http://cincystreetcar.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/anti-passenger-rail-amendment-and-the-operating-budget/ This is the link to the cincystreetcar blog if you'd like to read the article I just posted and others like it.

Posted from the Cincystreetcar Blog It has already been posted here and here that building and operating the Cincinnati Streetcar will not take any funds from Cincinnati’s Operating Budget (the budget used to pay for fire, police, and to fund the pension system). A coalition of Special Interest Groups has recently announced they have enough signatures to place an amendment on the ballot that would prevent investments in all passenger rail in the city of Cincinnati without a referendum. Holding a special election will cost the City around $475,000. The money for the special election will come directly from the Operating Budget. So while the Streetcar will not take any funds from Operating Budget, if the Anti-Passenger Rail Amendment passes, holding special elections will take funds from the Operating Budget—the budget used to pay for fire, police, fund the pension and keep pools and rec centers open.

No need to worry, this is Cincinnati, Most of us will be retried or dead before the first shovel turns dirt.

Seriously, the way I read the article, the NAACP is against the streetcar proposal. Why is that? Or am I reading it wrong?

I'm all for street cars, but with a few modifications. Instead of open air streetcars, we could enclose them and provide heating and cooling for passengers' comfort. Next, instead of dedicated rails, we could outfit them with wheels which would give them limitless route possibilities. Above the windshields, there would be signs telling prospective passengers where that streetcar is heading. Instead of expensive stations, there would be "stops" at, let's say, marked phone poles around the city. I think we could do it AND make it affordable.

The best ideas went to northern Kentucky because of the stupid people and even more stupid red tape. But the WORST ideas seem to gather steam and backers. What is wrong with this picture? Light rail is not much better of an idea. Who will be displaced for this idea? We could raise money on a lottery to guess the amount of cost overruns. And who can tell me where there is high speed rail in Europe? (Don't name trains, name HIGH SPEED rail.) And when gas is four or five dollars a gallon (the liberal and environmentalist dream), how much do you think it will cost to travel on that money loser??????

The Librarian This is crazy. We have been to other cities with street cars, and with the exception of San Francisco they are big money losers. In Little Rock, for example, there were only six people riding. The conductor told us only tourists ride the car.

Yeah because no body on the east side of town needs public transportation. That's okay though it keeps the riff raff out.

What would work is an elevated monorail between Cincinnati, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana, and north toward Dayton. It would cut down on traffic all around and bring commuters to the city. It will never happen, of course, but it's a thought.

Absolutely ridiculous. City council turns a blind eye to the real problems in Cincinnati while they want to waste their resources on unreasonable "pet projects"