As we all know by now, Ted Strickland is begging President Obama to use the federal stimulus cash to start-up “high-speed” rail in Ohio.
Governor, I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
From a report released this morning:
The Ohio Department of Transportation said today that the trains should be able to carry passengers from downtown Cleveland to downtown Columbus in about three hours. “That competes with the expected time for highway travel of about two-and-a-half hours along the 145-mile route,” the department noted.
Wrong.
The actual trip may take three hours, but that doesn’t include time needed to drive to the train station, park, pay for your ticket, board, depart the train, find the closest bus stop, take the bus to your general job location, and walk to the front door.
So, let’s be extremely conservative and say alllll that adds only 30 minutes to the trip.
And what are the costs to the rider?
A train ticket that might be cheaper than gas if you drive alone, but probably not if you have a buddy with you. On top of that is the massive opportunity cost from losing an extra hour each way.
And lest we forget, increased taxes for all to help pay for the impending boondoggle.
The facts are these…
Governor Strickland is desperately trying to win this project to show his constituents that he actually brought Ohio something.
But what he’s actually bringing is a huge pile of dog poo that Governors to come will be forced to clean up….
