A Streetcar Without Desire

So Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman wants a streetcar service to run downtown. Great. For a minute there I thought we had run out of ideas for things the city didn’t need that nobody would use. Then again, this seems to be a dominant paradigm of though amongst the powers that be in public transportation, and not just in Ohio. Too often multi-million dollar transport boondoggles are forced upon the citizens of major (or even minor) metropolitan areas whether they want the service or not. With this obsolete and costly transport burden upon the citizenry, Columbus may yet join the proud ranks of my beloved Portland as cities whose sense of nostalgia overwhelmed their knowledge of the market.

To be fair, there was a period in American history where streetcars were both popular and profitable. In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, they were reliably known as the most effective form of mass transit within major cities, replacing the horse-drawn carriage (at least Mayor Coleman doesn’t want to bring those back). They also were electric-powered, which conserved rationed fuel during wartime, and provided a means for commoners to get around the city, since the personal automobile was still considered a rare luxury item. Like most means of mass transportation, however, the streetcar died out in popularity once owning a car became more common.

The postwar popularity of the automobile made getting from 15^th and High to the Statehouse in less than half an hour a possibility and represented a sense of independence and self-reliance that socialist government public policies have never been able to destroy. The simple fact is that no matter how high gas prices get, no matter how many different and quirky forms of public transportation are conceived and constructed, and no matter what Algore’s scare tactics might allege, people will never give up their cars. Public transportation nowadays represents a niche market at best, to which the likes of college students like myself belong. If these riders had cars (and if I had the ability to drive one), they wouldn’t be riding buses. It simply makes no sense to drive your car to a designated “Park and Ride” location only to take a bus to get to your destination in a lot more time, other than it making the rider feel warm and fuzzy about saving the planet. Pollution is still pollution whether it comes from your car or their bus.

Granted there are cities in this country that can and do support public transportation like New York’s subway, Washington’s metro, and the Bay Area’s BART. Columbus is not one of them. Its population and rider statistics suggest a mid-sized city in love with their cars, a combination that proves lethal to these projects. Again, that doesn’t seem to bother transit agencies like COTA. My hometown of Portland recently installed a streetcar line running through a downtown loop. Not only is ridership well below what was projected but the streetcar is entirely dependent on TriMet for funding, since it operates in Fareless Square, where all bus, light rail, and streetcar rides are free. The result is a multi-million dollar white elephant that only adds to the traffic congestion it was supposed to fight in a similarly-sized city. But at least it looks nice from the window of your car.

Bill Todd for Mayor?

According to today's Columbus Dispatch, the Franklin County Republican Party is set to put forth Bill Todd as their candidate for Columbus Mayor in 2007. I was hoping to see Jennette Bradley, but she is apparently not interested in the race. I will hold out hope for a City Council run or something, because she is very electable in Columbus. Anyhow, Bill Todd is a noted elections attorney, and has definitely paid his dues in Republican politics. The article talks a bit about his campaigning past, and definitely puts it in a negative light. I, however, think Todd will be a solid candidate, even if he is not my first choice.

It is good to see Franklin County GOP putting up a good candidate, and putting up a candidate at all is an improvement over 2003, when there was no GOP candidate on the ballot against two-term Mayor Michael Coleman. Coleman seems to be moderately popular, but he strikes me as a buffoon, especially whenever I have been around him in person. Most notably would be his explosion on The Glenn Beck Program, and, for me personally, his actions prior to the 2006 St. Patrick's Day Parade. For quite some time, WNCI's morning show poked fun at the Mayor, who was only too happy to oblige in participating in the show's bit pieces.

Most shocking in the Dispatch article, though, was that Jim Petro had been asked about running for the office. Petro is a competent manager, even if I don't always like his politics or personality, but he came to Columbus after being a Cuyahoga County Commissioner. I have no stats or records in front of me to know for sure, but I would have to say such a switch would be unprecedented, to go from elected in one major city to another.

Columbus well prepared for emergency communications and planning; Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Toledo lag behind

In a new report released by the Dept. of Homeland Security, Columbus was one of only six U.S. cities given an advanced rating in all three categories, making it, on paper, one of the most well-prepared cities for emergency planning and communications. The report also ranked Cleveland as one of the worst cities in emergency management, citing the still informal and unorganized status of the area planning groups. Cincinnati and Toledo were graded only slightly higher due to an improving performance in organizing those same area planning groups.

The report graded the cities in three major areas of communications preparedness: Usage, Governance, and Standardized Operating Procedures. The Usage category was evaluated on how effectively first responders actually were in cooperating and communicating during drills and emergencies requiring interorganizational cooperation, essentially how well the plans are currently implemented. Columbus was rated as having advanced usage, while the three other Ohio cities rated were given only an intermediate ranking on usage and implementation. Governance ranked the organization of emergency planning groups, the existence of definite protocol, and the active funding and constant updating of this planning. Cleveland was cited for not having a definite strategic plan or formal planning group in place, while Columbus was again rated advanced in the area. Toledo and Cincinnati were given intermediate rankings in this category as well, given the improving nature of their plans and the formality of the planning groups. Standardized Operating Procedures encompassed the actual effectiveness and implementation of the plans themselves in exercises and actual emergencies, with Columbus again being advanced to the other three Ohio cities intermediate ratings.