KJP

It would be next to the Settlers Landing Station on the Waterfront Line. KJP

They're talking about the parallel sets of tracks belonging to Norfolk Southern Corp. and CSX Inc. (both used by Amtrak), as well as tracks for the RTA Waterfront Line, east of East 9th Street and south of the Shoreway (Route 2). Constructing buildings over busy freight railroad tracks is not advisable. Overhead structures (especially residential) will be adversely affected by the vibrations, exhaust and dust from heavy freight trains. Hazardous materials are also a factor, but their shipments could affect every neighborhood or community along virtually every railroad. Walkways are fine. Buildings? Not a good idea. KJP

By all means, please say as much in letters to the editor. KJP

Clearly they are geologically challenged (er, reality challenged). KJP

ODOT has created a web page for the "Opportunity Corridor" with documents available for downloads.... http://www.innerbelt.org/OCfrontpage1.htm Of particular interest should be the four proposed alternatives for road alignments in the corridor in this document.... http://www.innerbelt.org/2005-08-18_OC%20Workshop2.pdf Cost estimates are contained in the Sept. 22 Evaluation Matrix.... http://www.innerbelt.org/92205ConceptAlts%20Matrix.pdf For quick reference, the estimated costs of building this road are from $181 million to $272 million. Nowhere in any of the documents is anything said about its impacts on transit ridership, opportunities for TOD to reduce the need for the road, or related issues. But, then, it was ODOT's nickel (actually, yours and mine) who paid for these studies. IF continued efforts ignore these matters, then I encourage the formation of a Transit Riders United Cleveland (TRU Cleveland). And the first official act would be to file a lawsuit against such destructive transportation planning that devalues existing transit facilities and those that are under construction. KJP

A fire at 4 a.m. in an unoccupied building? Hmmm...sounds like "Jewish Lightning" to me. KJP P.S. don't freak out PCers. "Jewish Lightning" is what Jewish gangsters in Cleveland like Jackie Presser, his father Big Bill Presser, Maishe Rockman, Alex "Shondor" Birns, Morrie Kleinman, Sam Tucker, Morris "Moe" Dalitz and many others used to call fires that happened in the middle of the night, at businesses that were deeply in debt. It's likely that many of those fires were set by those very same fellows.

Now I know Peak Oil has become a mainstream issue. It used to be that the Peak Oilers were the conspiracy theorists. Now, the conspiracy theorists are going after Peak Oil.... KJP __________________ http://www.infowars.com/articles/economy/peak_oil_globalist_scam.htm Peak Oil is a Corrupt Globalist Scam Infowars Network | October 04 2005 By Steve Watson, Alex Jones & Paul Watson They make the profits on creating artificial scarcity. "Peak oil" is pure military-industrial-complex propaganda. Publicly available CFR and Club of Rome strategy manuals from 30 years ago say that a global government needs to control the world population through neo-feudalism by creating artificial scarcity. Now that the social architects have de-industrialized the United States, they are going to blame our economic disintegration on lack of energy supplies.

I hope the executives get along well with their shareholders, or are adept at spinning the reasons for the decision. Long-term, I think other companies in other cities looking to move might consider Cleveland -- assuming the word gets out about what Cleveland/Shaker Heights were willing to do. KJP

^That's a good subject for a news article -- especially now that I'm covering Cleveland / downtown / City Hall for Sun Newspapers! KJP

Do you have any idea how much farmland we'll need to convert from petrol to ethanol? Let's put it this way, it sounds like you'd rather drive than eat! KJP

Tomorrow (Oct. 4) at 10 a.m., Senator Voinovich, Mayor Jane Campbell, ODOT Director Gordon Proctor, and Greater Cleveland Partnership CEO Joseph Roman will host a van tour of the Inner Belt bridge. The press release from Voinovich says "Senator Voinovich secured $106.97 million for the reconstruction of the Cleveland Innerbelt and rehabilitation of of the Central Viaduct Birdge as well as $5 million for transportation improvements to the Flats East Bank. The tour will start at the Central Viaduct Bridge (at Sokolowski's University Inn, 1201 University Ave) with a press briefing. After the briefing, the media will board a bus along with Senator Voinovich and drive to the Flats East Bank. At the second site, another press briefing with representatives from the Greater Cleveland Partnership will be held." If anyone wants to show up and tell their elected officials and ODOT's Proctor that they want the Inner Belt redesigned so that it opens up redevelopment opportunities south of Jacobs Field and next to the Cuyahoga River, this is your chance. As a reminder, here is an alternate vision to the one ODOT is espousing, which essentially would rebuild the Inner Belt in its existing alignment. http://members.cox.net/corridorscampaign/Inner%20Belt%20presentation.pdf (707K download) KJP

Let me guess. The first railroad is CSX and the second, which will announce soon, is NS. Correct? Actually, CSX's letter didn't sound like a ringing endorsement. But any expression of support from CSX is certainly welcome. I think you will like the next issue of the OARP/All Aboard Ohio newsletter. The centerspread is about the worsening rail freight traffic congestion problem, why it is happening, why the freight railroads can't deal with it on their own, how it is affecting the economy, and what can/should be done about it. KJP

If you get the Science Channel, watch a program at 10 a.m. Sunday about this catamaran.... http://www.catferry.com/ ...I'd love to see this on Lake Erie, linked to rail and transit at both ends, of course! KJP

^I agree. Even places in the Southeast U.S. are seeing water problems, as salt water from the ocean is being drawn into freshwater aquifers hundreds of miles inland. As for energy, I recall that the rejuvenation of German Village in Columbus got its first boost during the 1970s oil crises from people wanting to live closer to work downtown. The same can be said for Ohio City in Cleveland, which saw its first bits of gentrification in the 1970s. Think about a city like Cleveland, where some parts of its appear more rural than urban. I'm thinking of areas on the East Side, such as along Kinsman, the Red Line, and the combined Blue/Green lines around the East 79th station. What keeps these rural are the numerous EPA Superfund sites that await costly cleanup. But it can be done. Battery Park was an EPA Superfund site, due to all the battery acids and chemicals buried in rusting drums on the former Eveready property. Now, ground has been broken on the large housing redevelopment. More funding is needed to clean up a hundred or more sites like it, just in Cleveland. The problem is, metropolitan planning organizations like the Northeast Areawide Coordinating Agency (or Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission in Columbus, or Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission in Dayton, etc.) use past trends to guide future public investments for roads, transit and other infrastructure. They need to develop a regional vision through consensus on what people want their region to look like in 20, 50 even 100 years from now, since the infrastructure investments of today will still be on the landscape (if we build well!) that far into the future. Using past trends to guide investments for the future has been one of the biggest failings of our cities, our state and even our country. It's time to put a stop to it if we want to stop throwing away the neighborhoods we've already built for new ones farther out. KJP

I'm surprised and disappointed. I saw this as an opportunity to use sale proceeds to help preserve and eventually revitalize endangered rights of way elsewhere in the state. Once revitalized, they too could be sold like the Panhandle at higher values to knock down ever-larger barriers to the Ohio Hub. But that's just my thought.... KJP

Thanks for the excellent column, Noozer. My suggestion goes a bit further, to increase the gas tax 10 cents per gallon per year over the next 20 years. It would be the federal government's signal that the era of oil is ending and that alternatives are needed. Each cent of federal gas tax generates about $1 billion per year. With each 10-cent block of revenues, I would do the following: > 2 cents for reconstructing existing highways > 2 cents for intercity/passenger rail > 2 cents for public transport > 2 cents for urban brownfields remediation > 2 cents for alternative energy research and development The reason why I would increase the amount going to highways is because, even without any action by the federal government, revenues from existing gas taxes are flattening and may even decline. Higher energy prices are causing people to drive less and encouraging auto manufacturers to pursue making more efficient cars. Both will cause people to limit their gasoline purchases, and therefore limit growth in gas taxes. But they may still have use in providing for a post-oil transportation system and smarter land use that limits vehicle-miles traveled. KJP

Chabot is an idiot. He's fought light rail in Cincinnati, voted against Amtrak and done all he can to support our gas-guzzling ways. I like the idea of tax credits for energy-efficient vehicles, but if he want's to do something productive from a policy standpoint, raise the gas tax 10 cents a year over the next 20 years. Use the revenues for urban brownfield remediation, transit investments and high speed rail. It's time to save our economy by saving oil through revitalizing our rail systems, transit networks, and pedestrian-friendly communities. KJP

Several years ago, at least. KJP

Sorry for the late notice on this.... KJP ___________________ C-SPAN 01:08 AM EDT 9/27/05 Forum Higher Gas Prices in the Wake of Katrina U.S. House of Representatives, Bartlett, R. (R-MD) Frederick, Maryland (United States) ID: 189033 - 09/26/2005 - 3:00 - No Sale Bartlett, Roscoe, U.S. Representative, R-MD Deffeyes, Kenneth S., Professor Emeritus, Princeton University, Geology Simmons, Matthew, Chairman and CEO, Simmons International Rep. Bartlett sponsors an energy conference regarding high gas prices, the economy, and national security. Topics include peak oil and sustainability post-peak.

Unfortunately, the Ohio Public Transit Association's lobbying efforts have been pretty disappointing in this regard. I can't cite specific examples, but I vaguely recall some of their recent educational efforts as not very inspired. KJP

I was also surprised by Canton having more than Columbus. But Canton (Stark County) has had a sales tax supporting their transit system for a long time, allowing them to have a more stable transit system than Columbus. Also, you'll note that Akron Metro RTA isn't in the list. The reason why is that they aren't a member of the American Public Transportation Association, so APTA didn't include them. Cleveland's transit data also includes Laketran, but not Lorain County Transit, since LCT isn't a member of APTA either. So there's going to be some anomolies in the data, as it's likely that other cities didn't have their suburban transit systems included either. For example, APTA didn't have data for the Licking County (Newark) transit agency, which should be counted in Columbus' data. KJP

OK, here's the skinny, from the American Public Transportation Association. I've pulled up transit statistics for a few metro areas, some of which have more than one transit agency. The following are the average number of weekday trips in the first quarter of 2005 (Ohio cities in bold).... Atlanta - 463,900 Austin - 119,700 Baltimore - 288,000 Buffalo - 84,000 Canton - 52,000 Charlotte - 83,100 Cincinnati - 77,400 Cleveland - 197,800 Columbus - 51,000 Dallas - 198,900 Dayton - 38,400 Denver - 222,800 Detroit - 149,500 Houston - 335,000 Indianapolis - 25,900 Miami - 377,800 Milwaukee - 193,500 Minneapolis - 229,900 Nashville - 18,900 Phoenix - 149,900 Pittsburgh - 233,000 Portland OR - 335,400 St. Louis - 140,900 Salt Lake City - 125,500 San Antonio - 121,100 San Diego - 215,400 Seattle - 412,000 Tampa - 35,800 Toledo - 18,300 Youngstown - 4,400 And, just for fun, here's how the big transit cities stack up.... Boston - 1,130,500 Chicago - 1,745,400 Los Angeles - 1,477,200 New York City - 9,117,800 Philadelphia - 1,059,500 San Francisco - 972,400 Washington DC - 1,173,500 (2004 data) Data was found at: http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridershp/riderep/documents/05q1rep.pdf KJP

http://www.riderta.com/pressreleaselist.asp?listingid=790 RTA News Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005 RTA adds 11 trolleys to downtown loop bus fleet CLEVELAND – Remember the phrase, “Everything old is new again.” By this time next year, vehicles that resemble historic-looking trolleys will be a familiar site on downtown loop routes of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Today, the RTA Board of Trustees voted to purchase 11 low-floor trolleys to replace 1991 loop buses that have exceeded their useful life. The trolleys, which operate on ultra-low-sulfur “clean” diesel fuel, will be purchased from the Optima Bus Corp. for a total price of $3.5 million, with an option to purchase 6 more trolleys later. Board members said they found the trolley “wonderful and exciting.” RTA operates 23 loop buses, so the trolleys will make up about half the fleet, and operate on the downtown portion. Loop buses are 30-feet long -- about 10 feet shorter than traditional buses. Each trolley will have 30 seats and two spaces for wheelchairs The trolleys are part of an overall plan to beef up downtown service – something that RTA has discussed for several years with the Downtown Cleveland Partnership: A proposed plan includes: + Two new loop routes to connect entertainment and restaurant venues with parking. + A service frequency of 10 minutes. + Service until midnight six days a week + Specially trained “ambassadors” to serve as operators Community leaders welcomed the news. "The RTA continues to make transportation to and from downtown better every day," says Mayor Campbell. "With the changes in bus routes and new trolleys being introduced downtown, tourists and residents alike will get to where they need to go and have some fun along the way." "We want people downtown staying at our hotels, visiting our tourist attractions, and patronizing our businesses,” Mayor Campbell says. “These changes by RTA will allow our residents and visitors to get to where they need to go so that can enjoy our vibrant downtown." “We’re really excited,” says Joe Marinucci, President and CEO of the Downtown Cleveland Partnership. “This is a great step forward for RTA and the downtown stakeholders. RTA’s investment in trolleys provides us with a unique opportunity to improve the downtown community for employees, visitors, shoppers and residents, with a highly identifiable vehicle.” Joe Calabrese, RTA CEO & General Manager, agreed. “This service will also be invaluable for service to the new convention center, no matter which site is chosen,” he says. “They are expected to be a distinctive green, and give RTA a whole new look downtown.” The proposed loop routes would be: + Warehouse District to Cleveland State University, 7 a.m.-midnight on weekdays and 11 a.m.-midnight on Saturdays. + Gateway to the Lakefront, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m., six days, Monday-Saturday. Current loop buses end service by 7 p.m., five days a week. Calabrese says RTA is willing to purchase the vehicles and pay $1.3 million of the expected $2 million annual operating tab for the expanded service hours. Marinucci says the Downtown Cleveland Partnership will work with RTA to develop private sponsorships from property owners and business owners to pay for the additional $700,000 a year in increased costs, and will assist with marketing efforts. END

http://www.riderta.com/pressreleaselist.asp?listingid=792 RTA News Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 High gas prices pump up RTA ridership figures CLEVELAND – Have recent high gas prices increased ridership at the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA)? YES ! August ridership figures released this week show a 13.2 percent increase in heavy-rail ridership over August 2004. Overall, Rapid Transit ridership was up 9.6 percent in August, and systemwide ridership was up 4.9 percent in August, or about 222,000 rides. Year-to-date, total ridership is up 4.1 percent over 2004. “Overall, ridership has been increasing steadily for 3.5 years,” says Joe Calabrese, RTA CEO and General Manager. “Now, we are seeing definite increases in people using our rail stations and Park-N-Ride lots. This tells us that those who have cars are trying to drive them less. We are pleased to welcome them as customers.” “In fact, our Park-and-Ride lots have become so popular, the demand is exceeding our capacity. This week, we reached an agreement with ODOT to expand our facilities in North Olmsted, Westlake and Strongsville. We plan to start construction in 2006 and open them in 2007,” Calabrese says. Other ridership increases: + Bus, 3.9 percent in August, 3.5 percent year-to-date + Heavy rail, 13.2 percent in August, 8.5 percent year-to-date + Light rail, 3.5 percent in August, 2.4 percent year-to-date + Total Rapid Transit, 9.6 percent in August, 6.4 percent year-to-date + Paratransit, 25.8 percent in August, 35.5 percent year-to-date + Total ridership, 4.9 percent in August, 4.1 percent year-to-date + RTA’s average weekday ridership grew to 194,000 END

Oh well. I wasn't expecting this to happen quickly anyway. KJP