COTA considering tax issue by May 2005

Dan Eaton

ThisWeek

Thursday, March 18, 2004

 

The director of rail transportation for the Central Ohio Transit Authority said Tuesday that COTA is considering placing a tax issue before voters no later than May 2005 to help pay for a north corridor light rail project.

 

Michael Bradley told business leaders from Clintonville and Northland that the rail line could benefit their communities.

 

...

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/contentbe/EPIC_shim.php?story=thisweeknews/031804/nor/News/031804-News-390301.html

Ohio is a different animal. We love our cars. ;)

 

Will this be a sales tax?? If so how much would it raise it.

Good article, I didn't know that COTA had decided on a date to bring the tax issue to voters. I would assume that it will be a half-cent sales tax, which they tried for a few years ago. As much as I would like to see this pass, like you said, Ohioan love their cars, and Columbus citizens absolutely refuse to spend money on projects like this. While they have a great plan, they're going to have a hell of a time trying to convince the people of this city that it's a good idea.

Interesting idea.

Is it on the ballot next tuesday?

no

 

the reason is because they don't want it to fail, so they will wait til next year.

half of the project is paid for by the federal government, the other half must be funded by COTA. This obviously means the tax increase. The ironic thing is that the first lightrail project is going to cost less than the expected 700million plus to widen I70. It is going to be nearly impossible to widen 70 without somehow impacting German Village/Livingston Ave. If they can manage this time think about 20 years when "traffic is too bad" again and we have to pay for another one billion to dig underground. ODOT looked at digging another I70 under the present and the price would be over one billion in 2004.

 

I wish COTA would approach and work with ODOT and do a light rail east and west and north and south. Both lines could be built for just a little over the price of the single I70 project. Obviously in the long run billions would be saved on highway projects and ridership would increase and highway congestion decrease.

 

This is just my dream world though. We will be lucky if we can get franklin county to vote yes on the downtown/north line in the fall 2005. Does anyone know the amount it failed by last time it was on the ballot in 1999?

45% for and 55% against

I wish COTA would approach and work with ODOT and do a light rail east and west and north and south. Both lines could be built for just a little over the price of the single I70 project. Obviously in the long run billions would be saved on highway projects and ridership would increase and highway congestion decrease.

 

While ODOT can tap federal funds for such a rail project, it is illegal under Ohio's Constitution for state gas taxes to be used for anything other than highways.

 

The road builders got the constitutional amendment passed in the late 1940s (1949?) with the stated intention of improving the bond rating for debt-financing road projects. But the end result is a perpetuation of the highway monopoly (90 percent of all passenger travel) with no way to stop it, unless Ohio's constitution is amended. Anyone care to take on the 800-pound gorilla???

 

KJP

UPDATE:

 

News should be forthcoming in March, as info is presented to the COTA board.  They are also working with ODOT and MORPC (Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission) to secure funding.

 

They claim they will update their website after the board meeting in March, but here it is if you want to poke around.  It deals mainly with the North Corridor:

http://www.cotafasttrax.com/

 

speaking of light rail in columbus, has COTA or the city of columbus thought about going back and looking at where trolley lines use to run? im sure that they did run along high st., broad st., cleveland ave., etc...

 

why not reuse these old lines? im sure there are factors involving construction, relocation, cost, etc... but why not study the feasabiltiy of it? i hope it would not cost as much money to do something like that. does anyone else agree? we should look at what san francisco did when they built a rail line on the embarcadero.

Any further news on the North Corridor and light rail in Columbus in general?  According to the FastTrax website, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement should be completed.  I have sent an email to them requesting a digital copy, but have not heard back yet.

pretty much everything is on hold right now.

cota and the driver's union are squabbling over contracts, and they don't have enough extra money right now to give us the trains.

but they still plan on doing this

Looks like the project is still hanging along...

 

Business First of Columbus - 3:03 PM EDT Tuesday

 

Transportation bill could mean money for light rail

 

In addition to a new garage, Congress' recently passed transportation bill offers the possibility of federal funding for the light-rail project the Central Ohio Transit Authority is pushing.

 

The transit project is authorized in the bill, which allows COTA to seek federal funding after the project meets other conditions, COTA said Monday.

 

...

 

http://columbus.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2005/08/01/daily18.html

I think an East-West rail from the airport to downtown could possibly make sense.

why doesnt COTA use High St., Broad St., Cleveland Ave., Main St., Livingston Ave., Morse Rd., etc..(all of which seem to be quite wide) as alternatives? im sure that columbus use to have trolleys running down the middle of them.

I think an East-West rail from the airport to downtown could possibly make sense.

I don't see the word "waste" anywhere in your post.  Are you turning soft on us?  :-D

How do you get from the airport to downtown and vice-versa by going east-west?

?

 

Columbus' airport is east of downtown.  Or technically, East by Northeast.

Yeah, straight west from its southernmost portion would go into Italian Village.  From the middle it would be a nice ride to the fairgrounds.

It looks like there is a B&O rail row running right across the north side of downtown to the south side of the airport.  It would connect up nicely with the line running north to Worthington.

I think an East-West rail from the airport to downtown could possibly make sense.

I don't see the word "waste" anywhere in your post.  Are you turning soft on us?  :-D

 

If they are going to spend money on such a boondoggle, it might as well maximize value.  :D

 

I just don't see people from Dublin driving over to Worthington, and then taking a train downtown, because they all have cars and Columbus traffic on 315 and western I-270 and 670 is not problematic (I know because I take this commute every day).

 

Also, OSU is so sprawled out I don't know how much value there is in a light rail from there to downtown.

 

However, the airport gets visitors from out of town who don't have a car, so a lilght rail might makes sense, as they would be more inclined to use such a thing.

Also, OSU is so sprawled out I don't know how much value there is in a light rail from there to downtown.

 

You are shitting me.  OSU's central campus (aka where 95% of OSU students go to) is densly packed, has an average density of about 48k in the neighborhood, and can easily support LRT.  I can understand if you had said Upper Arlington or even stretching it with Grandview Heights, but OSU...please.  It is the perfect "TOD" or model for LRT.

They all have cars? So what? Most people who take light rail in cities the size of Columbus have cars, but leave them parked in their garages...

 

> In St. Louis, 68 percent of Metrolink's riders own two or more cars (Bi-State Development Authority 2000).

> In Denver, 75 percent of RTD's light-rail riders own cars (MaryPIRG public survey 2003);

> In Portland, 67 percent of the MAX's riders own cars (Houston Chroncle, June 12, 2000);

> And, here's a neat little report out of Baltimore...

 

http://marypirg.org/MD.asp?id2=10123&id3=MD&

 

I get tired of having to do your research for you.

 

KJP

It looks like there is a B&O rail row running right across the north side of downtown to the south side of the airport.  It would connect up nicely with the line running north to Worthington.

 

More or less follows I-670 (east of Cassidy, 670 goes north of the Airport, the rail line goes south of the Airport)

Also, OSU is so sprawled out I don't know how much value there is in a light rail from there to downtown.

 

You are shitting me.  OSU's central campus (aka where 95% of OSU students go to) is densly packed, has an average density of about 48k in the neighborhood, and can easily support LRT.  I can understand if you had said Upper Arlington or even stretching it with Grandview Heights, but OSU...please.  It is the perfect "TOD" or model for LRT.

 

Give Locatous some credit.

OSU is sprawled out.  They have schools in Newark, Marion, Lima, Wooster, and Lewis Center.

You know as well as I do that it is alot of land for them to cover. ;-)

Except one of COTA's ideas was to build the Airport LRT east from High Street, near the OSU campus, along an NS mainline, to where I-670 crosses it. Then, the LRT would follow the south side of I-670 (atop the retaining wall) before heading into the airport grounds. The odd thing is that the airport authority's long-range plan would have the LRT ending at a complex of proposed parking garages, where people would be forced to transfer to an Airport People Mover to reach the airport terminals. Forced transfers don't sit well with me. Look at St. Louis' LRT, which makes a couple of station stops at the opposite ends of Lambert International.

 

KJP

I just don't see people from Dublin driving over to Worthington, and then taking a train downtown, because they all have cars and Columbus traffic on 315 and western I-270 and 670 is not problematic (I know because I take this commute every day).

but the line through worthington isn't for dublin residents, it is for those between downtown and polaris.

 

and you'll still be considered a joke as you make comments like osu being sprawled out.

 

The fundamental problem with COTA's light rail plan is that it simply isn't bold enough and carries zero appeal to anyone outside of the planned North Corridor LRT route (NCLRT). Simply asking for another quarter-percent to build one LRT line isn't going to gain the favor of suburban voters unless they see a real benefit.  It's not that they don't want to give up their cars.  It's that they aren't being offered a plan that gives them a real option to driving.

 

What COTA should be doing is planning for a levy "ask" that is bolder and results in building 3 to 4 new LRT lines.  In other words, front-load a larger portion of the local dollars needed to get federal matching funds.  In this way, COTA can accomplish two things:

 

1. They can jump start a light rail "system" instead of a single line that serves one area and (thus) serve a greater passenger base.

 

2. By front-loading a larger local share of matching funds, they won't have to go back to voters as often each time they want to build a new line.

 

But COTA and its board of trustees are being far too timid to take a bold step like this.  Their CEO, Bill Lhota may have trimmed management and made some necessary cost cutting measures, but he is showing no leadership at all in moving Columbus beyond what is a pretty crappy bus system.

thanks for the honest opinion of COTA! it just amazes me how much of a crappy system that we have. im sure that there is a cheaper way to build 3 or 4 light rail lines instead of one. we have wide streets that we can lay tracks on(broad, high, cleveland, livingston, morse, main). and lines on those streets would go out to suburbs like westerville, worthingon, reynoldsburg, bexley, whitehall, hilliard area. i know people in columbus would like light rail, but COTA needs to do a better job of letting people know the benefits of light rail.

 

ohh how i miss the public transit in germany(frankfurt to be specific) :-D

And the saga of the COTA levy continues.... here they come, like a beggar with a tin cup, asking for a measly .25% increase and offering up what??? .... more and better bus service?? ...light rail??? From the tone of the article, Lhota & Co. don't sound like they have even a hint of a vision. Much as I want to see light rail and vastly improved transit in Greater Columbus, if this is the best they can do in announcing a levy campaign, they are doomed to fail. It'll be the same bland proposal they made in '99: nothing even approaching a bold stroke and a visionary, long-term plan.

 

COTA plans to ask voters in fall for tax boost

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

The Central Ohio Transit Authority is planning to ask voters to double the sales taxes for COTA, less than a month after it slashed bus service and raised fares.

 

William Lhota, president and chief executive officer, yesterday recommended to the COTA board that the authority start planning to place a request for a 10-year, 0.25 percent sales tax on the November ballot.

 

That would be in addition to the permanent 0.25 percent sales tax COTA currently receives.

 

...

 

Dispatch reporter Robert Vitale contributed to this story.

 

[email protected]

http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/26/20060126-C1-05.html

What is particularly sad about this is that even if they get a "yes" vote on a levy, this doesn't really advance COTA's existing "Vision 2020" plan that much, if at all.  That plan was generated just before the 1999 levy vote, in which a .25% levy for light rail and improved bus service was rejected.  Consider how much the Columbus Metro area has grown since '99 and how much more sprawled the city has become.  A levy ask that was adequate in '99 is hardly adequate to meet today's demands, and they are even farther away from that need given the fact that COTA has drastically cut back bus service and would have to at least restore most of that to begin making any progress.

 

It is also clear from Lhota's remarks that there is still no firm commitment to light rail. Despite Board Chairman Porter's belief, COTA is already a "rag-tag bus company".  Frankly, it would be better to shut it down and create a whole new regional transit authority and plan a system that doesn't have to behave like a beggar with a tin cup.

Instead of light rail, how about streetcar service. I heard that they are doing that in D.C. Would streetcar service cost less or more than light rail? Columbus must have one of the worst public transit systems in the country for a major city. How did it get so bad? Hell, we should just create a regional transportation system for Franklin, Licking, Delaware, Union, Madison and Pickaway counties.

Light rail = streetcars. 

 

The only difference is one of semantics.  Streetcars, by definition, typically operate in roadways or in a laterally-separated median.  Light rail can operate in streets, in railroad rights-of-way, in subway tunnels (as in downtown Boston), and on aerial structures.

 

The DC streetcars are primarily an effort from the District Department of Transportation, bypassing the regional transit agency (Metro).  There is coordination with Metro, though, because bus routes will have to be adjusted, and the streetcars will feed into existing subway stations.

 

..and if you must know, I think Detroit takes the cake for worst public transit in a large city.

The following is an announcement from COTA about upcoming meetings on their short and long-term plans, including light rail. From what my sources close to and inside COTA tell me, they are planning to pretty much back-burner light rail.  If you think they should come up with a better plan for light rail, here's your chance to speak up...

 

 

COTA Announces Phase II Public Meetings for the Development of the Long Range Transit Plan from www.cota.com

 

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) will conduct six public meetings (see below for dates and times) to present COTA's Comprehensive Long Range Transit Plan (LRTP) and solicit public input. These meetings will focus on Phase II of the LRTP planning process, development of preliminary transit alternatives for central Ohio.

 

'Meeting participants will have the opportunity to express their preferences and suggest modifications to the transit options presented by COTA staff,' said Bill Lhota, COTA President/CEO. 'I encourage the public to attend these meetings and take an active role in the planning process for the long range transit plan.'

 

The four major plan components of the LRTP are:

 

1. Fixed-route Bus service - assess coverage, service hours, and frequency of local, crosstown, circulator and express route bus service. Consider fixed-route variations to allow flexibility.

 

2. Paratransit [Project Mainstream demand responsive service for riders under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)] - consider service options to meet the transportation needs of Project Mainstream riders.

 

3. Fixed-Guideway Options identify travel corridors where fixed-guideway transit modes, such as bus rapid transit (BRT), streetcar, light rail transit (LRT), or commuter rail would complement fixed-route bus service. Transit modes will not be specified in the plan, but will be evaluated at a later time following the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) process currently under way in the North Corridor.

 

4. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) - examine technologies to improve customer service, quality of service and efficiency. Examples include real-time bus arrival information at busy bus stops or signal priority to adjust traffic signal timing to expedite bus service.

 

COTA will solicit public input for each phase of the LRTP planning process:

* Phase I - solicit public input and conduct data analysis (November 2005)

* Phase II - develop preliminary plan alternatives (February 2006)

* Phase III - finalize plan alternatives (Spring/Summer 2006)

 

If residents are unable to attend these meetings, COTA also offers other ways for the public to provide comments. They can log on to COTA's web site at COTA.COM, complete the online survey or call COTA's Senior Service Analyst, Mike McCann at 275-5812. COTA will also conduct four focus group meetings that target the development, disabled, senior, and minority communities.

 

In November 2005, COTA conducted six public meetings, throughout central Ohio, to present an overview of the plan components and solicit input on transportation needs and possible service improvements. In the Spring/Summer of 2006, COTA will conduct another series of public meetings to present a 'draft' of the final long range plan.

 

 

 

COTA Phase II LRTP Public Meetings

Wednesday

February 15, 2006 Hilliard - City Hall

3800 Municipal Way - Council Chambers

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

February 16, 2006

  Gahanna City Hall

200 South Hamilton Road -Committee Room

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday

February 21, 2006

  Rhodes State Office Tower

30 East Broad Street

11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Tuesday

February 21, 2006

  Worthington City Hall

6550 North High Street - 22nd Floor Meeting Room

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday

February 22, 2006

  Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC)

285 East Main Street

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Thursday

February 23, 2006

  COTA Linden Transit Center

1390 Cleveland Avenue - Lobby

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

Maybe I've overlooked it but where, in theory, would they put the rails for a North/South line from Clintonville into downtown?  I live in Clintonville and I am having difficulty envisioning anywhere near enough to High St for a line to be placed short of running it down the middle of High St on a platform.  Airport to downtown to maybe the south-western edge of OSU near the Hospital and 315 might work.

The COTA light rail transit (LRT) plan is for the North Corridor to run in the same rail corridor as the Norfolk-Southern and CSX railroads, whose right of way parallells I-71 on Clintonville's eastern edge.  The line would run north-south from roughly the Polaris area into downtown.  There is an optional plan to divert the LRT line off the railroad right-of-way at about 17th Street, near the State Fairground and have it "street run" down Third Street into downtown, with the return leg running north on Summit for LRT's leaving downtown for the north.

 

There is also an option being looked at for running on High Street from the OSU campus into downtown, but that is unlikely due to the varying width of High Street and the vehicular traffic.

 

That said:  this isn't a bad plan for this corridor.  Where the COTA plan utterly fails is that it doesn't address running light rail in any other corridor at any time in the near or distant future.  COTA identified seven other corridors (all in existing railroad rights-of-way), but that's as far as their planning got.

 

This is partly why the COTA levy vote failed in 1999: people who lived in the suburbs and outside of the North Corridor, saw no value in an LRT line that came nowhere near their part of town, so they voted againt raising a .25% sales tax on themselves to pay for it.  (it should ne noted that Franklin County voters DID approve a second .25% sales tax in that same vote for a permanent operating levy for COTA. That is what COTA uses today to run its buses.)

 

When COTA runs a levy vote this November for an additional .25% sales tax, it is doubtful any of that money will be directed at light rail for a couple of reasons.  Since the last levy vote in 1999:

 

1. The cost of diesel fuel (which the buses run on) has gone way up, as have the cost of buses themselves.  So, COTA has greater operating expenses.

 

2. Part of the revenue from a new sales tax will be eaten up by COTA just in restoring the cuts it recently made in service hours and elimination of some routes.

 

3. The cost of building light rail systems (construction and the actual light rail trains) has increased.

 

Unless COTA can come out with a far bolder and aggressive plan for a light rail system that goes beyond just building the North Corridor, voters will likely reject this new levy "ask", because they still don't see light rail in their futures and a buses-only transit system is either unattractive or irrelevent ("It still doesn't go where I want or need to go.")

ah, fuck... let's just dig a damn subway under high st. ourselves.

 

 

 

^ Amen brotha! 

I say we start at the underground crosswalk at High and N. Broadway and make our way south!

Well, if the citizenry doesn't want it I guess the only thing left to do is tell Wexner there will be an express train from OSU into Easton.  I'll bet something would happen then.

 

As much as I would love extensive light rail in Columbus I have to wonder at the utility of making all the stations along I-71.  For example, if you diverted off at 17th onto Summit/Third that still leaves you with a fair walk over to High St.  How would they deal w/ N. 4TH St crossing?  Looking north of 17th, where would you put stations?  Morse Rd?  Better than no light rail at all I guess.

 

I do think you are right on the money in your assessment of the need for a large, bold plan in which the majority could imagine a benefit for themselves.  The Los Angeles subway system is nothing if not bold.

 

 

I do think you are right on the money in your assessment of the need for a large, bold plan in which the majority could imagine a benefit for themselves.  The Los Angeles subway system is nothing if not bold.

 

Try something more Columbus' size. Take a look at what Denver voters just approved. It's at least as bold as what L.A. has done (yet L.A. had planned to do much more)...

 

http://www.transitalliance.org/fr_railandbus.htm

http://www.transitalliance.org/

 

From transit to sushi to arts funding, Denver reinvents itself

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0415/p01s02-ussc.html

 

COMMENTARY - Can rail prevail the first time around?

http://www.railwayage.com/jun00/intransit.html

 

And then there's the folks on other side of the debate, who lost in Denver but are still crabbing....

http://taxpayersagainstcongestion.org/tacnews.html

Why not try trams/streetcars? They used to run in Columbus and I'm sure they could fit the lines onto High St., Broad St., Main St., Cleveland Ave., Livingston Ave., Morse Rd., 161, Westerville Rd., Central Ave., Harrisburg Pike, etc... But thats just my opinion and I dont know for sure if this would be a better option.

If COTA just implemented a few simple and (seemingly) inexpensive measures, I think they could easily improve their ridership, and as a result, greater support for light rail.

 

First of all their website is terrible.  It does show maps of the different routes, but just individually.  It's hard to really see how the routes all fit together into the street grid and with one another unless you know the area really well.

 

You would think that the trip planner would help out, but it is not very good either.  Maybe it could be enhanced with a visual map where you could click on departure and destination points.  Otherwise it might just spit out that there are no connections possible at the time you requested, and you really don't know how to modify your search to make it work.

 

I think if they polished up the website, made it easier to use, and encouraged people to check it out in order to plan their commutes and errands, more people would at least try to use the bus.   

 

As far as the buses are considered, why don't they have a recording announcing the stop coming up next along with a screen showing the name?  I'll admit, I don't ride the bus very often at all, but only once has the driver yelled out the stop names coming up.  Every other time, I just had to look out the window and figure out where to get off by recognizing the things around me. 

 

I understand the routes are pretty familiar to regular bus users, but how does COTA plan to attract new riders with a system like this.  It is too user-unfriendly for new riders or riders simply going to another part of town they haven't been to before. 

 

I really do think that there is a definite "learning curve" in trying to figure out the transportation system of a city.  That's why I think it should be one of COTAs goals in trying to make the system as easy to figure out and utilize as they possibly can.  Otherwise, most people (who have cars) will figure it's not worth the time to try and learn how they could get around with COTA.

In Denver, the transit agency RTD had to prove itself and prove the value of rail before the voters would embrace something more substantial and catalytic. RTD earned awards for customer service, built a short, 7-mile light rail line (mostly as a streetcar right of way) in and near downtown, and produced rail ridership that exceeded expectations. They then built a second light rail line as part of a major highway reconstruction and improvement project. And it, too, exceeded ridership expectations. That led to the call for a $4.6 billion system of electrically powered light rail lines, diesel powered commuter rail lines and a bus rapid transit route.

 

The lesson is that revolutions usually don't succeed, as people tend to fear change or, more appropriately, fear the unknown. But evolutions usually do succeed, if built on a sound foundation of trust between voters and the transit agency to spend the taxpayers' money effectively. COTA is going to have to prove itself first.

spenguin10.... a very astute observation. You just nailed a major reason COTA can't attract new riders. It is a virtual guessing game to figure out their system, unless you travel a major, straight-line route like North High or Broad Street.

 

But even on a major route it can be frustrating. I once needed to travel between my office in the LeVeque Tower at 50 West Broad to the central offices for the Ohio Department of Transportation, which is about two miles directly west on Broad Street.  I entered both addresses in COTA's so-called trip planner and it came back that neither address existed!  Can you imagine being someone new to Columbus and getting this kind of response?

 

I once worked for COTA, so I know they have a GPS tracking system for their buses.  That system was also set up to enable bus stop announcements to tell you when the next bus was due. It was never put into service beyond a few temporary, experimental digital message boards.  Why? I would guess lack of $$$.  But i think comments and questions like yours would be worthwhile making face to face with COTA officials when they have their public meetings next month.  They need to have their feet put to the fire.

As far as the buses are considered, why don't they have a recording announcing the stop coming up next along with a screen showing the name?  I'll admit, I don't ride the bus very often at all, but only once has the driver yelled out the stop names coming up.  Every other time, I just had to look out the window and figure out where to get off by recognizing the things around me.

 

I used to take the No. 18 Kenny Rd. local bus to campus from my apartment, and they had a scrolling message board by the main door that announced the next stop, as well as an audio recording of the next stop. The system seems to be operated by the driver, as the system is barely ever used on the No. 2 N. High St. route.

 

That system was also set up to enable bus stop announcements to tell you when the next bus was due. It was never put into service beyond a few temporary, experimental digital message boards.

 

Man, that would've been nice. I can recall many a times waiting for over half an hour for the bus to come, since my classes would get out at different intervals per day.

 

I definitely agree about the website. Some kind of pictoral image would help trip planning immensly. It would be nice also if more crosstown buses would connect to the No. 2 easier, as you can get just about anywhere on the No. 2 in between downtown and Worthington.

 

the unions will always stall on anything like that. the drivers dont want to be held accountable for where they are. that way they can finish their coffee and yak yak longer.

Actually, the union signed off on the GPS tracking system when it was installed.  But the problem is still that some drivers either don't turn on the automatic stop announcing system (if they have it) or many just don't call out stops.  This is interesting since COTA was sued by a coalition of groups representing the blind several years ago for precisely that.  They settled out of court, but there has been no effort that I have seen to enforce the requirement of calling stops.

 

 

I can't believe the complete ineptitude of city leaders two decades ago...

 

COTA’s proposal for light rail still struggling to get on track

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

 

 

 

Although the idea of some sort of rail system first came up in Columbus in the 1970s, it wasn’t until 1984 that the Central Ohio Transit Authority had a cash surplus and considered spending it on light rail. However, the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce told COTA to forget it and instead concentrate on its buses.

 

...

 

But the transit system is working on new cost estimates for light rail and the other two options. COTA officials say they will present a recommendation to their board this summer.

 

"Anything that was done previously is institutional history," said William Lhota, COTA’s president and chief executive officer.

 

"(We) are starting with a clean slate in developing a long-range comprehensive transit plan."

 

The board could endorse one of the three transit options or none at all.

 

...

 

But by the end of 2004, the federal agency told COTA it was going to lose that rating.

 

"It had nothing to do with the merits of the project," Doug Moore, COTA vice president of planning and customer service, recently told the COTA board. "It had to do with the fact we had not been to the voters yet.

 

...

 

http://www.masstransitmag.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=360&pageNum=2