Train Initiative Can Help Struggling Communities and the Environment
March 9, 2008 · Print This Article
I just read a blog written by real estate professional Carole Cohen about a lobbying effort to bring high speed rail to her state. I mention her profession because often some of the best cheerleaders for strong and sustainable community life are real estate agents.
Financial incentives aside, sometimes real estate agents are the most informed community advocates and when they use their marketing skills to help promote and protect the best that a community has to offer it can be beautiful! Tip: work with those kinds of agents and invite them on your PTA and fundraising committees.
Anyhow, what got my attention was a new railway initiative highlighted on her site. I lived as a student and later as a mother in two Midwestern states - Ohio and Michigan. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was to travel throughout and between those states both as a struggling college student and later as a new mom.
Without a railway system with schedules that are regular and that allow you to arrive at your destination at times other than 3 o’clock in the morning, you are stuck paying outrageous sums for airline flights that have 2 connections or choosing the environmentally unfriendly alternative of driving over state thruways.
Not to mention you end up turning off potential new residents to your state who are skilled and educated and that’s not good for many small and struggling communities.
Well now it appears Amtrak is looking at proposals from a few states. Ohio’s proposed 3′C high speed rail corridor plan (Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati) would serve among some of the most populous cities in the country currently without a high speed rail system.
I couldn’t believe it. One of the countries largest universities, Ohio State University, is in Columbus–a city which also happens to be the state’s largest and growing.
Now that I have a daughter potentially attending college next year in this region I’m really concerned about his initiative.
What better way to help struggling cities and small towns throughout Ohio and other states than to install clean, energy efficient high speed trains. Think of all the cars we can take off the road if business people and families start taking comfortable high speed trains to cities and small towns within their state or out of state.
Where I live and work we often meet with individuals who are hundreds of miles away but are able to come in to our city on the morning train for a 10:00 a.m. meeting and be home that night before 9:00 p.m. Our high speed trains provide an affordable, clean choice that enhances business life here and helps support our regional communities and towns.
Look at the Railroad News Blog widget on my sidebar for more information and support high speed rail initiatives where you live. It’s what our environment needs and will help to make our communities more sustainable.
Tags: City Life, Green Living, New Urbanism
“….Not to mention you end up turning off potential new residents to your state who are skilled and educated and that’s not good for many small and struggling communities….” This quote is going on my latest post, thank you Sharon for the shout out and you make points that to me should be an ‘aha’ moment for people in our area. And by ‘our area’ I mean parts of Canada, and all the surrounding U.S. states.
Two train trips a day does NOT a train system make!
[...] post - she is a savvy professional who is currently a Canadian resident l with ties to the Midwest. She just did a post well worth reading on the 3C Corridor/Ohio Hub from the perspective of someone who would be a frequent passenger. Here is a quote from the article, [...]
Hi New Urban Mom!
Well put and very thoughtful discussion about the Governor’s request to Amtrak to study the 3-C Corridor (let’s not forget Dayton)over the next year or so.
This is long overdue, as Ohio is far behind other states and the rest of the world for that matter.
This is a big country and which demands big solutions to today’s problems and a wide array of travel choices for Ohio citizens and businesses. One size (highways) does not fit all, especially as gas inexorably inches toward $4/gallon.
Those of us who have been pushing rail as a quality of life issue find it exremely gratifying to see others, such as Carole Cohen and yourself joining in.
While I’m at it, I would encourage you to look at the website for All Aboard Ohio, the only statewide organiztion dedicated to transportation reform. They are at: http://www.allaboardohio.org
One minor correction: “Amtrak” is the correct spelling for the passenger line.
Thanks again. All Aboard!!!
Thanks Buckeyeb - getting over to http://www.allaboardohio.org now!
Way to go urbanmom from an urbandad!
I’m also the Public Information Officer for the Ohio Rail Development Commission and deeply involved with the Ohio Hub Plan.
Thank you so much for your kind post and for spreading the word about the need for more and better passenger rail and rail-based public transit. Mobility is essential to freedom and to the extent that mobility is limted so too is our freedom as a society.
I suspect your blog reaches well beyond readers in Ohio, so I would suggest not only our Ohio Hub website ( http://www.ohiohub.com )…but the websites for States for Passenger Rail: http://www.s4prc.org/ and for the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission: http://www.miprc.org/
These are good sites for your readers to connect with what’s going on in their ares to improve or introduce modern passenger rail.
“Two train trips a day does NOT a train system make!”
Carole: It doesn’t, but that’s only the beginning. Ultimately, the Ohio Hub will have 8-10 round trips per day along the #-C corridor
Thanks Urbanmom for your interest in the Ohio Hub!
I encourage you to read the Ohio Hub report. What you will see is a system that connects Ohio with cities like Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Toronto & beyond. It will also serve as a bridge between rail systems in the Midwest and those along the East Coast.