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News Politics Transportation

The Quickest Way to a Misleading Generalization is Always Through COAST

Over the course of the past two years I have been privileged to debate the merits of rail transportation with COAST’s Mark Miller on several occasions. These conversations often lasted extended periods of time and often included a statement from Miller that went something like this: “I’m not opposed to rail, I just want the voters to have a say on the matter…I actually think a better transportation system would be a good thing for Cincinnati.”

The problem is that these words are not followed up by actions that support them. COAST decided to draft an all-encompassing charter amendment that would have forced all passenger rail investments to go before a public vote no matter how big or small. Since COAST’s special interest agenda against passenger rail options for Cincinnatians failed miserably at the polls November 3rd, the group has continued to hammer away at the merits of all passenger rail transportation.

COAST’s most recent press conference held outside of City Hall quickly turned into a “chaos filled with lies” and even a minor shoving match according to reports (here & here).

In COAST’s most recent blog post entitled “The Most Expensive Distance Between Two Points is Always a Rail Line,” they cite a recent story from the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail Reporter that identified a recent decision by a Network Rail manager to send their employees to a conference by bus instead of by rail due to costs. The sweeping claim, made by COAST, didn’t take long to garner a response on their very own blog:

“Go to National Express, they have both bus and train fares on their website for the UK. A same-day, one-way ticket from Coventry to Reading by rail in 37 pounds and takes 1 hour 15 minutes. A same-day, one-way ticket from Coventry to Reading by bus is 18 pounds 60 cents, and takes 4 hours 55 minutes. If three hours and forty minutes is worth less than $30.49, take the bus. Otherwise the train is a better idea.”

Time valuation aside, there is still that sweeping claim that a rail line is always the most expensive distance between two points. What about air travel? If you were making late Thanksgiving travel plans from Cincinnati to Chicago a roundtrip air ticket would cost you around $473 on Delta, while a roundtrip train ticket would cost you around $105 on Amtrak.

Even with that said, I wonder how much a last minute trip from Cincinnati to Chicago would cost on a helicopter, taxi cab, luxury ocean liner (if possible), a jet pack, or limousine. Don’t be fooled by COAST’s deceiving tactics that are geared to do nothing more than promote their own special interest agenda and muddy the debate surrounding public transportation. But perhaps urban strategist Aaron Renn summed it up best when he discussed COAST’s agenda earlier this year:

“Organizations that exist simply to oppose things without any positive vision of what they want to achieve deserve a skeptical eye.”

Support Cincinnati and its transportation choices.

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News Politics

Cincinnati wins $5,000 first-place prize in national recycling contest

Cincinnati has won the American Recycler Video Award and the $5,000 first-place prize that goes along with it for the City’s recycling efforts. The contest was sponsored by the National Mayoral Congress, Keep America Beautiful, and The Novelis Corp., and asked participating cities to create a short, web-based film promoting aluminum can recycling while also incorporating the 2009 theme of “Recycling starts with I CAN.”

The finalists from California, Minnesota, Alabama, Florida and Ohio were selected by the sponsors, and then voted on by the general public. Cincinnati’s entry was produced by Cincinnati-based Get Sick Productions, in association with the Office of Environmental Quality, and will be used as the 2010 commercial for the Cans for Cash initiative.

“The videos showcased the diversity of communities and their unique approaches to recycling and again proved that cities are leading the charge towards a greener tomorrow,” said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “Congratulations to the City of Cincinnati on their impressive win and all the cities on their commitment to recycling programs.”

Cincinnati will be honored at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 78th Winter Meeting in Washington D.C. this January along with a host of other cities for their innovative recycling programs and impressive recycling rates.

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Business Development News

Findlay Market awarded $219k for local foods project

Cincinnati’s historic Findlay Market was awarded $218,890 last week through the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative that was launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in September to increase access to healthy, affordable local foods.

“We know that access to fresh, healthy food is good for our families and our communities,” said U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus about the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” funding. “For years, people from across greater Cincinnati have found nutritious, local food at Findlay Market, and this smart investment will help ensure that the market continues to be a great resource for our area.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Findlay Market’s new Cultivating Healthy Environments for Farmers (CHEF) project that was launched in July 2009. CHEF is seen as an opportunity to recruit and train new urban growers, and compliment the City’s successful Urban Gardening Program.

Findlay Market was one of 16 organizations nationwide to receive funding through the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative. This funding will help fund food policy council training, urban agriculture, help promote native food sovereignty, food production projects, and community food assessments according to the USDA.

Findlay Market (map) is open year-round Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 6pm, Saturday 8am to 6pm, and Sunday 10am to 4pm. Free off-street automobile and bicycle parking is available and the market is well-serviced by Metro’s #21, 46, 64, and 78 bus routes. To see which route is most convenient for you, and to play your trip now, use Metro’s Trip Planner.

Categories
News Politics Transportation

It’s time to make rail transit reality in Cincinnati

With the resounding defeat of the terribly crafted Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment, the City may now move forward with its plans for developing a high quality transit network that includes rail transit in addition to buses, bicycles, pedestrians, and autos.

The Cincinnati Streetcar is one of those items, and within the project’s first phase will connect the two largest employment centers (Downtown & Uptown) for the Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) with one another and with one of the largest potential housing reservoirs in the region (Over-the-Rhine).

The first phase of the system will start at the northern banks of the Ohio River at the multi-billion dollar development known as The Banks, run through the Central Business District and historic Over-the-Rhine, up the hill into Uptown and connect with the 40,000 student University of Cincinnati and nearby medical block.

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News

Smarter Living tips from Metro

Metro produced a five-part “Smarter Living” series for Star64 (fka My64). Two of the videos can be viewed below.