We created the following two videos to both inform users of how the streetcar can benifit them and bring smiles to the faces of both those for and opposed to the current proposition.

During our interviews we collected diverse opinions from a variety of people around Cincinnati. Many people had similar comments and concerns, we tried to gather those in this collection.

As a mother who utilizes public transit on a daily basis this interviewee was a great addition to our research. She made some positive comments about how a good public transit system can lead to a healthier life style.

During our interviews we collected diverse opinions from a variety of people around Cincinnati. Many people had similar comments and concerns, we tried to gather those in this collection.

This Interviewee was a member of local government and was adement that the city had more pressing issues to spend the money on. Many other interviewees agreed with him and he was able to articulate his opinions well.

Although this event marked the end of our quarter’s work we hope that our mission will live on. It is important to us that our message does not get lost as we move forward. Please continue to comment here and on Facebook, and look for our shirts around the city. TransForum hopes to have a presence at future city events and meetings.

Thank you again to all of our supporters this quarter; without your help we would not have been able to accomplish all that we did.

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Cincinnati has excellent opportunity for growth and infill development from downtown to uptown. The streetcar route can be considered transit-oriented development or market based development. It is a new trend in urban communities to create vibrant, livable communities that are walkable and compact centered around transit.

The American Planning Association describes transit-oriented development (TOD) as assuring social and economic benefit to an area surrounding transit paths. Along the paths, a frequent and reliable transit service is offered to lessen the amount of traffic and lend the area to be more accessible by foot. This type of development has the best interest for walkers and cyclist with welcoming pathways, shared roadways, and timed traffic signals for their convenience.

Other defined qualities of TOD include a quarter mile radius from a transit stop, street block perimeter of no more than 1,350 feet to create a dense network, and a memorable code of place such as defining squares, plazas and streetscape. Maximum parking requirements would be 10 to 500 spaces for every 1,000 workers and the speed limit is around 30 mph. These characteristics are intended to increase activity within an area while providing for new business and livelihood.

During our interviews we collected diverse opinions from a variety of people around Cincinnati. Many people had similar comments and concerns, we tried to gather those in this collection.

This interviewee had many positive things to say. One of his most potent points was about how the streetcar, running through different neighborhoods, could encourage diversity and intermingling of people from around Cincinnati.

Public transport allows transport at an economy of scale not available through private transport. Through stimulating public transport it is possible to reduce the total transport cost for the public. Time costs can also be reduced as cars removed from the road through public transit options translate to less congestion and faster speeds for remaining motorists.

Transit-oriented development can both improve the usefulness and efficiency of the public transit system as well as result in increased business for commercial developments. Well-designed transit systems can have a positive effect on real estate prices. Increased land desirability has resulted around stations in places such as Washington, D.C, San Francisco, and Portland.

Investment in public transport also stimulates the economy locally, with between $4 and $9 of economic activity resulting from every dollar spent. Many businesses rely on access to a transit system, in particular in cities and countries where access to cars is less widespread, businesses which require large amounts of people going to a same place may not be able to accommodate a large number of cars (concert venues, sport stadia, airports, exhibitions centres,…), or businesses where people are not able to use a car (bars, hospitals, or industries in the tourism sector whose customers may not have their cars).

During our interviews we collected diverse opinions from a variety of people around Cincinnati. Many people had similar comments and concerns, we tried to gather those in this collection.

Many people had concerns about the use of the money. They felt that there may be other services around the city that needed the money more.

A model is developed to evaluate the sensitivity of expected passenger wait time at transit stops to service frequency and schedule reliability. This model represents an advance over previous models because it explicitly incorporates a passenger decision-making process, rather than assuming that passengers arrive at random instants in time. So if you put the stops close together, you are helping to make sure you don’t miss anyone, but at the same time you’re providing duplicate coverage to the people who will walk further. At the same time, you’re reducing the speed of the service and increasing its capital expense — especially on a system where the stations are really the main fixed-capital item. Don’t be too distracted by acceleration and braking times; they don’t make that much difference at this scale compared to the number of stops.

Stop spacing ends up being very political, and varying based on local conditions along the route. If you’re focused on long term urbanist outcomes, and are thinking about how the service will function once there’s been some redevelopment, fewer stops may be better, because you’ll concentrate development into nodes producing a more transit-efficient development pattern that supports the wide stop spacing into the long term.

Transit industry standards suggest that most riders will not want to walk more than ¼ mile to a stop. Recommended ranges for stop spacing are as follows:

- Major Commercial Areas 500-800 feet

- Urban 700-1000 feet

- Suburban 1000-1500 feet

“Streetcars, despite what people like to believe, aren’t new. They didn’t work well before and they won’t work well now. The tracks are unsightly and dangerous to drivers in bad weather, they keep coming off the wires and have to be reconnected, they’re eliminating hundreds of parking spaces for residents living along the proposed route. It’s the same old tale of the young thinking they’ve invented something new and different, whether it be fashion or streetcars, not realizing that we’ve been there, done that.

I have head the argument against streetcar technology on multiple occasions. The truth is, this is completely inaccurate. The streetcars the city plans to implement bare very little resemblance to their decades old cousins. Their differences go deep beneath the surface of their shiny new skins as well. The modern streetcar is more safe and accessible to both its riders and other drivers on the road.

The tracks are recessed and do not disrupt traffic at all. The only vehicles they could pose a danger too are bicycles because of their narrow wheels. This will be off-set by warning signs, and, if bike lanes are added they will be designed to cross perpendicularly or at an angle to rail lines. The pantograph is designed differently than it was in the 40s as well and never disconnects from the overhead wire. Look at how much cars have developed in the last 60 years, the same technology, research, and redesign has gone into mass transit.

Furthermore, fewer than 20 downtown parking spaces will be lost to the proposed streetcar plan. The city currently sports 92 acres of parking structures, loosing 20 spaces while allowing more people to travel without a car is hardly a sacrifice (http://www.pro-transit.com/In-General/2008/10/cincinnati-streetcar.asp).

Overall, the modern streetcar not only improves upon the historic design but provides many new safety and accessibility features to accommodate wheelchairs and strollers easily.