Category: Transportation

Here is an email I received from Millvalley…

No surprise: we’re driving less — about 4.3% fewer miles than last year, the first annual decline since 1979and the largest yearly decline on record.

On the other hand, public transportation use is now at its highest level in fifty years, with rail systems showing 6% year-over-year gains.

Our region is not reacting to these trends aggressively enough.

Let me explain. The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments is now updating its 2030 Plan, a document that guides investment in transportation projects here. Ohio and Kentucky will be spending about $4.4 billion over the next couple decades on new and improved roadways, transit, bike and pedestrian programs, freight and information technology systems. Another $2.5 billion will be spent on the operations and maintenance of our mobility systems.

Kentucky expects to invest $1.4 billion on roadway projects compared to only $22 million on transit — fully 63 as much on a mode of travel that is declining nationwide compared to one that is growing. Ohio’s program is a little more balanced. Projected spending for roadways is $2.3 billion. While transit is nominally slated to receive $509 million, about $410 million of this sum is for the Eastern Corridor rail project which, in my view, has little chance of ever getting built. If it does get built, the numbers show that it will be a very poor performer. So that leaves about $99 million for all other transit projects for the next couple of decades. It’s still heavily lopsided in favor of roads — in Ohio, we’ll $23 for highways for every $1 spent on transit.

I’m just wondering if this would fly in the private sector? I tend to say no, but I am confused as to why this is accepted from our government?

If you would like to hear more and subscribe to the Millvalley listserve you can do so by emailing Millvalley@aol.com.

Gas is $3.65/gallon around many parts of the metro, and even higher in other parts of the country. As a result people are starting to combine trips, rethink purchasing that Hummer, and are generally looking for ways to cut their consumption – which is great.

At the same time politicians in DC are doing what they do best which is pretending as if they care about reducing our dependence on foreign oil. $3.59 sounds like a lot, but in reality it is still not high enough to cover the costs of maintaining our beloved road system. State DOTs, across the country, are going bankrupt and the feds are going to be hitting the red very soon.

The rise in prices is simply going to the foreign nations that are providing us the drug that fuels our addiction. At the same time our infrastructure is literally crumbling and we seem to have no backup strategy as to how to deal with modest gas prices (when compared to other developed nations at least).

So what’s an average citizen to do with these soaring gas prices and miserable economy? The answer is not pawning off your gold to pay for more gas. I would suggest moving closer to where you work, riding Metro (if possible), or carpool. These are all obvious solutions, but it seems that the location one gets overlooked quite a bit and is the one that can/will make the biggest impact.

Given that most people in this region work either Downtown or Uptown, I would suggest moving into the City of Cincinnati. Crime has been dramatically reduced over the past few years, Cincinnati Public Schools are poised to be ranked as ‘Effective’ (comparable to most suburban school districts), and there are numerous tax abatements available to avoid property taxes entirely in some cases up to 20 years…and you could save a lot money on your commuting costs.

Transit Options for Cincy:
Cincinnati Streetcar
Metro
TANK
Light Rail Now