All posts in the topic Regional transportation (Short link)
Summary
- There are 2 posts — by 2 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by livingston.28 Livingston at Jul 08 19:00 UTC
Streetcars help parking because they deliver people to destinations without
their cars. So downtown development and OSU development can proceed without
the need to build expensive parking garages.
Adding bedroom communities is trhe next step. But that is really where
light rail comes in. Light rail is commuter rail --it goes faster than
streetcars and makes fewer stops so people are delivered to destinations
faster than their cars could ever take them. Streetcars work best as short
circulators -- for short trips and there High Street route is perfect
because there are 50,000 students at one end and 100,000 workers at the
other.
On Open Line, Maryellen O explained the length and direction of the streetcar
route by referring to the 70/71 rebuild and the fact that the downtown bridges
weren't designed to support the weight of streetcars. But if the High Street
line really is only a first step, why not include plans for tackling these
obstacles?
For instance: why not lay out ideas for beefed-up bus service going West into
Franklinton and south through the Brewery District/German Village, designed to
connect with the streetcar? That would start to sketch in the picture of an
integrated transit system, rather than hanging the argument on a one-line
project. (A single line is, by definition, not a system).
By "beefed up," I mean something that is visually distinct from the current
COTA fleet, more tied into the look of the streetcar. These would lay down
markers for future construction and get people used to thinking about
connectivity.
Kathleen, I think you and I have had this discussion before, but today's
program really reinforced my sense that the *systematic potential* of the
streetcar needs to be made more explicit.