columbus transportation (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Hilliard: insurance, theater, subdivision)

[1watertiger]

my friends in columbus were telling me about columbus plans for new public transportation. what is going on with the plans? street car/light-rail ?

[cbusgal614]

Maybe in 10 years lol it was looking good for awhile there, but it's still in the research/finding funding stages, and imho, things aren't looking great. People have lost a little bit of the initial enthusiasm for it

[bgo]

The plan for transportation is more of the same---everyone continues to drive his/her SUV to and from the subdivision and the triple-plex theater and Easton.

[streetcreed]

COTA has increased and improved bus service. Especially centralcity service and express routes from suburbs.

COTA has also added late night service on High St. until 3am from the Brewery District to Clintonville.

As far as moving toward other modes than buses it isn't looking so great. The plans to connect Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland via train service was going forward (w/ fed funding) but has been derailed thanks to Ohio's new Republican Governor elect.

Second, Columbus was seeking new High St. streetcar service, which was supported by most central city residents, but saw much opposition from city/suburb residents not in the urban core. This was officially killed after the recession and the city needed to seek a new income tax increase and promised not to spend the money on controversial projects such as central city street cars.

Overall, mass transit (buses) are in better shape than before but the hope of getting more diverse options (lightrail/streetcars/trains) are not likely to occur in the next few years.

[Tenzo]

Columbus is a car city.

And this will not change in the foreseeable future.
One reason is that there is ample parking, lots of highways and no concentrated downtown.

I'm a student at OSU so I can ride the bus for free.
It takes me 6 minutes to drive to work and from 25-45 minutes to take the bus.
Or 30 minutes to walk.
So basically I can walk faster than the bus will take me.

lightrail, streetcars,trains are all nice ideas but there is no need.
It's a romanticized need and would be a money pit.

[xnyer]

Originally Posted by bgo

The plan for transportation is more of the same---everyone continues to drive his/her SUV to and from the subdivision and the triple-plex theater and Easton.

Well from the perspective of the far westside and the daily 4:30-6:00 PM gridlock at Renner and Rome Hilliard Rds., we could use some transportation in Columbus. Other issues? A 40MPH "high speed" rail line in the 3C corridor? I have a friend that can bicycle in spurts nearly as fast as this proposed train will run. What a joke, just another example of Democrats trying to feed at the government trough. Bye Ted, we won't miss ya buddy

[hubbard53]

lol, light-rail...

why would i want to take the effort, time, and money to ride a slow train to cleveland or cincinnati?

anyway, i think transportation is ample as long as you are living in the right areas. I tried the express COTA between suburbs and downtown but found it wasnt to my liking. I guess I'm not a public tranport person

[chet_kinkaid]

columbus would benefit from a streetcar system in the downtown.due to the large area of downtown.try walking from north bank park to miranova or to the main library..much larger area then cincy or cleveland,having said that..i dont think at this point light rail is in great demand due to the great freeway system in columbus..and when the 70/71 split gets finished there will be no real bad bottlenecks.i do think columbus needs to get linked to amtrak.its ridiculous that columbus is the largest metro area in the us not connected to amtrak..why should cleveland and cincy have train service and not columbus??our tax dollars pay for it too,where were our leaders when they decided to bypass columbus??

[OhioIstheBest]

Originally Posted by Tenzo

Columbus is a car city.

And this will not change in the foreseeable future.
One reason is that there is ample parking, lots of highways and no concentrated downtown.

I'm a student at OSU so I can ride the bus for free.
It takes me 6 minutes to drive to work and from 25-45 minutes to take the bus.
Or 30 minutes to walk.
So basically I can walk faster than the bus will take me.

lightrail, streetcars,trains are all nice ideas but there is no need.
It's a romanticized need and would be a money pit.

This is exactly correct.

And I don't see why people get all upset about that. What is wrong with driving a car?

[otters21]

Originally Posted by OhioIstheBest

This is exactly correct.

And I don't see why people get all upset about that. What is wrong with driving a car?

There is nothing wrong with it. If you choose the drive that is your rightful choice. However it is getting more and more expensive to drive a car especially with the gas prices soaring once again and there is also monthly car payments, insurance and upkeep etc. to consider. Besides that there are traffic clogged highways and the more traffic there is ( esp. with aggressive and dangerous drivers or drivers on the cell phone or texting) the more of a risk of being in a car crash.