Eigth and State

A transit line I experienced in Germany had a subway section in the downtown area, an exclusive right of way in the median of a motorway, and a looped section of street running in the outskirts, which by the way are much denser than our suburbs. In the subway section, the cars were made into high-platform cars by covering the steps with a plank of sorts. At the other stops, the plank retracted to reveal steps. So, it acted like heavy rail on some parts of the line, light rail on other parts, and a streetcar on others. As I've said before, the users don't really care about the technology.

This thread has been pruned. Please be courteous to other forum members.

^I'll add one more to the list. Surface alignment along MLK drive to UC area. This isn't my idea. It was proposed in 1976.

The OASIS line doesn't go to Milford. The Eastern Corridor line is a proposed commuter railroad that will use part of the OASIS line on the way to Milford. The OASIS line is an existing railroad that goes from the boathouse past Lunken Airport, loops through Norwood and ends in Reading. https://maps.google.com/?ll=39.226028,-84.439057&spn=0.000012,0.006539&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=39.226119,-84.439004&panoid=tnV1ZBobLiBD0cQutaFp5Q&cbp=12,33.54,,0,0

Welcome back, Riverviewer! Funny thing is that I heard that the river was frozen, and I thought to myself, "Riverviewer would like this, but he hasn't been on UO in years." That planet is Venus. I saw the same sight, but didn't have time to get a photo.

\ All I can say is, do not dismiss that line, whatever it is, as trivial. It could be insignificant, or it could cost tens of $millions to move or work around. It would be prudent to find out what it is BEFORE proposing a rail line up Vine Street!

^-- The face peeking out from behind the sign is creeping me out.

I heard this today: "I think what's going to happen is that they won't get enough people to use it, and they will have to subsidize the operating cost."

There certainly is a lot of green in this set, but of course the green areas are mostly hillsides and parks.

Thanks for posting. What strikes me the most is the huge size of so many parking garages.

Rail to Florence with a stop at the airport might make some sense, but it's hard to compete with I-75.

Once again, ODOT, or the Ohio Department of Transportation, used to be called the Ohio Department of Highways. Sure, they dapple in railroads, airports, waterways, bicycle routes, and public transit, but their traditional role deals with highways. The "T" in "ODOT" is just some modern politically correct terminology.

First, it's not necessary to toll the bridge full time. It could be tolled at peak periods and remain free the rest of the time. Some of the traffic could be diverted from the peak to the off-peak periods. Second, it should not be assumed that the 70,000 vehicles will simply be diverted to another bridge. Chances are that some will be diverted to other bridges, and some of that traffic will just disappear. When people have to pay a toll, they will think twice about making the trip. Lots of marginal trips will simply not be taken. Incidentally, in the planning phases before Fort Washington Way was reconstructed, a study found that a significant amount of traffic on Fort Washington Way was using the highway to get between Covington and Newport - crossing the Ohio River twice - because it was easier than crossing the Licking River.

^Infrastructure in those places takes a real beating from the weather and de-icing salts.

They mark existing utilities so that contractors won't accidentally dig them up and damage them. The orange marking reading "empty" probably signifies a utility conduit without a line in it. The telecom industry leaves room for future expansion. Instead of digging up the street again, they can feed a new wire through an empty tube.

^Budgets and financial matters are boring. You can't take a photo of it.

On the contrary, it looks like they already did some utility work, before the tracks were installed. The orange paint markings signify existing communication lines, which are probably owned by Cincinnati Bell. Notice that the paint marks follow the new asphalt, and new concrete sidewalk. The new asphalt and concrete sidewalk signify that work was done there recently. Yet, the asphalt adjacent to the tracks is even newer. Conclusion: the utility was built, then the streetcar track was built, then the orange paint showing the location of the existing utility was laid out.

^Plus, they received federal funding for it.

Around 1999 the Enquirer reported that the bridge was going to fall down within 12 years if nothing was done. I think they cited some technical report, but misinterpreted it. For several years after that, the mistake was repeated, and the Enquirer continued to report that the bridge would fall down.

"interstate grade" is a term used by highway engineers and politicians. The users - commuters, other motorists, truckers, etc - don't care about the designation. They only care about how many minutes it will take to get there.

I agree with everything you said. We really only have a little bit of data to describe a complicated situation. What came to mind was a memory of driver's ed class: Young people have the sharpest eyes and the fastest reflexes. Why then is the accident rate greatest among young drivers? It would be interesting to see how traffic fatalities compare with age distribution. If you take the most risk-prone age group off the road, it makes sense that the overall accident rate would decline.

Traffic fatalities across the state dipped to a record low in 2013. http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/01/ohio_traffic_fatalities_reach.html Perhaps this is a beneficial consequence of fewer young people driving.

^Naw, most people use "urban sprawl" or just plain "sprawl" when they mean either urban sprawl or suburban sprawl. "Suburban Sprawl" is not part of their vocabulary. The U.S. Census has a definition for urban areas, but not for suburban areas: http://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/urdef.txt

^London and Phoenix both sprawl. The difference is that metro London is mostly urban sprawl while metro Phoenix is mostly suburban sprawl. This is Urban Sprawl This is Suburban Sprawl (Photo posted by Jake Mecklenborg) More here: http://www.inspirationgreen.com/suburban-sprawl.html

My guess is that the buses are used because they are inexpensive. They are simply converted compact pickup trucks, and compact ones at that. They probably cost $10,000 U.S. or less brand new, and require no special skills to operate. I don't know what drivers make, but the average salary for all workers in that country is the equivalent of $2000 per year U.S., or about $1.00 per hour. My point in all of this is that there is more than one way to operate a transit system, and the lowly bus should not be ruled out.