Tag: Transportation

Categories
News Transportation

Improving Cincinnati’s bike scene

Cincinnati is great…it’s a very walkable city that has interesting streetscapes that do not completely bend over backwards to accommodate the automobile. I also feel that Cincinnati has a pretty strong bicyclist contingent… but with that said, I also think we should be doing a lot more to provide safe bicycle networks and parking facilities.

Portland is a city that is often thrown around as a poster child for a lot of things. But you know what…they simply do a lot of things right, and bicycling is one of those. You can request free bike racks, from the city, and even check out their standards if you so choose to install your own. Portland even has a master bike plan that has routes and parking facilities mapped out.

Bike Oasis Covered Bicycle Parking Facility
www.streetsblog.org

 

Now this has me asking myself…what could be done in Cincinnati to improve the bicycle situation here. Sure we have racks installed randomly, but Cincinnati’s existing bicycle plan seems to be lacking. Furthermore I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a covered bicycle parking facility in this city, or even a plan to install one. With Portland’s bicycle parking options you can actually even request to have a facility installed that would provide on-street bike parking…taking up roughly 1.5 on-street parking spaces, and it would provide parking for 12 bikes.

All in all, it seems like something worthwhile for the city to pursue. You could reduce traffic congestion, air pollution, improve fitness levels, offer greater amounts of parking options and just make the city a more attractive place for those who choose to travel by bike. Given the recent progress of streetcars it would seem to be an attractive opportunity for the city to pursue.

Bicycling in Cincinnati:

MoBo Bicycle Co-op
Bike Trails in the Tri-State
Trail Yeah
Trek Cincinnati
Morning Glory Bike Ride

Categories
News

Early bird gets the Metro worm


Metro is going to be giving away a “Night on the Town” package courtesy of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. This started in September and will be lasting through December. If you buy a monthly pass (either online or in person) before the 22nd of each month may enter to win the package. So what’s in this wonderful sounding “Night on the Town” package?

A gift certificate from downtown restaurants like Boi Na Braza, Cadillac Ranch and Washington Platform, a free night at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati and admission for two to the Cincinnati Museum Center’s” Real Pirates” exhibit. To enter you can go to the Metro Sales office at 120 East Fourth Street downtown or click here to complete an online contest entry form.

Another incentive to buy a monthly pass and get it early is to get one of these cool commemorative mouse pads that Metro will give out to the first 200 people to purchase a monthly pass. Here on some details on how to purchase your monthly pass and what they cost:

End of year “Clearance Sale” for Online Customers Only
Starting Sept. 1, pre-order your monthly passes on-line for October, November and December and save! Your credit card will be billed on the 15th each month when the pass is mailed to you. Discounts available on advance orders placed between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30, 2007 only.

Sale Prices
Zone 1 Pass – Just $38 (save $2)
Zone 2 Pass – Just $57 (save $3)
Zone 3 Pass – Just $91 (save $4)
Zone 4 Pass – Just $100 (save $5)
All Pass – Just $119 (save $6)
M/T Pass – Just $68 (save $2)

Categories
News Politics Transportation

Young Professionals and streetcars

Well a brilliant young individual had some delightful commentary in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer editorial section, enjoy…

I am by definition a young professional, part of the creative class, and I am enrolled at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

As you may know, Cincinnati is not exactly a hotbed for the creative class and has struggled to retain/attract young professionals.

As a creative person, it can be difficult to make it work here over a place like Chicago, New York or Atlanta, but it seems as though people are afraid to even try at times. We need to continue to prioritize the arts and place new emphasis on things like mass transit.

This is a very important issue to many young people and in particular the creative class. If we fail at creating a city with these elements, then we will fail at attracting that ever-important young professional.

Aside from bus service, Cincinnati offers no transit options. The cities that do a great job at attracting this demographic have much more, and we are falling further behind the likes of Seattle, Portland, Austin, Atlanta, Chicago and Baltimore.

Cincinnati is now looking to build a streetcar system. This is a great first step at creating a wide-reaching transit system.

I would argue that Cincinnati has an edge over many of these other cities in terms of arts, geographic features and affordability, but we simply cannot rest on our laurels.

I know I can not speak for every young person out there, but I say this: Please make the effort to keep us around for our sake and the sake of our community.

If you are not a young professional, would you prefer your child to live in Cincinnati or Seattle?

Streetcars are not the only answer, but they are the opportunity we have the chance to capitalize on right now.

Cincinnati Enquirer, Guest Editorial 10/24/07

Categories
News

NIMBY Tip of the Month (9.07)

Have you ever heard the complaint about how a bike trail, walking trail or stairway is going to bring crime and problems to someones property. The same can even be said for when people complain that crime and the inevitable fall of the neighborhood is near because of the addition of a potential bus stop (or other public transit stop).

Maybe my ‘crimedar’ (and yes I do have a trademark on the ‘crimedar’ slogan) is off, but I don’t understand the philosophy behind this train of thought. Is it that criminals are going to ride their bicycles or take a jog to your house to clean you out? Or is it the fear that criminals will use these trails as loitering points to case out your home? Like I said…I must be missing something.

Don’t be fooled; these people (fronting as bicyclists) are really pushing drugs!

While we’re on the point of crime I’ll bring up this other point…do criminals have a code of conduct to solely commit their deviant acts only within Cincinnati city limits (or any city for that matter). I often hear how “dangerous” cities are…but at the same time people in places like Delhi Twp, Cheviot, Madeira, Green Twp, etc make these very same claims. Do criminals really walk down the street…stop and realize they are about to cross into *trumpets sound* Delhi Township and think “I need to head back…I’m getting to far from home base?”

This may be less of a tip and more of a question for those NIMBYs and suburbanites of the world who feel they’re superior to everyone else. So please sound off and tell me of your tragic criminal experiences with bike trails, walking trails and the proliferation of crime that must exist right at the city limits.

Photo Credit:
http://hazon.org/photos/2002NY/44_On_the_bike_path

Categories
News

Stay connected with the Cincy Streetcar proposal

I was at the Cincinnati Streetcar meeting tonight at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. First of all, I must say that the Art Academy has a simply gorgeous building in Over-the-Rhine and one that is a perfect fit for artists.

The meeting itself had a good turnout (from my perspective). The representatives from HDR were very helpful and were able to answer just about any question you threw their way (and trust me, I asked a lot of questions). In addition to the HDR people, City Architect Michael Moore and local transit god John Schneider were also their to answer any questions you may have.

I left the meeting feeling more optimistic, about the project, than ever (if that is possible). This was an informal meeting format and was a great opportunity to learn about the proposed system. If you would like to give it a try then you have one more chance since this meeting will happen again on September 27 at City Hall from 4-7pm.

I highly recommend that you start getting active in this process if you aren’t already. The whole thing is moving along very quickly and it sounds very likely that it could be ready for riders in 2010! You can get lots of information about the proposal here.