High-speed rail

[Towntalk]

A third very good and important site:

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/ohiorail/Ohio%20Hub/Website/ordc/index.html

[Towntalk]

Two very good links on High-Speed Rail in Ohio

http://www.allaboardohio.org/cms/index.php
http://www.dot.state.oh.us/21ctptf/

[Towntalk]

Thank you for the heads up Westsider, there was a lot to chew on in Buckeyeb's post, and I would like to see any followup on that meeting.

I can recall that a number of years ago this topic was brought up here in Ohio, but like a lot of other good ideas was allowed to die.

The technology is there ... there are plenty of old raiload rights of way available to lay track ... and there is certainly some very good reasons for such a system, now all we need is to get our state and federal legislatures off the dime and do something more than just talk about it.

[northside lurker]

Have you seen these threads on UrbanOhio.com?
"ALL ABOARD OHIO Thread"
http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,12191.0.html
"Ohio Hub/ORDC" (This is an ongoing thread that was started in 2004, so you may want to skip to the end for current discussion)
http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,1414.0.html

[Towntalk]

Daily we read articles about how the energy crisis coupled with its ancillary effects are impacting other parts of the country, but very little about how they are impacting us here in the Mahoning Valley on a personal basis.

We are told that the overall cost of living here is lower than in other parts of the country and state, but has that in itself been able to draw more people to move here?

Given the wild ride we are all on so far as fuel costs are concerned, how could a family see any real savings if one or both family members have a daily commute to say Cleveland or Pittsburgh.

One answer to that problem would be mass transit, but how practical would that be for workers who have different work schedules, or whose jobs are not in major metropolitan areas?

EDATA and other agencies have talked about carpooling as a solution but again that poses unique problems of its own. Not all members of a carpool work in the same immediate area, and shifts vary from employer to employer.

The next best answer is a mass transit system that would link all the major metropolitan areas in North East Ohio and Western Pennsylvania running on a regular schedule the year around, but even that would take time and money to build, and would have to be able to pay for itself once it is built.

EDATA would not be amiss by doing a new comprehensive study on the feasibility of a regional mass transit system that would connect all the major metropolitan areas of Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania using high-speed rail.