Politics creep into Ohio rail debate

COLUMBUS -- Critics of Ohio's plan for a passenger train system have denounced it as a boondoggle and a money pit, and the project appears to be surrounded by political posturing as it heads to a vote this spring.

Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat who lobbied the White House hard to get $400 million in stimulus money for the project, has decried detractors as cheerleaders for failure. Republican state lawmakers have been particularly outspoken, raising legitimate questions but often ignoring credible answers.

Plans call for a 79-mph startup rail service that would run on freight tracks connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati, beginning in 2012. It would serve as a down payment on a future 110-mph service, with branches connecting to a Chicago-based Midwest corridor and cities on the East Coast.

If anything, Ohio is playing catch-up. Fifteen states already have contracts with Amtrak to operate the kind of startup, conventional-speed service that Ohio is after, and Amtrak ridership is rising nationwide.

Yet Strickland, who is facing re-election, created confusion last spring by putting a $250 million price tag on the initial Cleveland-to-Cincinnati leg -- well before Amtrak had completed an exhaustive study. Once Amtrak released its report in September, the state asked the White House for $564 million.

Now the state is making revisions to get the project within the $400 million awarded in January.

Strickland also said the project can create 8,000 jobs, but that can't be proved. The figure is based on a formula used by the U.S. Department of Commerce to estimate job growth tied to new rail investments.

But it is true that train projects have sparked economic development in other states. In Saco, Maine, a developer is spending $110 million to turn an old mill into condos and an office park next to a new Amtrak station.

Republicans demanded from the outset to know who would ride the trains and how much money the service would make. Then they trashed Amtrak when it provided answers.

State Sen. Jon Husted said estimates showing a 478,000 ridership were exaggerated. State Sen. Tom Patton suggested Amtrak was biased and said an outside company should have been in charge.

In fact, the ridership analysis was done by AECOM Technology Corp., an international engineering firm hired by Amtrak to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. AECOM, based in Los Angeles, is helping California develop its proposed high-speed train system.

The ridership estimate for Ohio is reasonable, given the 6 million people who live along the rail corridor and its concentration of colleges, said Joe Schwieterman, a professor at DePaul University who studies urban transportation.

Senate President Bill Harris, a Republican, said last week he remained concerned about how Ohio was going to come up with the estimated $17 million annual operating subsidy, even though the state Transportation Department has repeatedly outlined revenue streams, including advertising and federal grants that the agency already has within its budget.

Republicans say they want to make sure the state isn't on the hook for unexpected costs. Taxpayers can appreciate that sentiment, and the onus is on state rail planners to deliver a sound financial plan.

There's no outcry over Ohio's other expensive transportation projects, including a $1.6 billion reconstruction of Interstate 90 in Cleveland and a $1.6 billion reconfiguration of Interstates 70/71 in Columbus.

And few lawmakers want to talk about the struggle to keep up with highway costs. The state's 28-cent per gallon gas tax, which pays for building and maintaining roads, isn't indexed for inflation and hasn't been raised in five years.

Sometime in late March the train project is expected to go before the state Controlling Board for approval.

Democrats control the board 4-3, but they will need at least one Republican to vote yes because Senate Republicans placed an amendment in Ohio's transportation budget last year requiring a supermajority vote.

Two Republicans on the board, Sen. David Goodman and Sen. John Carey, said their votes will reflect the collective will of the Senate GOP Caucus.

That leaves Republican state Rep. Jay Hottinger, who describes himself as a rail skeptic but says he's willing to work with the governor.

"I don't desire for this to be a partisan issue because I don't believe it is one," Hottinger said.