Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Clang Clang Clang went the trolley...


Speaking of streetcars, soapboxmedia.com had an interesting article in their newsletter today about the economic impact of streetcars on an area. Below is the article and it's URL.

Downtown - Proposed streetcar plan is economically worthwhile, economist reports
Cincinnati is on the right economic track in considering a streetcar system, says University of Cincinnati economist George Vredeveld. Vredeveld and his Economics Center for Education and Research scrutinized a study of potential streetcar benefits done by consulting firm HDR. The likely average net economic payoff of $315.8 million, as estimated by HDR over a 35-year period, is sound, as is HDR’s most conservative net economic payoff estimate of $186.8 million over 35 years. Even if this most conservative payoff comes to pass, “the proposed streetcar system is economically worthwhile," says Vredeveld.

The current proposal for a Cincinnati streetcar system calls for a four-mile looped system that travels from Cincinnati's riverfront, near the stadiums and the Banks project, through downtown north into Over-the-Rhine, with stops at Music Hall and Findlay Market, and then on to UC. The UC report says the proposed route is a plus because systems that link major activity centers (employment, shopping and recreation) generally experience higher levels of ridership.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: M.B. Reilly, University of Cincinnati
http://www.soapboxmedia.com/innovationnews/street0902.aspx?referrerID=ba9ee8bf-12e1-47bb-ae54-d5c24dd8cf59

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1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thought you might like to see the story I produced on this study for my newscast last week: http://www.local12.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=81FAF837-0BB3-4BC6-B523-8408D2221524&gsa=true