Dear Members and
Friends:
Columbus City Council Needs to Hear Your Support of
Streetcars!
Columbus Mayor Coleman recently
presented a $1 billion capital budget to City
Council. Included in that is a $2
million proposal to move forward with the next steps in the downtown Streetcar
initiative. This would provide design and
engineering work.
Council argued the use of these funds at
a public meeting held on Tuesday, April 15. Council members said at that meeting they
want to hear more from the public before it votes on this proposal at its May 5
Council Meeting.
Council is purportedly receiving as many
as 15 opposing to 1 supporting letters.
If you support Columbus moving forward with the Streetcar,
Council members need to hear from you NOW.
We suggest
you:
¨ Attend
ColumbusUnderground’s Streetcar Letter Writing Breakfast this Saturday (see
announcement below)
¨
Send your own letter to City Council
¨
Speak to Council at one of the next
three council meetings, Monday, April 21, 28 and May 5 (See
this link for more information on how to do that: http://www.columbuscitycouncil.../speak.asp
)
¨
Attend one or all of these meetings and
silently indicate you are in support of streetcars
¨ Send your council letter to
the Editor at The Columbus Dispatch.
To help you with this
effort we are providing the Breakfast announcement, contact information, and
some talking points.
Please speak up!
Council needs to hear
Columbus citizens WANT a
streetcar.
1. Attend Saturday April 17th
Get Together - Write Letters of Support
Join Ann Evans on
Saturday, April 17th for breakfast at
The Warehouse Cafe, located downtown on N 5th. Street where you will write a
letter to Council members in support of the streetcar! Plenty of paper and pens
will be available so lots of letters can be written. Ann will take care of getting them in
the mail!
2.
Contact
Information
Columbus City Council
City Hall - 90
W Broad St, Room 231
Columbus, OH
43215-9015
614-645-7380
Michael C. Mentel, President
Legislative Aid: Mark
Rutkus
Email: mkrutkus@columbus.gov; phone 645-8558; fax
645-7399
Kevin L. Boyce, President Pro-Tem
Legislative Aid: Kym
Nelson
Email: yjnelson@columbus.gov; phone 645-0851; fax
645-0533
Maryellen O’Shaughnessy
Legislative Aid: Lelia
Cady
Email: lecady@columbus.gov; phone 645-8529; fax
645-6164
Andrew J. Ginther
Legislative Aid: Kenneth
Paul
Email: kcpaul@columbus.gov; phone 645-2931; fax
645-7399
Hercel F. Craig
Legislative Aid: Kathy
Owens
Email: kaowens@columbus.gov; phone 645-8559; fax
645-0533
Priscilla R. Tyson
Legislative Aid: Carl
Williams
Email cgwilliams@columbus.gov; phone 645-2933; fax
645-7399
Charleta B. Tavares
Legislative Aid: James
Ragland
Email: jcragland@columbus.gov; phone 645-8580 fax
645-0533
The Columbus
Dispatch
Letters to the
Editor
The
Dispatch
34 S 3rd
St
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Email: letters@dispatch.com (no
attachments)
Fax: 614-461-8793
200 words or fewer are
preferred
Include name, address and daytime phone
number
3. Some Talking
Points
A recent quote
from Mayor Michael B. Coleman: “We’ve seen
the evidence that streetcars can reconnect neighborhoods and downtown, that they
will help attract jobs to the area and spur greater housing construction along
the routes......As gas prices soar, I believe we need to start investing in a
modern, urban transit system so that people can afford to get to work, and
streetcars can be the first step in that journey.”
National transportation expert,
Scott Bernstein, Director of Neighbor Technology Center out of Chicago
says,
"Building the Columbus Streetcar now, provides direct
economic benefits - cost of living reduction, new real estate investment leading
to area-wide tax stabilization, reduced street wear, and improved reputation
from amenities that work for everyone…Invest in streetcars now, and you can
catalyze expansions, downtown transformations, and the circulation needed to
keep neighborhoods vibrant and growing. "
- Spur economic development and new jobs –
A study by the Danter Group,
nationally recognized economic development consultants and hired by Columbus to conduct a
feasibility and financial study, demonstrates a streetcar route in Downtown
would attract millions of dollars in new economic development within five
years of opening.
- 3,000 jobs
- 90,000 new visitors
- 1,500 new housing units
- 300 new hotel
rooms
- Why streetcars?
–
Streetcars
alone will not solve all of our challenges – it will take a network of greater
options to get deeper vehicle reductions in Central
Ohio. But rail lines
attract millions in new economic development because of the permanency of the
rail lines. Bus routes can be
changed at any time, which creates a greater risk for development.
- Environmental
benefits
–
Streetcars are powered by
electricity and therefore better for the environment by reducing carbon
emissions. They also have the potential to dramatically reduce the number of
automobile traffic.
- Easily
assessable –
Streetcars
are easily accessible to everyone, including persons with disabilities, young
children and the elderly. Streetcars run on more frequent schedules than other
transit systems. Rail lines are
compatible with other traffic and the Streetcar lane is otherwise available to
all other street users.
- Accessibility
to local businesses -
Streetcars increase pedestrian traffic in areas they serve which in turn helps
businesses in the area and increases redevelopment efforts. Also, streetcars
eliminate the need for worrying
about parking or gas when taking advantage of the amenities downtown, in the
Short North and OSU area.
- Attract new
public transit riders - Numerous
studies indicated persons who would not otherwise ride public transit, will
ride a rail transit.
- Connect
neighborhoods
–Streetcars will connect people
to places, pull our downtown neighborhoods together and provide a direct
connection between OSU campus and downtown Columbus.
- Create
excitement and new choices for downtown and OSU travel
– In 2006, the Danter Group
asked 1,000 downtown employees,
residents and students if they would ride the streetcar. Nearly 75% said
“yes” if one were built in Downtown Columbus. Of those
who responded “yes”, students were very positive, saying streetcars would
increase their trips to and within downtown.
- Projected ridership meets
need - According to the
Danter Group projections, just five years after opening, downtown streetcars
would carry between 5,000 and 7,200 riders per day. A look at other streetcar
cities provides some insight. Within two blocks of the successful streetcar
routes in Memphis and Portland, there are fewer numbers of residents,
employees, and hotel rooms than in Columbus. In projecting daily ridership
for Columbus, Danter took note of these numbers
and provided a more conservative estimate, even though the Columbus streetcar would
circulate more frequently.
- Precursor to light
rail
- Starting
up a streetcar downtown could be a precursor for a light rail system that has
the potential to connect suburbs to the downtown and suburb to suburb. With
rising gas prices, depleting gas and oil reserves, and critical needs to
reduce carbon emissions, added rail options to our transportation choices adds
money in our pocket, conserves energy, and reduces pollution and health
risks.
- First class communities are built
on first class transportation systems. All
communities are born out the transportation network. The design of the land
and character of the community starts with its transportation. So, when we
make a decision about transportation, we are deciding how we will live.
Investing
in Streetcars now is an investment in our tomorrow.
- Vibrant urban environments
-
To
create a vibrant urban environment, it is crucial to develop a wide variety of
transportation choices. Multiple travel options between the downtown job and
activity centers and the adjacent mixed-use residential districts are critical
to the vitality of Columbus downtown and neighboring areas. A
streetcar would be coordinated with the existing bus operation to provide a
seamless transit experience to riders and to maintain viability of existing
transportation
services.