KJP

Notice to all members, supporters, and affiliates of All Aboard Ohio: URGENT ACTION WILL SOON BE REQUIRED! Two major issues are facing the U.S. Senate at this time regarding passenger rail in the state of Ohio and the region. The most effective way to reach your Senators is to call their offices in Washington D.C. We will contact you when the time is right to start calling. However, feel free to give your senator a call and let them know how feel about these important issues. Remember, your Senator and their staff should listen to you and your concerns. YOU are their constituent and it is their job to be open to your suggestions. Ask, and you shall receive. You may find your Senatorâs contact information here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call at 614-228-6005 or email [email protected] Information on these two important items is outlined below. Thank you, Andrew Bremer Assistant Director All Aboard Ohio The first issue facing our state is funding for the Environmental Impact Study for the Ohio Hub Plan. The Environmental Impact Study is the second of two studies that need to be completed for the Ohio Hub Plan. The completion of this study will make the Ohio Hub Plan ready for federal funding. It is important to secure funding for this study as soon as possible. Please urge your Senators, DeWine and Voinovich (or your own Senators if you live in one of the states affected by the Ohio Hub Plan) to secure funding for this important study. Many states are already ahead of Ohio in the line to receive federal funding for high-speed rail projects and we cannot afford to wait any longer. The Environmental Impact Study will determine system routes, station locations, impact on local environments, as well as give better estimates for costs of implementation. For more details about the Ohio Hub Plan, visit http://www.allaboardohio.org/cms/index.php/content/hubplan - The Ohio Hub Plan preserves and upgrades our ageing transportation infrastructure (this is a concern for Sen. Voinovich, see âExperts warn U.S. is coming apart at the seamsâ, The Seattle Times, Aug 26, 2006) - The Ohio Hub is estimated to enhance economic development. Initially, the Ohio Hub is expected to generate 13,000 to 14,000 jobs alone. This does not take into account increased economic productivity once the Ohio Hub is in operation. - The Ohio Hub greatly expands our ability to move freight and people by rail, thus relieving congestion on our highway system. The second issues facing the US Senate is Amtrak reauthorization. Imagine running an airline or bus company that has to fight for a reliable revenue source every year in Congress while its infrastructure is failing and in disrepair. That is exactly what Amtrak has to do every year. However, a bill being considered in the Senate will fix many problems Amtrak has had for years. Please note that Ohioâs own Senator Mike DeWine is a co-sponsor of S.B. 1516. Our national affiliate, the National Association of Rail Passengers, is leading this effort to get S.B.1516 passed. For details about NARPâs actions at this time, please visit www.narprail.org

Thanks for that address. Armed with that, I was able to find the name of the man owning the company who bought the three properties, his home and work phone numbers and addresses, past work history, his age, names of family members (at least those with driver's licenses) and more. Even more scary is that I could get all that in one sitting at my computer...

This was posted on another forum, but is worth posting here, too... Any ideas for convincing ODOT that the intersection designs for the shoreway boulevard don't have to be massive? Any good examples of projects in Cleveland, Ohio or elsewhere that have used pedestrian friendly / new urbanist street standards, especially where there are large numbers of large trucks involved? I am particularly concerned about the proposed intersection at W28th and Detroit. Both currently proposed options wipe out a couple of historic buildings in the landmark district so Detroit Ave can be widened - seems like a bad precedent. Anybody want to join me in pressing this issue at the next public meeting on the Shoreway Sept 27th at 5:30 at Mt. Carmel Church on Detroit Ave?

I think I just woke up in a parallel dimension. Oh, look, the sky is green and the water is red! I'm moving to Avon for the love of urban sprawl. Magyar just signed up for a Road-Kill seminar at the Environmental Law & Policy Center. Clvlndr has a candle-lit shrine to Joe Calabrese. And Blinker12 just took a job at ODOT in their property acquisitions/building demolitions department.

That's a "problem" I would love to have here in Cleveland. But worrying about this now is like the Wright Brothers worrying about how to handle air traffic congestion. Office uses downtown dominate the landscape and the skyline. Consider this: How many office towers do we have that are 20 stories and taller? ...25 How many residential towers are 20 stories or taller? Three -- Reserve Square (23 floors), Earnest Bohn Tower (22) and The Chesterfield (20). And the last one of these was built in 1972. I'll bet that this domination of office uses over residential exists in the square-footage category as well. When residential dominates office uses, then we'll know the pendulum has swung too far. Right now, the pendulum has barely moved from the office side. Data is from http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/cleveland/clelistht.html

That's a cute slogan, but what does that mean?

But who competes with police and fire service?

Two OSU students have taken it upon themselves to market a "Come Home to Cleveland" campaign to fellow students -- and they weren't aware of our discussion here. I interviewed them today for an article in Sun Newspapers, and told them about UrbanOhio. Hopefully they will participate here, too. Apparently Vulpster knows these two young men. Anyway, here's their new website, though it's still a work in progress. They're off to a great start to help plug the Brain Drain... http://www.comehometocleveland.com

A nice one!

I do too. I don't think the building just to the left of the corner building is there anymore -- wasn't that demolished for the May Co. in the 1910s.

What is the street address? I did some searching on the auditor's site, and I thought it would show up with either a Public Square address or maybe a Euclid address. But nothing shows up. Can someone help? I'd be interested in writing an article about it. PM me if you prefer.

Can someone who has a subscription to Crain's Cleveland Business post an article from this week's edition? The article is about more shippers choosing rail over trucks in the face of high fuel prices. Thanks in advance.

Take a gander at these videos. Pretend this one is along the Ohio Turnpike or maybe I-71.... http://www.ice-fanpage.de/videos/video_ice3nbs02.AVI (2MB) Or that this one is somewhere in the hills between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, or perhaps on the section between Dayton and Cincinnati.... http://www.ice-fanpage.de/videos/zugbegegnung.AVI (7MB) Instead, these are in Germany, shot shortly after the Cologne - Frankfurt high-speed line opened in 2002, bypassing a slower, 200km/h (125 mph) route along the Rhine River. The new section offers speeds up to 330km/h (206 mph). The shot along the highway shows an InterCity Express at full speed, whereas the tunnel shot shows slower-moving trains in the 160-170 mph range. And there are five ICE trains per hour in each direction along the new Frankfurt-Cologne trunk line.... sigh. :oops:

It already is a monopoly. But since the government can't sue itself for antitrust violations in having a controlling share of a transportation market, nobody seems to question its monopoly as bad. I thought we favored the free market in this country, where the government's power is limited. It never ceases to amaze me how we view public policy with a double standard in this country.... private ownership of railroad tracks is a do or die requirement, whereas private ownership of a given highway is a greedy, monopolistic act.

Yeh Yeh... About time the PD caught up to Sun on this story.

I'm sick of the slobs, too. I even used a photo I took of a trash-strewn Public Square as a "Sun Guard." The Sun Guard is a box on the front page of most Sun Newspapers, which uses a photo and text to point out a persistent problem -- recurring graffiti, an unmended pothole or, in the case of Public Square, the trash that is always present. Normally, with a Sun Guard, the blame lies with a public agency. But there's only so much they can do when too many low-class slobs waiting for the bus or walking around just toss their garbage to the ground, only a few feet away from a trash can. Hey, if you don't like the way your city looks, start by looking in the mirror! Police can help, but changing the culture helps more. When you see someone toss their trash on the ground, tell them to pick it up. Or, if you've got the urge, throw away the trash and then tell the slob they are what they create -- trash.

It took some searching, but I found the Southwest Corridor report and made JPG graphics out of the following. Sorry for the low resolution, but the source document was sent to me low-res.... Estimate capital costs/alternatives Fixed Guideway APM Alt1 $357.0m Fixed Guideway APM Alt2 $414.4m Fixed Guideway Rail Alt1 $231.0m Fixed Guideway Rail Alt2 $268.6m Fixed Guideway Rail Alt3 $ 89.1m BRT Alt1 $111.6m BRT Alt2 $139.9m BRT Alt2 Option A&B $207.7m TSM $ 18.5m

A terrific editorial... http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1158341114300580.xml&coll=1 KEYSTONE LINE Sunday, September 17, 2006 For far too many decades, the 104-mile Philadelphia-to- Harrisburg Keystone (rail) Corridor has been an underappreciated and underutilized transportation asset. Largely ignored and bypassed by massive highway improvements, the corridor -- although well conceived and well built to provide long-term service -- had been allowed to deteriorate, so that time took its toll on the infrastructure, equipment, stations and 1940s technology. And, yet, despite everything, including service reductions and Amtrak's ongoing funding problems, Keystone trains have continued to attract riders, in some years, as in the present, as many as 1 million. Now the corridor has undergone a long-awaited and much-needed $145 million overhaul. The result is that starting Oct. 30, Keystone service will become markedly faster, smoother, more frequent and more environmentally friendly. Refurbished push-pull electric train sets, which will eliminate the need to turn the trains here at Harrisburg, will reach speeds of 110 miles per hour on newly installed contin uous welded rail supported by tens of thou sands of new ce ment and wood ties. Express serv ice will take pas sengers from downtown Harrisburg to the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia in 90 minutes, shortening the current trip by 30 minutes. As Gov. Ed Rendell wryly noted, no one except perhaps a state trooper can beat that time. Local service will take 105 minutes, a 15-minute improvement. Some five to 10 minutes will be taken off what is now the 45-minute trip from Harrisburg to Lancaster. Because of a lack of equipment, Amtrak only occasionally has used electric engines in recent years on the Keystone Corridor, though the overhead catenary (electric) wires remained turned on. Instead, diesel locomotives were employed, and would idle on the tracks near the Harrisburg Transportation Center, spewing pollution into the downtown air. The electrified trains will not only be faster, more efficient and utilize an entirely domestic energy supply, they also will make for cleaner air. It is worth noting that this important transportation improvement, which should lead to more people riding the train instead of driving their vehicles, was the result of a bipartisan effort. It was begun in the Ridge administration and finished with the involvement of the Rendell administration when the project was faltering due to Amtrak's fiscal problems. Only top-of-the-line Acela service on the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston achieves higher speeds than the new Keystone Corridor service. But this improvement should be kept in context. Japanese "Bullet Trains" were introduced in 1964 operating at a top speed of 131 mph. Since 1997, there are 500 Bullet Trains reaching top speeds of 186 mph. French-built TGV trains operating in Europe and Korea also reach a top speed of 186 mph. Maglev trains -- which a Pittsburgh consortium is eminently qualified to build if it only had the funds -- operating in Shanghai and at a test track in Germany achieve speeds of 250 mph and have the capacity to go significantly faster. These trains represent the gold standard in high-speed ground transportation, a field on which this country sadly and unwisely has chosen not to compete. As higher energy prices make investments in rail-passenger systems inescapable, America will have no choice but to import the best of this technology from abroad. This is to take nothing away from what represents a dramatic improvement in the quality of train service coming to the Keystone Corridor. This is doubtless the first time in the 162 years of passenger service over this route that trains will provide regular service at speeds reaching 110 mph, though Amtrak briefly in 1984 provided comparable service in 95 minutes, according to railroad historian Dan Cupper. And it has been 35 years since there were at least 84 round-trip trains available between Harrisburg and Philadelphia per week, 64 of them extended to New York City. That's up from the current 67 and 51 round trips, respectively. But serious work remains to be done. The construction of a train station at Harrisburg International Airport, which will make America's newest airline terminal truly intermodal, has yet to begin. A nudge from the governor to get this project built would be most appropriate. Communities along the route, many of which turned their backs on passenger-rail service for years, need to ensure that their train stations are attractive, safe and offer easy and affordable parking. Most of them have, in fact, risen to the occasion or have plans to do so. But the effort needs to remain ongoing, rather than done and forgotten. Lastly, for all of this investment to pay off, Amtrak has to provide an on-time, efficient and rider-friendly service. And, perhaps, most important, it needs to keep it affordable. If it does all of these things, success in this venture should serve as a starting point for extending reliable and convenient rail-passenger service to other parts of the commonwealth. ###

If only you used that passion to dig up more data to formulate new ways to convince people to act. Instead, you spend that passion on discussing why certain people don't share your intuitions.

The project was altered so that it would have the following features: + Red Line terminates at Airport on elevation structure and station, located in a new, multi-level retail area between the short-term parking deck and the main terminal entrance. This retail/station complex would be outside the secured areas of the airport for persons picking up or dropping off passengers. The elevation station would allow for future extensions of the Red Line beyond the airport grounds. + Subway station and routing would remain in place, and used by a rail transit shuttle to the rental car facilities off Rocky River Drive. The route would have it follow the current Red Line routing to a point just north of the Brookpark Rapid station where a line would branch off, rise up and curve westward over I-71. An east-west right of way was preserved for this alignment in the vicinity of Rocky River Drive. The reason for this airport-rental car rail line is that the existing shuttle buses are clogging up the airport grounds, and the ridership exceeds that of the Shaker rapid. The reason why this was put on hold was due to the airport's long-range masterplan, which would relocated the main terminal to where the IX Center now stands. While RTA supported the rail transit project (I know you hate Calabrese, clvlndr, but give the guy a break once in a while OK?), airport officials said it wouldn't make sense to make the investment if the terminal is moved in the next 15-20 years. That's why the project got put on the back burner -- but the project isn't dead. Just in case airport officials change their mind, this plan is still considered active.

Nice catch!

Yes, a round trip counts as two passengers. Same as a round-trip drive in your car between Chicago and Cleveland counts as two vehicles on the turnpike.

About Hyacinth Lofts and Slavic Village: I always thought Slavic Village was the area encompassing Fleet, Broadway, and Harvard?? Some still consider that area part of Slavic Village. I don't. I've seen city maps call "North Broadway" -- and that seems more appropriate to me.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised... Heads are going to roll first. Next will be the long-distance trains -- on their last runs. If that happens, and we can't stop it, we should be ready for an Ohio response to make sure that train equipment and federal operating subsidy are used to operate multiple-daily trains within and/or through Ohio. Remember the report I wrote a couple of years ago on using the Lake Shore Limited's subsidy and equipment for offering several daily round trips on the Ohio Hub corridors? If not, I've still got it around here somewhere.

A couple years after the Lakewood Community Circulator started running, the 326 west of the West Boulevard Rapid station saw its frequency of service reduced to every 25 minutes off-peak. During peak hours along all of its route, and all day (and night) east of West Boulevard, the 326 runs as frequently as it ever did (see it's timetable at www.riderta.com). And, BTW, in 2004, the 51X that runs all the way down Pearl Road ranked 32nd out of 78 RTA bus routes with 336,716 rides. The 79 and 45 operated down Ridge Road, as well as parts of Pearl and Fulton. In 2004, the 79 ranked 18th in the system, carrying 652,221 rides, while the 45 ranked 73rd with 66,792 rides.