Tag: public policy

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What can Ohio’s failed high-speed rail program teach us about America’s standing in the world?

When Governor John Kasich (R) gave away $400 million intended to start passenger rail service along what is known as the 3C Corridor, it spelled the end of Ohio’s high-speed rail aspirations for the foreseeable future.

While those aspirations were well intentioned, they were also quite modest. Initial service would have had trains traveling at top speeds of 79 miles-per-hour between Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. In an effort to keep upfront capital costs low, simple stations were also proposed along the corridor’s length.

In a city like Cincinnati, which boasts one of the grandest passenger rail stations in the United States, the 3C Corridor proposal left Union Terminal off the map in order to avoid the costly approach into the station through the congested Queensgate rail yard.


Cincinnati’s famous Union Terminal serves light Amtrak service and museum-goers today. Photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

America used to build big things. Ohio used to build big things. This, it appears, is no longer the case, and it makes one wonder if the United States is even capable of building inspirational and useful structures like the Miami and Erie Canal, Union Terminal, or Interstate Highway System again.

The fall from grace may not be as noticeable if it were not for the exact opposite trends playing out across Asia, where the economic scale is tipping.


Hong Kong’s $1.3 billion West Kowloon Terminus Station will serve as a dramatic entryway into the global city from mainland China. Renderings provided by Aedas.

In contrast to the modest, and failed, 3C Corridor, leaders in Hong Kong will soon realize an extension of China’s high-speed rail network into the heart of their city. A 16-mile link will be built from Hong Kong’s Kowloon district to the region’s border with Shenzhen.

Most notable is that the entire 16-mile, $8.6 billion stretch will be underground and terminate in what will become the world’s largest underground high-speed rail station. It is a critical link that will open up those on the mainland to Hong Kong via the entire 87-mile-long Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Link.

Passengers arriving in Hong Kong will not only be treated to a center city arrival at 124 miles-per-hour, but also an arrival to a truly inspirational structure meant to not only provide a critical service, but awe those exposed to it. The investments will halve the amount of time it takes to travel between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and will be completed in 2015.

America has also been an inspirational place for people around the world, and America has always built and done things that inspire us all. It appears that current policy makers may be content with resting on those past successes instead of investing in the country’s future, and ushering the United States into another generation of global leadership.

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Up To Speed

The economic crisis hits transit hard in cities like Pittsburgh

The economic crisis hits transit hard in cities like Pittsburgh

Cities across America continue to see ridership increases on their transit systems, but are feeling an even greater pinch from ongoing government austerity measures forcing service reductions. More from The Transport Politic:

The counter-intuitive result is that cities that are doing well economically are able to pay for improved transit services whereas those with many economic problems — the ones where transit is often needed most — are left to cut operations dramatically. Thus regional inequities are reinforced.

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Up To Speed

Taxicab commission recommends sweeping reforms

Taxicab commission recommends sweeping reforms

Cincinnati’s notoriously unregulated taxis may finally become more uniform should recommendations of the Cincinnati Taxicab Advisory Commission become reality. Some of the changes include standardized cab fares throughout the region, more taxi stands, and establishing a “Bill of Rights and Expectations.” More from the Business Courier:

Councilman Wendell Young (D) sponsored a motion last fall to convene the commission, a task force charged with preparing a set of policy recommendations for council to consider and enact. “I want to be sure that the first and the last impression of our city that visitors have, which is often a cab ride, be a first-rate experience. Our taxi industry needs reform, and this event helped spark an urgency and an energy to get the work done.”

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Up To Speed

Cincinnati to offer domestic partner benefits

Cincinnati to offer domestic partner benefits.

Following through on a campaign promise, Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach (D) championed through domestic partnership benefits this week. The move will place Cincinnati amongst an estimated 200 other cities from around the country who offer similar benefits to same-sex couples. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Cincinnati became the second city in the region this week to offer benefits to employees’ domestic partners. The measure passed 8-1, with only Charlie Winburn (R) opposing it. Councilman Chris Seelbach (D), the city’s first openly gay council member, promised to introduce the idea as one of his first priorities.

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News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati moves forward with city-wide ‘complete streets’ initiative

Some streets just do not feel safe to walk along. Perhaps it is the lack of space between the cars driving by or even the lack of a sidewalk in some instances. It’s even more precarious for bicyclists who sometimes have the benefit of designated bicycle lanes but most of the times compete with cars to share space on the roads.

It was not always like this. When the automobiles first came around at the dawn of the twentieth century, they had to compete with a lively street scene that included horse drawn buggies, pedestrians and bicyclists. Tensions came to a boiling point in Cincinnati and in 1923 when citizens attempted to pass a ballot initiative limiting the speed of automobiles to 25 miles per hour. The auto industry banded together to defeat the proposition and our streets were never quite the same.


Pedestrians, bicyclists and automobile drivers peacefully coexist on Diversey Street on Chicago’s north side. Photograph by Randy A. Simes for UrbanCincy.

Fast forward to today where Cincinnati City Council’s Livable Communities Committee will listen to an update on the city’s on-going Complete Streets initiative. The movement, which got its start through a motion sponsored by Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C) in August 2009, is now an integral part of the on-going, five-day charrette for the city’s Plan Build Live initiative.

Complete Streets are regulations that allow streets to be redesigned to focus on shared use with bicycles and mass transit as well as better conditions for pedestrians. The problem in Cincinnati, and throughout much of the United States, is that people drive past what used to be viable places. The initiative, in theory, would improve conditions for many of the city’s struggling neighborhoods by reorienting them towards the users for which they were originally designed.

“We need to ensure that our neighborhood business districts are destinations and not just raceways through town for commuters,” Vice Mayor Qualls explained in a recent press release.

The standards aim to improve walkability and slow traffic in business districts. This can be done by adding on-street parking, converting one-way roads to two-way traffic, and providing connections through smaller block sizes.

Jocelyn Gibson, an Over-the-Rhine resident who attended yesterday’s brown bag lunch session on Complete Streets thinks it’s a great idea. “It’s not just about adding bike lanes; it’s about creating a more economically viable community by restoring walkable livable streets.”

Some of the focus areas mentioned by consultants Hall Planning & Engineering included the conversion of McMillan Street and William Howard Taft Road into two-way streets and making improvements to the Reading Road corridor. The standards, officials say, are part of the city’s form-based code efforts and planned to be finalized by this summer.

Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting today which will be held at 11am inside City Hall (map).