Tag: Transportation

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News

Where we live and work is important

Planners, policy makers and community activists often discuss ways to make our communities more sustainable and environmentally friendly. This results in discussions about building materials, personal behaviors and organizational structure. What is also discussed at times, but not nearly enough, is the way in which we distribute our people and jobs.

It is no secret at this point that the suburban sprawl days of the United States are hurting our communities socially, economically, but also environmentally. Suburban communities require higher rates and amounts of driving, and consume far greater amounts of environmentally important land for economically low producing land uses.

Andres Duany often speaks about how he finds it silly that urban dwellers in Manhattan are doing all these extraneous things to reduce their carbon footprint. They’re collecting and reusing rainwater, they’re composting their waste, they’re recycling and so on and so forth. Duany asserts that it is the people living in suburbia that should be doing this as it is their chosen lifestyle that is having a major impact on our environment in a negative way.

People who live in dense, walkable cities drive less and require a smaller piece of land to live and conduct their day-to-day lives. This is most evident in a recent mapping project by the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) which compares greenhouse gas emissions of city and suburban households.

CNT looked at emissions of carbon dioxide stemming from household vehicle travel in 55 metropolitan areas across the United States. Their research showed that the transportation-related emissions of people living in cities and compact neighborhoods can be almost 70% less than those living in suburbs and areas where amenities are more dispersed.

The maps below are for the Cincinnati-Hamilton Metropolitan area. They compare the per-acre (left) analysis of greenhouse gas emissions due to vehicle travel with a per-household (right) view. The results are evident. The areas with higher density and transportation alternatives are the most sustainable areas according to this analysis. “Cities are a central part of the climate change solution (source).”

Click to view larger version
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Arts & Entertainment News

5th Annual Roebling Fest – 6/14

The fifth annual Roeblingfest takes place this weekend on Sunday, June 14th from 11am to 4pm. The festival is a “celebration of art, architecture history and engineering.”

Festival-goers can take part in tours of the Roebling Suspension Bridge, murals, statues and also tour the Daniel Beard House. Tickets cost $2 per person per tour, or $5 per family per tour. There will also be harbour tours by BB Riverboats that will cost $10 for adults and $5 for children.

The festival will also have a variety of entertainment, food and other activities to enjoy. No reservations are required. For additional information call (513) 751-3526.

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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati selects streetcar development team

Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney announced that the City has selected the Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners as the team that will help finance, plan, design, construct, operate and maintain Cincinnati’s modern streetcar system.

The announcement was made at the new Rookwood Pottery headquarters in historic Over-the-Rhine. The location is at what will be the northern end of the Downtown/OTR circulator which will then head Uptown from there. Rookwood Pottery is an “enthusiastic” supporter of the Cincinnati Streetcar project and was more than happy to welcome the couple hundred people that showed up to hear the news.

City Manager Dohoney with some of the crowd on hand

The crowd (see crowd pictures here) was not only robust, but diverse as well. Representatives from the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, various City of Cincinnati departments, Model Group, Cincinnati Beer Company, Metro, Cincy Energy Alliance, Mercantile Library, Hodges Law Group, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. and a slew of local business owners and investors.

The excitement was notable as Mayor Mallory and City Manager Dohoney arrived. The crowd was buzzing in anticipation of what was to be announced. This excitement continued as a large group of attendees walked over to Market Wines at Findlay Market to continue the conversation.

Development Team:
Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners is made up of 12 companies that each specialize in a different aspect that will help lead to the successful implementation of the streetcar system. The team is made up of local and non-local companies that have been involved with roughly 80% of all recent streetcar and light rail projects in the United States, including projects in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, Portland, Seattle and Cleveland.

Members of the team have also been involved with local projects like Great American Ballpark, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the restructuring of Fort Washington Way that came in on time and under budget.

Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners

One of the companies is Stacy and Witbeck Inc. (SWI) who is considered to be the “premier streetcar and passenger transit rail construction company in the United States.” Their involvement in the Cincinnati Streetcar project will be their first in the Midwest. As a result, SWI will be opening a new office downtown and will be relocating their executives to Cincinnati specifically for this project.

The team will also consist of local companies like Jostin Concrete Construction, DNK Architects, Megan Construction Company, Property Advisors, Wordsworth Communications and G.J. Berding Inc. The Cincinnati Streetcar Development Partners will be led by Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. (PB) who will also serve as the project manager. PB has led several local transit projects in the past and has a sterling record.

Funding:
The City currently has $78 million in requests to the federal government, who City Manager Dohoney says will be absolutely necessary in the implementation of the Cincinnati Streetcar system.

Explore Cincinnati reported in April that millions of private dollars have been raised thus far. According to the City’s Budget Director, Explore Cincinnati also found out that several organizations have been raising private funds that have not yet been deposited into the City’s account for the project.

This revised funding strategy is a response to the national economic downturn say City officials. The City has also established a new and more comprehensive website for the Cincinnati Streetcar that also includes an online location where streetcar supporters can make private contributions to the project.

What’s Next:
The selection of the team that will design, build and operate the Cincinnati Streetcar system is a major step forward for the project.

“The leaders of this city are taking this city’s future seriously,” says program manager Fred Craig who continues, “we are seeing a new generation working to make Cincinnati a better place.”

Craig went on to say that he and the development team welcome community input and emphasized that this is a project that should be driven by the community. Craig went as far as to say that if you have any suggestions regarding the project that you should call him personally and let him know (513-639-2100 – still trying to track down direct phone line).

Mayor Mallory addressing the crowd
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Arts & Entertainment News Politics Transportation

‘Complete Streets’ discussion at the Mercantile Library

Cincinnati is like many other American cities in the fact that much of our transportation spending goes towards the creation and maintenance of streets. The streets that are built often ignore every kind of transportation option other than an automobile.

Rarely do you find a dedicated bike lane, sidewalks are often hard to come by and it is quite rare that streets are designed with buses, streetcars or light rail in mind.

This not only makes our streets unpalatable for these other modes of transportation, but it makes the streets unsafe for those looking to move about in something other than 1,000 lbs of glass and steel.

On Tuesday, June 9th you can learn about the Complete Streets movement and efforts to implement them in Cincinnati. City Council Member and Urban Planner, Roxanne Qualls and the Principal of Kinzelman Kline Gossman, Clete Benken will help lead the discussion.

The event will take place at Cincinnati’s historic Mercantile Library located at 414 Walnut Street downtown. The doors will open at 5:30pm with the program beginning at 6pm. It is requested that you RSVP by June 5th at (513) 621-0717 or at mercantileinfo@mercantilelibrary.com (reservations are required).

The program is $8 for Mercantile Library and Architectural Foundation members; $10 for others. Reservations required.

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News

More options promote the free market

Why is transportation such a partisan issue, and why in the world do conservatives tend to fall on the side of being against it? If anything, conservatives should support adding options into the transportation market.

Currently, local, state and federal governments pay for highways. Adding another option (or several options) will create competition for the monopolistic version of transportation we currently have.

Recently, conservative intellectual George Will wrote a scathing article in Newsweek bemoaning the government’s role in transportation planning as demonstration of the liberal agenda to control behavior and curb freedom. In the article, he bashes Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for promoting transportation options, insinuating that it is not the American way to give people options.

Mr. Will dismisses the government’s role in developing the Interstate Highway system, and blatantly ignored the FHA’s role in subsidizing single-family homes outside the center city. Not only did the government coerce suburbanization by helping to pay for the homes there, they also (quite literally) paved the way to get there. And now, conservatives have the audacity to claim that increasing transportation options will limit the personal choice to drive a car, or…drive a car.

LaHood responded to Will directly, saying at the National Press Club: “We have to create opportunities for people who want to ride a bike or walk or take a streetcar.”

Mr. LaHood has it right. Sometimes it is about the choice of what NOT to do. The choice to NOT spend thousands upon thousands of dollars to purchase a vehicle (or 2). The choice NOT to spend several hundred dollars per year on car insurance, gas (on the rise again) and vehicle maintenance costs. It’s the choice to NOT drive from strip mall to strip mall to shop. It’s the choice NOT to spend time stuck in traffic.

The Transportation Secretary does not advocate that people ought to be living one place or another, or commuting using one method over another, he simply advocates that for far too long, there hasn’t really been a choice.

An increase in transportation options does not limit freedom, but expands it. It does not stifle the free market, but allows increased competition. And that is something we all can live with.