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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > June > 23
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Editorial: Good to seek Strickland fight for rail service
With a heated re-election fight looming in the fall, Gov. Ted Strickland is sharpening his appeal to voters. His message to Dayton includes a strong endorsement for the proposed passenger train linking Dayton to Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland, the 3C project.
“No community will benefit more from that than Dayton, Ohio,” he said Tuesday.
In town for what amounted to a campaign stop to address a Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast, Gov. Strickland was adamant that rail service will be transformative over time and that Ohio will regret a huge missed opportunity if opponents of the idea prevail.
Those opponents include not only his Republican challenger, former Congressman John Kasich, but also influential and usually sensible Republican lawmakers who represent Dayton, most notably state Sen. Jon Husted. The issue now rests with the state Controlling Board, which is divided along party lines, with a super-majority needed for approval.
Gov. Strickland has it right. Aided by a windfall of $400 million in federal stimulus aid — money that is going to be spent somewhere else if not in Ohio — the state cannot pass up a once-in-a-generation chance to jump start rail service.
He is also right that Dayton has the most to gain from the project as the smallest major city to get a stop on the line. And, unlike Cincinnati and Cleveland, Dayton will be served by trains going in both directions.
Community leaders should be doing everything they can to educate the members of the Controlling Board on the benefits they see.
Gov. Strickland pointed to growth along a new rail line between Boston and Portland, Maine. Rail projects like that one have shown the creation of up to eight times as many jobs as more typical transportation projects like highways, he said.
He said he had spoken to Cleveland-based developers who already are interested in investing around a train station proposed for Riverside, close to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force Museum.
Opponents point to the operating subsidies that will be needed for the system, which will fall to the state. A study has estimated that cost at $17 million a year, about the same as, for example, the recent reconstruction of the Stewart Street Bridge. Opponents say it could be somewhat more. And they say few people will use the trains, which at first will not be very fast or frequent.
Gov. Strickland said focusing on the costs or opposing the project simply because it uses federal stimulus funds misses the big picture:
With six million people between Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio has the largest concentration of people without rail service at a time when rail lines are expanding. The state risks being cut off from what may be an essential transportation source in the future.
“We’ve got to begin somewhere,” Gov. Strickland said. “This is an essential first step.” He said his counterpart to the north, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, told him she was upset Ohio’s rail project was funded while Michigan’s was not. Gov. Granholm and other states would love to see Ohio botch its project if it means money might become available for them.
Nobody can say how well the 3C project will work in the short run. But the long-term movement to trains simply makes sense for Ohio and the nation. And the time is now, because of the federal money.
Other communities would be thrilled to be linked in. On this issue, the governor’s position is the right one for Dayton.
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