl.(2) Sprawl is characterized by low-density development that rigorously separates residential uses from other land uses, and that relies entirely or almost entirely on automobile transportation to connect the separate uses. There are strong reasons to prefer that the nation’s future development does not reproduce this pattern—reasons that have nothing to do with the price or availability of gasoline... http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3641

US can cut oil imports to zero by 2050: http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0329-lovins.html

^as if our publicly owned and funded interstate highway system and our system of zoning codes that make anything but auto-centric development illegal and have spread through all 50 states like cancer isn't social engineering...

speaking of station renovations, when are they going to start building the new Brook Park station?

At the Turnpike/I-71 interchange, there was an EZ-Pass sign above one of the tollbooths for a few months. I ended up in it a couple of times without realizing and you had to pay yourself to get out. The sign now just says "self pay" and it takes twice as long (no exaggeration) to get through that booth than going through a booth with a human being. I use the turnpike more often for work than for commuting.

^I didn't realize that some distilleries burned coal. We're in a pickle with both energy and climate change if we don't act properly and act fast. Time is running out.

Interesting about this whole ethanol thing is that the current boom is more the result of the phasing out of MTBE as an additive to "oxygenate" gasoline than anything. And as we know, it's already driving up food prices in places like Mexico and it's driving up the price of livestock feed here in the US. There's no way our country could ever grow enough corn to replace gasoline.

I didn't want to start a separate thread for this: The political blog Daily Kos is drafting energy proposals for the US they would like to submit to congress for consideration. Part of their proposal includes a passenger rail investment act. Right now they are trying to draft a broad framework. Here's what they have so far: http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Energize_America_Passenger_Rail

Check out the 7 minute CNBC video interview with Mattew Simmons: http://www.energybulletin.net/28016.html Simmons says that oil shortages this summer are a real possibility. He also says: "The best new oil basin we will ever find is the one called 'conservation.'" Can anyone say more rail transportation, urban transit, and land use reform NOW?

"French President Jacques Chirac described the €4 billion ($5.3 billion) project as a "major industrial success... The French line is part of a European Union plan to create a Europe-wide high-speed rail network with 12,600 kilometers of track linking the continent's most-important cities. " You get the rail system you're willing to pay for. That's for sure.

Only in the US would trains not be an all-weather mode of transportation...

Noozer: It sounds like one heck of a transportation bargain to me.

They certainly do. Passenger rail is the most obvious place where Europe has done a far better job than the US. However, the US has a growing infrastructure crisis across ALL forms of infrastructure, not just rail. Our electric grid, water lines (Cleveland still has some wooden water pipes left in its water system, believe it or not), sewer lines, and of course roads and bridges. We've long boasted our lower tax burden than the rest of the industrialized world, but it came at the price of neglected infrastructure. The chickens are coming home to roost now. I'm not saying our taxes need to be as high as Europe's, I'm just saying that we haven't done a very good job of considering the long term consequences of deferred maintenance of our infrastructure. We should have been doing a better job of building it to last, keeping it in good condition, etc. It's either pay now or pay more later. We chose to pay more later.

The Ohio Hub is $3.78 million per mile (1,270 miles at $4.8 billion)

slightly off topic, but how much does it cost, on average, to build a mile of rural interstate these days (including land acquisition)?

Good news for RTA, and transit in the US as a whole. Gas prices aren't heading down, so I expect this trend will continue for a while.

Comments to the National Petreoleum Council . By Richard Heinberg (Note: Commentaries do not necessarily represent ASPO-USA's positions; they are personal statements and observations by informed commentators.) On October 5, 2005, U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman requested that the National Petroleum Council conduct a study of global oil and natural gas supply. The motivating concern stated by the Secretary was an investigation into the timing of and responses to peak oil—the plateauing and subsequent decline of world oil production. Hundreds of organizations and individuals have contributed input to the process. During two multi-hour web-cast teleconference calls on February 23 and March 1, the NPC heard comments from Colin Campbell, Jean Laherrere, Robert L. Hirsch, Steve Andrews, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, Matt Simmons, Randy Udall, Roger Bentley, Richard Heinberg, and several others. A draft of the study is due during April, with the final report due by late June, 2007. For further information, check periodic postings of informational powerpoint slides on the NPC’s website (www.npc.org). The statement by Heinberg to the NPC is included below. Article found at : http://www.energybulletin.net/newswire.php?id=27103

$1 million per mile? Just for a soundwall?!?!!? Puts the $3.78 million per mile for the Ohio Hub into perspective, doesn't it. Mr. Sparkle: a thread for wasteful spending in other state agencies would be appropriate in the Politics forum here at UO. This is the transportation forum, therefore just ODOT. Could probably through the Turnpike Commission in to be fair, but they are pretty lean too. Kingfish: LOL!

And, that's human-scale development. Notice how the traffic isn't bumper to bumper given the density of the neighborhood? No one seems to be obese either...

I don't understand these new subdivisions going in next to freeways. I would never buy a house where the backyard borders on an ODOT right-of-way for a freeway. What are these people thinking? Then they complain about the noise...

ORDC and Amtrak are separate issues, thus the separate threads. ORDC includes Ohio Hub information/discussion and freight rail discussion. The Ohio Hub is a project being done independent of Amtrak. The Amtrak thread is for Amtrak issues. Admittedly, there is some overlap, but there is justification for the division. As for the AAO thread, Buckeye B asked for everyone's opinion here about starting an AAO thread: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=1414.msg168736#msg168736 There was only one response. As the only statewide advocacy group on intercity rail and rail transit issues, I can see where and AAO thread here could be useful to provide information on what's going on with the organization, particularly when we need to mobilize at the grassroots for something. This is especially true now that the "stars are aligned" better than they have been in decades (if ever), both in both Ohio and DC, for real action and forward movement on the issue. If we're truly advocates here and not just reading and discussing, it should be useful. It's the moderators' decision, however...

They never will because it would mean that the facts get in the way of their ideological arguments.

My question is whether or not the Ohio Hub project assumes the bottlenecks and the Porter line will be fixed. Looks like the Ohio-Chicago services will be the last ones done for the Ohio Hub.

noozer: do you think you could find out about the Porter line? I'm interested to know how we can add 8-10 round trips per day (16-20 trains total) in and out of Chicago on an already congested line. If Ohio picks up the CLE-TOL-CHI route, then your adding another 16-20 trains in and out.

I'm very glad to see the Towpath being completed up to the Flats. The towpath has always been a great project. I've always been curious if bike path could be funded in a similar way that "hook and bullet" taxes help pay for public hunting and fishing areas-- place a small tax on the sale of bicycles and bicycle related equipment (except perhaps helmets). I think "hook and bullet" taxes are less than 2%. Just a thought...