{image of Cincinnati’s transit center courtesy of urbanup.net}
Don’t care for the new St. Louis transit center serving Greyhound, Metro and Amtrak? Think it was expensive and doesn’t serve enough people? Have a look at Cincinnati’s $23M transit station. The Columbus Dispatch has an article detailing the station’s lack of use. Now, I tend to agree with the last quote in the story, that the center is an investment and now, or even five years from now, isn’t the time to judge the return.
But the reality is that mass transit projects have many skeptics and I feel are generally held to a higher standard by taxpayers and therefore public officials. A $5M cost overrun on a new highways costs no one their job, but try that on a light rail line and heads roll! Projects such as this one in Cincinnati do not ingratiate a conservative tax base and further support for mass transit. It may make the city’s attempt to convince voters that a new streetcar line is worth their tax money enough tougher.
