Kentuckiana the time for rail is now text version of a brochure created bt the K.R.T.F in 1992 So WHAT'S ThE PROBLEM? One of our cherished freedoms is mobility. In the past, we in Kentuckiana have enjoyed that freedom through ever more cars, wider roads, more highways, more and bigger airports. But something's gone wrong. Our highways and airports are becoming increasingly congested. The cost of adding ever more lanes to our freeways is skyrocketing. And our total reliance on autos and airplanes is causing a steady decline in our environment, with severe economic as well as public health effects. What's the solution? It's simple, really. We need to restore some balance to our transportation system. And part of that balance is a return to the rails - not the clickety-clack of the past, but the whoosh of the future. MODERN RAIL MEANS MORE MOBILITY Elsewhere in the industrialized world, our competitors have been busily constructing gleaming new conventional, high-speed, and light rail systems to meet the challenges of the next millennium. We in the Greater Louisville/Southern Indiana area need to do likewise - BEFORE our transportation problems overwhelm us. The time for rail is now. THE KENTUCKIANA RAILROAD TASK FORCE, INC. The Kentuckiana Railroad Task Force, Inc. (KRTF), a group of citizens from Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana, is working to educate the public, influence our political leaders and support local efforts to initiate rail service in our area. Originally an ad hoc Louisville Board of Aldermen study group, KRTF has evolved into a permanent citizen's organization working to bring to our area modern, fast, affordable rail transportation: high-speed, conventional, and light rail. KENTUCKIANA RAIL 2OOO PLAN The Kentuckiana Rail 2000 Plan is our blueprint for rail service in our area. And while the details need to be worked out through further study, the plan's overriding message is clear: the time for rail is now. Our plan calls for several types of railway service. Some are already on the drawing board, but most are not. LIGHT RAIL The Transit Authority of River City (TARC), in its TARC 2020 plan, envisions a light rail (electric trolley car) system that would begin in downtown Louisville and extend in two directions: to Standiford Field via the University of Louisville, Churchill Downs, and the Fairgrounds in one direction and to Hurstbourne Green out Frankfort Avenue in the other. We support this plan but feel that it is only the skeleton of what could and should be a more comprehensive regional network. We therefore propose the following additional routes: Louisville Central Business District Circulator ( a downtown circle route defined by Broadway, River Road, Floyd Street, and Seventh Street);  Fourth Street to South- western Jefferson County, a line which would approximate the TARC downtown-airport line but extend to TARC's Dixie Highway transportation center, and, eventually, to Fort Knox.; Broadway (Shawnee Park) to Bardstown Road, terrninating at Bashford Manor with eventual extension to the TARC Transportation Center further out Bardstown Road; Downtown Louisville to Southern Indiana via the Conrail Bridge, with branches to Clarksville/New Albany and Jeffersonville. While this metro area regional light rail system is under construction, immediate rail services should be offered by diesel- powered passenger trains along selected, existing rail routes. REGIONAL PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE - ThE "GOLDEN TRIANGLE" We support efforts in the Kentucky State Legislature to study the feasibility of regional passenger rail service on the Louisville-Frankfort-Lexington- Covington/Cincinnati corridor. The new high-speed tilting trains would be especially effective on these routes. INTERCITY RAIL SERVICE: IT BEGINS WITH BUSSES We must connect the Kentuckiana region to the national rail passenger system. But that will take time and money. Right-of-way must be identified and purchased, track must be laid and/or upgraded and stations and other infrastructure must be built. In the meantime, KRTF advocates immediate connection to the national system through a network of Amtrak Thruway Busses - motor coaches which link off- line cifies directly with nearby Amtrak stations and are coordinated with the schedules of Amtrak trains. Such Thruway Busses would include: Louisville -Indianapolis, linking with Amtrak's daily Indianapolis-Chicago "Hoosier State." Louisville-Cincinnati, linking with Amtrak's Cincinnati-Washington-New York "Cardinal." Louisville-Centralia, IL, linking with Amtrak's daily Chicago-New Orleans "City of New Orleans." INTERCITY RAIL SERVICE: INTO THE FUTURE In the longer term, KRTF recommends conventional and/or high-speed intercity rail service on the following routes: Chicago - lndianapolis "Hoosier State" extension to Louisville. Proposed Cincinnati-Columbus- Cleveland service extension to Louisville, with further extension to Nashville and the Gulf Coast. A link with the proposed Amtrak Chicago- Florida long-distance train, should that service become a reality. SOUNDS GREAT! (NOW WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?) Good question. But it's not nearly so difficult as it sounds. We already have an important source of federal funds available to us: the "flexible highway funds" allocated under the landmark 1991 transportation act (ISTEA). These are funds collected from auto-related taxes which may be spent on non-highway transportation projects such as light rail. And it only makes sense: getting people off the highways and onto rail helps everyone, drivers and non-drivers alike. Unfortunately, on the state level, we have no such flexibility. Because of a 1945 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, auto-related taxes must go only for more highway and road-related spending. Therefore, KRTF supports a repeal of this amendment so that transportation-related revenue can be spent on any worthy transportation project, not just on more roads and highways. THE TIME FOR RAIL IS NOW Is all of this wishful thinking? We don't think so. The Untied States once had a fast, efficient network of streetcar, regional and intercity passenger rail services that were the envy of the world - and it was no different here in Kentuckiana. And while the rail Systems of today and the future bear little resemblance to those of the past, we are an innovative and resourceful people. We can have modem rail services here. The only barrier is our own lack of will. We of KRTF believe we can muster that will. But we can't do it alone. We need a groundswell of popular support from people like you. Fill out the coupon. Become a member of KRTF. And, if you can, donate a little extra to our cause. After all, the facts are in. The consequences of "more-of-the-same" transportation choices are only too clear: more congestion, more pollution, less economic growth. The time for indecision has passed. The time for rail is now! Join KRTF today! This Brochure was distributed by what is now KIRA at events through out Louisville and the state. Though dated the message is still very true. John Owen