147,000 Rail Riders in Entire Year in Ohio Seen as 'Demand for Transportation Choice'
Buckeye State residents are supposed to be impressed with media reports like this one from WXIX in Cincinnati telling us that passenger rail ridership increased 14% last year to almost 147,000.
That's just over 400 people a day. In the whole state. Spread over seven station stops in multiple cities. You've got to be kidding me.
Context, people.
But first, here a few paragraphs from the WXIX report:
Based on new passenger rail ridership figures from Amtrak, a review by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Rail Development Commission shows that the demand for transportation choice is on the rise, with 14 percent more Ohioans riding passenger trains over the past year.
Nearly 147,000 passengers got on or off trains in Ohio in fiscal year 2010, according to data released earlier this month by Amtrak – the nation's leading passenger rail operator. That's up from 128,174 passengers in 2009.
The increase of more than 18,500 in Ohio helped Amtrak set a new annual ridership record of 28.7 million passengers for the fiscal year ending September 30. Since 2000, Amtrak says national ridership is up nearly 37 percent. Currently, Amtrak provides limited long-distance service in Ohio, with seven station stops.
At this link, there's a map showing how much traffic there is on stretches of Interstate 71 between Columubus and Cleveland. It's related to a Cleveland Plain Dealer story about how the government isn't coming up with $86 million dollars needed to widen the only 25 miles of road not yet widened to three lanes each way.
The map indicates that the 25-mile stretch involved has 40,600 vehicles a day. This one stretch of road moves more people in four days that Ohio's passenger rail services do in a whole year -- even before considering the fact that many of the cars have more than one occupant. Annual traffic on this one stretch of road is over 14.8 million vehicles, more than 100 times all of the passenger rail traffic in the state.
The Obama administration has granted Ohio $400 million of stimulus money to build a "high-speed" rail route from Cincinnati to Dayton to Columbus to Cleveland. That's about five times the cost of widening the 25-mile stretch of I-71 just discussed. That widening would benefit the state far more. But you wouldn't know it from media reports like the one cited from WXIX.
Incumbent Ohio Governor Ted Strickland wants the money. GOP challenger John Kasich doesn't. It would be much smarter for whoever wins to just ask that $86 million be diverted to finishing I-71's Cleveland-Columbus widening and that the rest be given back, or to just say "never mind" to all of it.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
ayut
Submitted by botg on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 12:05am.
same smoke blown in our faces here in San diego
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” -- Chief Justice John Roberts
Yup !!!
Submitted by dirtydan64 on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 7:45am.
We have the typical Crowd of Liberals here in Wisconsin that want the entire state to pay for high speed rail between Milwaukee & Madison (about a hour drive in car) that suppose to cost nearly a $1 Billion will make a bunch of stops and will cost the rider around $30-$40 each way then you have to rent a car or tax a taxi will cost on average another $20- $40/Day. Add it all up it's alot of F#$%ing money to drive a hr each way in a car that would cost you anywhere from $10-$30 driving in a car round trip !! This doesn't consider all the expansion along this route of stores, and other infrastructure only along each side of this high-speed corridor. Dam Liberals, Tuesday can't come fast enough !!!!
Correct me if I'm wrong but
Submitted by Van Halen on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 12:14am.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Amtrak unionized? I believe they are from the little research I've done. Is the frantic demand for this project to
A) get unions a big contract there?
B) get more union workers signed up on a unneeded rail service?
This reminds me of ME-Chelle's sudden desire to have the government get involved with all the food and the food industry. Yesterday she was dropping yet another idea - that we should put up $400 mil for inner city grocery stores. I see all this as
1) Government pushes food rules and subsidized grocery stores
2) Government gets control of food shipping and grocery stores
3) Government unionizes food workers and grocery stores under SEIU
4) Every paycheck from every SEIU employee donates a little money to the DNC
Here in North Carolina it is
Submitted by jdhawk on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 1:32am.
Here in North Carolina it is the same sh*t different state. duhbama earmarket 520 million dollars of recovery money earlier this year to improve the Raleigh to Charlotte cooridor. The cost of this stupid project will escalate beyond imagination like the Boston "big dig" did a few years ago.
Once it is built, it is estimated that it will cost $50 to ride it a day! If one had to ride it every day for a year given and there were 200 work days in a year that would be $10,000!
I have a car (2009 Mustang) that when you add up payments, insurance, taxes, gas and oil cost less than half that and I can go whereever I please at any time or the day or night. Why would I ride the train?
Also, according to the proposal, freight will also run on the track. The NC to DC Amtrak has dual use track that is in constant need of repair due to the far heavier freight trains running on it. It is so bad in some places that the passenger train comes nearly to a stand still lest it derail.
The proposed powertrain for these high speed rail trains is diese? WTF. How does that reduce "global warming?"
The bottom line is that this a liberals' dream to get the great unwashed cramed into public transportation while they tool around in their limos and private jets. Here is an example of what I am talking about: http://www.climatedepot.com/a/8595/Gore-leaves-car-idling-for-one-hour-during-speech-Opts-for-Swedish-government-jet-over-public-transportation
F*ck them!
That's 7 new passengers per station
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 1:42am.
That's 400 TOTAL passengers per day using the service, btw, not an increase of 400. Right?
Actually it comes to about 7 new passengers per station per day ... and I'm sure the majority of those are repeat passengers.
You are ...
Submitted by Tom Blumer on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 7:46am.
... correct.
2 Thoughts Come To Mind
Submitted by stratman on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 2:16am.
1) The report originated from Les Nessman of WKRP in Cincinnati,
and/or,
2) Joe Biden plans on wintering in Cleveland and needs Amtrak to get to the state capital for his rumble in the Statehouse Rotunda.
Public transportation
Submitted by Phryj1 on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 3:35am.
Get in the box and go where the government tells you to go.
Hey, remember when America was all about freedom? Whatever happened to that?
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
Amazing, isn't it?
Submitted by Tenebrous on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 5:56am.
Just how starry-eyed some folks get when it comes to spending money that isn't theirs? As usual, liberals are NEVER around for the clean-up. They just flit away on their magic pixie wings to the next big project that demands your money.
Visions and Principles blog
Tom, Tom, Tom, 'context' is an anathema to Liberals...
Submitted by acaiguana on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 6:48am.
We see it every day here at NB.
Some Liberal (or socialist, depends on their fanacticism) posts that 'X' means 'Y'.
And then you look at the context.
Wasn't context ignorance the reason Juan Williams was fired by PBS.
A better example can not be found.
ACA
...
Quoted from: 'Acaiguana notes from the Underground' (Soon to be at theaters near you)
It was out of context when...
Submitted by ontheright on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:06am.
...PBS fired Juan Williams, just like it was out of context when the Germans bombed pearl harbor...
NPR = PBS & Japanese = Germans
I get it - :-)
oTr
Earmarks!
Submitted by johnsonl on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 7:12am.
We must have more pork!!
The map indicates that the
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 7:48am.
The map indicates that the 25-mile stretch involved has 40,600 vehicles a day. This one stretch of road moves more people in four days that Ohio's passenger rail services do in a whole yearAnd that's the whole point. Government wants people out of their cars in into public transportation. Just like they want people out of the suburbs and into city high-rises where they can hopefully just walk to work.
Where they can be...
Submitted by ontheright on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:10am.
...closely watched and kept track of...it's not hard to see what the end game is.
Look at Europe - everyone on top of each other...but the Government sure as hell knows where everybody is, if they gave a damn.
oTr
The liberals want us to be just like Europe
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 8:52am.
They just have a problem with scale. And math.
Just think if the Ohio ridership of Amtrack increases just 1000%, Amtrack will be near break-even.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Liberals used to be obsessed
Submitted by Jack Bauer on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 8:56am.
Liberals used to be obsessed with THREE THINGS.. and now it's FOUR
SEX/HOMOSEXUALS
RACE
TAXING OTHER PEOPLE
The fourth rail is...
HIGH SPEED TRAINS THAT LOSE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF TAX PAYERS MONEY
Liberalism really is a branch of an obsessive/compulsive disorder.
All of the above Mr Obama? --- How about ALL OF THE BELOW, instead.
Really?
Submitted by lkotur on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:19am.
I thought Liberalism was a disease.
And we are supposed to just say yes?
Submitted by octavioj on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:02am.
And believe that somehow high speed rail will save us money and take our cars off the road? It is getting increasingly hard to believe that any of these rail projects can ever work in the US.
How much of a subsidy per passenger?
Submitted by notinstl on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:03am.
I am amazed at how much money it costs ME, so a minute number of people can ride a train.....
Between Ted Strickland, the
Submitted by inquiringmind on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 9:39am.
Between Ted Strickland, the Govenor and Michael Colman, the mayor of Columbus there is a push here in the Buckeye state for this high speed railway. I think they are looking at the Chinese and thinking we need that.
Most of the people I talk to laugh at this as more government spending that will need subsidized for years to come. Even the local radio station 610 WTVN has laughed about how stupid the elected officials are that push this boondogle.
I can drive from Columbus to Cleveland quicker and at a lower cost than is proposed for this public transportation. Plus when I get there, I have my car to get me to my final destination. And I can come and go on my time schedule, not theirs.
Massive waste of tax dollars!
GO BUCKS!
Tragedy of the Commons
Submitted by JohnMcGrew on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 10:11am.
Notice how each and every rail project MUST be funded mostly or entirely by the federal government?
Rail projects seem to be a progressive disease. Liberals in the US seem to fall all over themselves over these proposals, mostly because the (bankrupt) socialist-democracies of Europe that they idolize have them and the idea of zipping all over the place on comfortable trains is sexy and resonates with the public, at least until they understand the costs.
control, control, control.....
Submitted by MidAmerica on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 10:26am.
The number one goal for Liberals is always power. They hate automobiles because cars give individuals freedom to go where they wish when they wish. Liberals hate that. They want everyone organized and scheduled. They obsess about regimentation.
Twin Cities is also infected
Submitted by wizardjr on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 10:32am.
We're doing 'Light Rail' here at a mind boggling cost so that a few dozen folks can ride it every day.
All this is the fallacy of construction. It works well in European large cities because they are mostly laid out by a drunken cow creating a path to the (ancient) pasture. Even the more rational cities have no parking to speak of. Underground plus busses was a rational response. 99% of the Euroweenies live in the city they work in or directly on a commuter line connecting to the inner network.
Libs are jealous of that but want to lay that system on an entirely different existing infrastructure and an entirely different housing culture. Result - complete disconnect and billions wasted. Insanity breeds blindness and irrational choices. QED.
No way to run a railroad!
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Fri, 10/29/2010 - 10:58am.
As one who enjoys travel by rail when on vacation or when in no particular hurry to get anywhere, it still is too expensive (unless you get a stand-by ticket – no berthing included). The government take-over of passenger rail (AMTRACK) was the worst thing that could have happened. Instead of “Railroad men” who knew how to make a profit and were willing to take a chance on reinvestment and R&D it was taken over by bureaucrats with no interest or stake in success.
There are too many complexities in this story to go into the specifics of any one, and so once again, we are left with an incomplete picture - thanks to the news media.
But I differ from some of my Tea Party neighbors in this respect… I think the government should offer low-interest loans to businesses that are strategically vital to the nation… Rail transportation of goods is one of those businesses – but passenger rail is not. There are simply too many more efficient alternatives to passenger rail.
And, just one other point, in the old days when major centers of commerce and industry were concentrated within the confines of any major city, the idea of passenger rail was a good one (NYC is the best example). However, nowadays the rail-stations are more likely than not to be miles and miles away from where the passenger needs to go. Passenger rail works great at Disneyland… past that it’s hard to justify the cost vs. value.