I agree with your situations, and how the train could not be the best bet. But with the 3C rail, it would bring another option, not eliminate the need for cars.

I believe it’s a great thing for reducing dependency on single passenger cars on the highway.

Now think about these situations. You have a wedding to go to in Downtown Cleveland, gas is $2.89 a gallon. It’s 212 miles to Cleveland from Dayton. So for gas you’ll spend about $50+ round trip assuming your car gets 30 mpg. You have to drive for 4 1/2 hours or more depending on if you stop at all. If you took the train, you’ll spend $20 round trip, take about the same time, be able to watch a movie, read a book, talk to friends, finish up work during the ride. You have friends that live there, and can pick you up from the train station and around that weekend. With the train being another option for you, in this situation it would be perfect. You’d save money!

I think the trains are a great way to give people the option to save money and time and lower their personal fuel consumption. It won’t eliminate the need for cars, but it will definitely allow people to choose the best option for their situation.

Who in reality will ride this train? I was thinking about situations where I go to Cincinnati or Columbus and they are fairly rare. My trips typically are for either entertainment events like concerts or for business.

Let’s analyze this for a minute. Hypothetical trip of the wife and me going to Cincinnati for a concert.

First of all I would have to leave in the middle of the afternoon and take half a day off work since the train only runs 3 times a day. Secondly, I would then have to spend even more time and money going from the train station to the concert location. Third, I might not be able to get home since the concert will be over late at night. Assuming there is a midnight run on the train let’s add this up:

Cost (hypothetically at $10 each person each way for me and the wife)=$40
Then, I still have to pay a good $20+ for a cab to to and from the concert location. So, I’m out $60 + a lot more travel time taking the train, if I can do it at all.

Ok, let’s compare for a business meeting. If I’m going to a hypothetical one hour meeting in Blue Ash, it would make no sense for me to drive to Riverside, wait on a train, take it to downtown Cincinnati, get in a cab to Blue Ash and then wait a couple more hours for the return train since it just runs a couple times a day. Let me get this straight. It’s not only more expensive, but it’s also less convenient. That wouldn’t work!

When would I ride the train? Possibly to visit my sister in law in Cleveland. But even then, I would have to rent a car for 3 days which would take total travel cost for a 3 person family + car rental to well over $200. So, even that one is a maybe and we only make that trip about once a year.

Yes, trains do work well in places like New York, but they have plenty of infrastructure and public transit in place to shuttle people from the train station to their final destination. Yes, they work in places like California, but those trains are for the tourists to see the beach. We, unfortunately, don’t have either luxury.

As for the cost of being “only $17 million”, nobody really knows what the cost will be until the thing is actually running.

So, who will ride this train, really? I fear it will mostly be the poor and elderly and maybe college students. The same people who ride public transportation. Oh wait, poor people can’t afford to go on a road trip. Maybe not even them. Have you seen the RTA buses around the Dayton Mall most days? Totally empty!

Personally, I think that the money potentially wasted on this train boondoggle could be put to much better use building light rail in Cincinnati and Columbus.

I would suggest to your readers that they consider joining All Aboard Ohio to help advocate for passenger rail …. http://allaboardohio.org/ …. as well as writing letters to the editor and e-mails to your state legislators.

Don’t let up!

The $17M is actually 0.5% of the state’s transportation budget. Sorry bad math