KJP

Sorry. I just didn't want to tip my hand about that certain project we were talking about last week.

The demolitions would be for the grocery store. The Get Go gas station replaces a Sunoco.

Wha... ? Sorry, I was sleeping. <<yawn>> Let me get my slippers on and go into the other room to make some calls. On another note, I hope to learn more soon about that other project downtown that's been conflicting with others. I'll see if they're going to be more inclusive than they have been...

There's a Get Go already being built there. But I'd hate to see those old apartment buildings go. If they do get demolished for a grocery store, can we please put some housing on top of the store?

Here's what my friend in Chicago often does: Metra Aurora Line from Berwyn to Chicago Union Station, walk two blocks to Wells Street to the Orange Line station at Quincy, Orange Line to Midway Airport, Southwest Airlines to Cleveland, Red Line from Hopkins Airport to Tower City Center, Portage Area Regional Transit Authority to Kent State Student Center, Campus Bus Service to Ravenna. Tonight, it's a bit simpler but a little longer trip (through most of it he'll be asleep, however): Metra Aurora Line to Union Station, Amtrak Lake Shore Limited to Cleveland arriving at 4 a.m. (if on-time), wait a couple hours or less for first Waterfront Line train to Tower City (they make flag stops at the Amtrak station's walkway), have breakfast at Tower City, catch PARTA bus to KSU, Campus Bus to Ravenna.

That's pretty wild!

www.telegram.com Article published Nov 17, 2006 Investment in commuter rail pays off when done wisely AS I SEE IT By Paul A. Lundberg The best way to measure the effectiveness and relevance of public transportation, and particularly commuter rail, is the level of ridership. Ridership is influenced by convenience, on-time performance and comparative travel value. Annual commuter rail ridership in Eastern Massachusetts has grown from 25.5 million in 1995 to nearly 41 million in 2005. The investments made in commuter rail — both the large projects such as the Old Colony restorations, and the small — have paid off. The question for elected officials, public transportation planners and providers today is how to invest wisely for the future. Smart investment choices in commuter rail are particularly important as competition for state and federal dollars increases. But as the increase in ridership shows, a good and growing system contributes to the economic vitality, environmental quality and increased housing options in the commonwealth. While some commuter rail expansion investments can be costly because of the restoration of abandoned infrastructure — such as the Greenbush project at approximately $500 million — not all commuter rail improvements need to be accompanied by high price tags. Using incremental capital planning, important service and reliability improvements can be accomplished with smart, targeted, modest investment. While I was general manager at Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, we instituted a planning program to help the MBTA identify these smart investments. Incremental capital planning has been used by the freight railroads for years with impressive results. This planning process analyzes which component parts of large projects can be done in a sequenced, priority order to enhance the two most important service attributes — increased frequency and improved on-time performance. MBCR’s planning group focused on approximately two dozen projects. Two of those were improvements to the Fitchburg and the Haverhill lines. In the case of Fitchburg, MBTA has a comprehensive capital plan for improvements on that line of $300 million. While all of the elements would improve service, frequency and on-time performance can be improved for significantly less. What MBCR proposed was a limited track and signal renovation for $16.9 million ($13.5 million for track improvements at South Acton and Shirley, and $3.4 million for upgrading the signal system). These targeted projects would allow improved train operations and provide additional capacity that would increase on-time performance on the Fitchburg line from 89 percent to 97 percent, and would allow for one additional express train during the morning and evening rush hours. And this project could be completed within 12 months of approval. Similarly on the Haverhill line, the MBTA’s comprehensive capital plan calls for completing the double track from Reading to Andover, and installing a state-of-the-art signal system for an estimated $57 million. MBCR proposed an automatic interlocking at Reading, a two-mile passing siding between Wilmington Junction and Lowell Junction, and an upgrade of the existing signal system for a total of $12 million. As with the Fitchburg project, this smart, targeted investment would increase on-time performance to Haverhill by 4 percent and would permit additional express trains during the morning and evening rush hours. Finally, the two projects receiving considerable political discussion this season — the restoration of service to Fall River/New Bedford and increased service to Worcester — can also benefit from this type of incremental capital planning. The current plan for restoring the Fall River/New Bedford route through Stoughton at approximately $700 million can also be accomplished through Attleboro for about $450 million at acceptable service levels. Frequency of service, on-time performance and affordable fares are the components of a successful and growing commuter rail system that serves the commuters and the taxpayers of the commonwealth. By investing smartly in commuter rail projects that can bring immediate improvement, the new governor, the Legislature and the transportation planners and operators have the opportunity to reach more riders with less investment of public funds. Paul A. Lundberg, general manager of Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad through August 2006, has been a railroad transportation professional for 30 years.

Correct. It's the busiest. It's sandwiched between a freight railroad line with 75 +/- trains a day, and a Rapid transit line with 80+ per day. Which article are you referring to?

Hates it.

Here is a raw letter to the editor from Gilbert Carmichael, Federal Railroad Administration administrator during the first Bush presidency, and Chairman of the Amtrak Reform Council. It is being sent to newspapers across the U.S. for publication... _____________________________ November 13, 2006 Dear Editor, I wanted to take the opportunity to respond to Senator Trent Lott's column published on October 9, Lanes, Trains, Planes and Ports. His legislation supporting the 25% tax credit for the rail industry to upgrade the national rail system is right on the money. The nation's railroad right-of-ways have a huge untapped capacity because back in the 70's and 80's the railroads downsized and single tracked their main lines. They didn't have the foresight then to see the intermodal container business coming or $60 a barrel oil coming. They also didn't realize the truck lines would become one of their biggest customers for hauling trailers and containers long distances. Senate Bill 3742, the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity and Expansion Act, will stimulate the rapid reconstruction of the double and triple tracking across this country. This could very easily solve a lot of the congestion the highways have now. The key to all of this is the fact the railroad train can move a ton of freight nine times further on a gallon of fuel than a truck can. The higher fuel efficiency alone makes rail look to be a more cost effective shipping method doesn't it? Sincerely, Gil Carmichael Senior Chairman Intermodal Transportation Institute

Here's some interesting research and compilation of studies/results regarding the relationship between rail transit and property values... http://www.rtd-denver.com/Projects/TOD/The_effect_of_Rail_Transit_on_Property_Values_Summary_of_Studies.pdf How ironic that, to read a study commissioned by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating, you have to go to the website of a transit agency in Denver, Colorado (where they recently voted in a $4 billion rail system expansion). Now what does that tell you?

Thanks!

New structure to honor those who serve Toledo Toledo Blade, 11/20/06 An aged Toledo firefighter in circa 1920s hat and rolled-down boots looks at three decades-younger firefighters battling a blaze and a fourth performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on a victim. Water from a hose used by the three firefighters - made of bronze, like all the figurines - sprays onto a granite monument bearing the fire department emblem. The water then trickles down into a reflecting pool, where there is a fountain. An eternal flame flickers in the background. That's one of potentially many concepts for a new firefighters' memorial to replace the existing cracked and streaked Last Alarm Memorial located downtown in triangular Chub DeWolfe Park, across from fire headquarters on Huron Street between Orange and Beech streets. The cost of a new memorial is estimated to be between $500,000 and $750,000. "A lot of people don't understand what [the existing monument] stands for," Fire Chief Mike Bell said. "We want a memorial that more symbolizes firefighters and what they do."

Damn. Just when I was started to learn something! :wink:

The answer is in the article. Look for the number "500."

Did you ever buy gas at an Ohio gas station and use it for purposes other than driving a vehicle (car, motorcycle, van, truck, bus etc) on the roads? If so, you still paid for Ohio roads even though you may not have used any of them.

I did not know these were taking place.

I lived in Highland Heights in those days, and it was simply called the CTS (Cleveland Transit System) Rapid. That was to differentiate it from the Rapid lines owned and operated by City of Shaker Heights. So, when I rode the CTS Rapid, and the train reached top speed, the wind whistled through the doors loudly. And when you got up to leave the train, you found that the wind had drifted a nice little pile of snow by the door. Even when it didn't compress into ice, it was awfully slippery and those who weren't careful might slip and fall. Or, worse, they could slip and drop a leg between the train and station platform! Ahh, yes, the simple days....

True, but in the statistics noted earlier, how are those accounted for? Those nationalities aren't African-American. Just because someone is black doesn't mean they're African-American. And just because someone is African-American, doesn't mean they're black (see Egyptians, Libyans, South Africans, etc). So why is African-American used as a way to describe race? It's not an accurate definition.

I had experienced a crowd like that in 1975, just after the first energy crisis and after RTA had started up. RTA had cut fares to 35 cents to reintroduce people to transit. Just before Christmas, I went downtown on the Rapid with my family to visit the stores along Euclid Avenue (Higbee's, May Co., Arcade, etc.). After we were done shopping, we followed a large, continuous stream of people flowing into Terminal Tower from Public Square. The crowd got heavier as we made our down the curving ramps. Down on the CTS rapid station platform (we were heading to East Cleveland), it was wall-to-wall people with the crowd pushing people farther into the platform and into a denser pack. My father held onto me to keep us from getting separated, especially when a train pulled in and opened its doors. As an 8-year-old, you had no control over which way you were going to go. It both scary and exhilirating at the same time. The only other time I saw Tower City Center station anywhere near that crowded was in 1996 after the fireworks show was done in the Flats for the city's 200th anniversary. But I also remember there being some open floor space in the station where there weren't any people standing and waiting. In 1975, there was no room anywhere! So, yes, I've seen that kind of crowd before.

What is "white?" Is Arabic considered white? What is African-American? You wouldn't call a Haitian or Trinidadian as such. These categories are way too narrow. So an area that is 90 percent white doesn't mean it isn't ethnic. Lakewood (93 percent white) have students in their schools that speak something like 25-30 different languages and require as many teachers fluent in those languages.

Why? Toronto replaced its ex-Cleveland PCC streetcars 20 years ago. Now that's a city.

Superb!

Interesting that Cleveland is becoming less Asian/Pacific Islander while Pittsburgh is becoming more. And I'm surprised that Cleveland's Hispanic population is growing that fast while Pittsburgh's is small and staying small.

I'm told one person on the transition team has been so informed. If others reading this have contacts on the transition team and want to share this information with them, please be my guest.