Proposed Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati Passenger Rail Project Would Offer Ohioans Green Travel Options
Of all the ways to use transportation investments to support economic development in Ohio, few are as ecologically responsible as the 3C "Quick Start" passenger rail project. The Cleveland – Columbus – Cincinnati route would be the starting point for a broader passenger rail system for Ohio and surrounding states, leading eventually to high-speed rail. Indeed, every high-speed rail service in the world has a conventional-speed precedent.
The 3C "Quick Start" project would tap into $8 billion in the federal stimulus for passenger rail improvements nationwide. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) applied for up to $500 million this October and will find out if the state will receive the funding in March 2010. As early as 2011, three daily trains would travel in each direction at 79 mph over existing freight routes that require more passing sidings, better road crossing signals, plus new or improved stations. Initially, trains would travel the 255-mile route in about six hours, with faster service available once more improvements are completed.
Initial stations would be downtown Cincinnati (Boathouse area), Sharonville (by Interstate 275), downtown Dayton (near convention center), downtown Columbus (at convention center on High Street), Southwest Cleveland (at Puritas Rapid station) and downtown Cleveland (lakefront Amtrak station). More stations will be added if funding is secured for this project. ODOT is coordinating with regional transit agencies to make sure that 3C stations are served by local bus routes to offer easy connections. Taxis, car-sharing services, rental cars and intercity buses are other linkages being contemplated.
Environmental Benefits of Ohio Passenger Rail
- The U.S. Department of Energy says passenger trains are 20-50 percent more fuel efficient than planes or cars on a per-passenger mile basis.
- Train stations foster compact neighborhoods that encourage walking, biking and transit.
- Ohioans spend nearly $2,000 per-capita on buying gasoline each year, making us vulnerable to fuel price spikes and supply disruptions, according to the National Resource Defense Council.
- Global oil production leveled off in mid-2005 and is projected by various experts to irreversibly decline within a decade or two, causing much higher gasoline prices, shortages and possible rationing.
- America was the world's largest producer of oil until 1970 when its oil production peaked; now the U.S. imports two-thirds of the oil it consumes.
- America consumes one-fourth of the world's oil despite having just five percent of the world's population; Three out of four barrels of oil burned in the U.S. is for transportation and 80 percent of that is burned in cars and trucks, reports the U.S. Department of Energy.
- Air pollution emissions have a nearly 1-to-1 correlation with energy efficiency, thus the more efficient the mode of transportation, the less pollution it emits.
- Major 3C cities are unable to consistently meet the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality standards.
- Two-thirds of ground-level ozone pollution in 3C cities is from mobile sources and roughly half of mobile-source pollution is emitted by cars, says the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Stations would be focal points of community land use planning to promote greater mixed-use and density, as well as more walking, biking and transit use. As has happened around other state-supported train services in the U.S., stations will be magnets for sustainable development patterns, not the car-oriented sprawl that has dominated Ohio and weakened its historic communities since World War II.
Amtrak estimates that first-year ridership would be 478,000, ranking it 12th busiest in the nation. A major source of riders will be the many colleges and universities along the 3C Corridor. There are six million people living within 15 miles of the 3C tracks. Census data show that nearly one million of these residents do not drive. Fares would range from 8 to 14 cents per mile, less than Greyhound's 9 to 19 cents per mile, AAA's estimated driving cost of 54 cents per mile or Delta and Continental airlines' $1.30 to $5.30 per mile. Trains would have coach- and business-class seating, a café car serving food and beverages, Wi-Fi and on-board bike racks. Seats would offer lots of leg room, drop-down tray tables, electrical outlets and individual lighting. These would be high-performance, low-emission trains that could operate at much higher speeds as the 3C Corridor's infrastructure is progressively improved.
Unlike I-71, ODOT does not own the railroad rights of way in the 3C Corridor —private companies do. Under federal law, Amtrak uniquely has legal and insurance provisions to gain access to private railroad tracks. So ODOT will need to contract with Amtrak at about $17 million per year to use the freight railroads' tracks.
Of the 14 states making annual payments to Amtrak to operate trains for their constituents, only one, New York, has more population density than Ohio. More states are seeking to get on board. In addition to Ohio, there are 39 states submitting $102 billion worth of federal stimulus dollars to start or expand passenger rail services, but only Ohio and a few other states have completed all the required studies to be eligible for federal funds.
Ohioans are urged to contact their U.S. and state senators and representatives to let them know you support using federal and state funding for passenger rail service in Ohio, starting with the 3C "Quick Start."
For more information, contact All Aboard Ohio! at