Interesting idea. Might be a tough sell to the rural counties, though, since they'd be paying a tax that largely benefits the cities. (I realize the cities are the economic engines of the state and that improved public transit in the cities will benefit all of Ohio, but that's a tough sell to make to a skeptical public.)

Wait a minute we support the rural area's already.

You know that and I know that, but the rural folks may not, and either way, it's rare to find voters willing to support higher taxes that don't directly benefit them.

 

I do like the idea of trying to get this on the ballot for 2012. Being a presidential election year I imagine that voter turnout will be higher giving this a better chance. It seems to me that in most off year elections the majority of voters are angry old folks that don't want to pass anything.

Would that mean that Cuyahoga county would be paying 1.25%?

I would support this only if the monies would be steered towards fixing obvious problems. Otherwise I would just not go hand them money and say.. "here...do what you will"

IT can only be done with 5 counties not 88. We need to have counties as big as the ones in Arizona or California.

Agreed... great idea, tough sell.

Good idea, but not a plan that is workable in all of the counties unless they will be benefiting from it in some way. You can't sell this to Adams County and expect it to carry over.

Interesting idea. Might be a tough sell to the rural counties, though, since they'd be paying a tax that largely benefits the cities. (I realize the cities are the economic engines of the state and that improved public transit in the cities will benefit all of Ohio, but that's a tough sell to make to a skeptical public.)

 

But it would actually benefit many rural and small city transit systems, most of which are "on-demand" systems.  So, this concept shouldn't really be a hard sell.

Brachman said Ohio spends $1.42 million, while Michigan spends $19.91 million, Illinois spends $38.12 million and Pennsylvania spends $66.14 million on transit.

 

What the what? How is this possible?

 

It looks like it would be 25% of any system's needs, not a direct dollar amount, which means there would be no disproportionate burden on rural counties.

 

 

Rural counties need to keep in mind that they have paratransit... also that most rural counties get significantly more money back than they put in. A dedicated source for rural paratransit would not be bad, would it?

my understanding is that the preliminary polling numbers showed weak support in rural counties, but strong support in the urban counties. 

 

i think they are modeling the effort after the most recent casino vote, where the issue failed in many rural counties, but gained enough votes in the urban areas and counties (except columbus) where casinos were to be located, that it passed statewide.

I was in New Castle, PA on Saturday and was amazed to see all the buses operating in a city of 35,000 people and a county of 100,000. New Castle Area Transit Authority has half-hourly service on most routes Monday-Saturday, plus eight daily round trips to downtown Pittsburgh (50 miles away) on weekedays and several daily trips on Saturdays.

 

Lorain County (300,000 residents just 25 miles from downtown Cleveland) was a hiccup away from joining Trumbull County (250,000 residents, 50 miles from downtown Cleveland and 15 miles from Youngstown) in losing all transit service.

 

The difference? Pennsylvania provides $250 million for public transportation. Ohio provides $10 million. And Pennsylvania was hoping to provide double that amount until its latest state funding crisis.

Do you know of the ridership counts for the New Castle line?

No. The buses looked about half full. And they have 11 weekday round trips, 4 on Saturdays.

 

There's a counter concern to cost-effectiveness... Do you know of the people kept from jobs, healthcare, social activities, voting, etc. in places like Warren and Lorain/Elyria?

I do think this needs to happen, whatever it takes to get it done.  Ohio is filled with little cities where a lot of people can barely afford a car anymore.  But I think its best chance is to get the biggest counties fully behind it.  That may not be as easy as it was for casinos.  Maybe it should be promo'd with major infrasturcture plans, i.e. new rail lines, rather than just buying a crapload of buses, even though we need the buses too.

Has a statewide transit tax initiative been implemented anywhere else in the US? I know Los Angeles County passed a half cent sales tax increase called Measure R to fund the expansion of it's transit system, but I can't think of a statewide effort off the top of my head.  Then again, Los Angeles County has about the population of the whole state of Ohio, so I guess in that sense it's not so different.

Sadly peopele won't change until it costs them $100 a week to goto work.

Or their purchasing/earning power continues to fall.

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT:

Ohio Department of Transportation

Office of Transit

Monday, October 18, 2010

 

21st Century Transit Partnerships for Ohio’s Next Generation

 

OVERVIEW:

Through significant project savings and additional federal resources, ODOT has identified up to $50-million in the current fiscal year - and is pledging $50 million in each year of the next biennial budget - to invest in a sustainable transit partnership for Ohio’s next generation, with targeted funding to preserve existing transit services (operational support), provide ‘clean and green’ new vehicles, and add innovative new services - all to better connect Ohio’s younger generation to new job centers and new opportunities.

 

INVESTMENT:

Understanding the need of Ohio’s transit agencies for budget predictability and dependability, ODOT will invest up to $50 million in State Fiscal Year 2011 and allocate the same amounts in 2012 and 2013, under the next State Transportation Budget. The funds will be invested on a competitive and formula basis in the areas of Capitalized Operations ($25 million), Clean and Green Buses ($15 million), and Innovative New Service Starts ($10 million).

 

BACKGROUND:

The demand for transit choice continues to rise, especially among Ohio’s Next Generation - the surge of young Americans born since 1982 who currently live, study or work in the Buckeye State. In Ohio’s cities, 60% of bus trips are work-related - providing young people with access to education, first-time jobs, sporting events, or just a home cooked meal; in our rural areas, more than half of the riders are senior citizens or people with disabilities – public transit provides the only access to health care, education and opportunity.

 

As a result of the recession, many of Ohio’s transit agencies were forced to cut needed transit services.

 

This critical investment will allow the state to help preserve existing services, as determined by the local transit operator, and add critically-needed services, as well as provide job security for transit workers. An

investment in new vehicles will improve transit agencies’ fuel efficiencies, reduce maintenance costs, and decrease harmful emissions into the environment. Overall, these investments will better connect more

Ohioans - in particular young people who increasingly demand transit options - to education centers and job opportunities.

 

Next Generation Transit Partnership Programs for State Fiscal Year 2011

Operational Support for Ohio’s Transit System $25 million (Formula-based Funding)

 

Funds can be used to preserve existing transit services, as determined by the local transit operator, that

would otherwise have been cut as a result of reduced local funding or to add new critically-needed transit

services. To fund this investment, ODOT will redirect flexible federal Surface Transportation Program

(STP) funds, partnering with the Federal Transit Administration for the specific purpose of fundingcapitalized operating expenses. For the state’s nine largest transit systems, ODOT will use the current

FTA distribution formula - based on specific performance measures - to allocate the majority of the funds.

ODOT will reserve some of the funding for the state’s rural transit agencies, which can apply to ODOT’s

Office of Transit for this assistance individually.

Operational Support for Ohio’s Transit System

 

GRAND TOTAL $25,000,000

These capitalized operating assistance funds build upon ODOT’s commitment to supporting Ohio’s transit

agencies. In 2008, ODOT and the state’s metropolitan planning organizations redirected approximately

$25 million to help local transit agencies with operating support when record fuel costs led to service

reductions.

Clean and Green Transit Vehicles $15 million (Competitively-Awarded Funding)

Funds will be distributed based upon similar criteria used for ODOT’s current Clean and Green Transit

Program with the primary criteria involving the replacement of vehicles beyond useful life. These funds

are in addition to the $15 million previously awarded by ODOT under the current 2010-2011 State

Transportation Budget (which allowed ODOT to provide funding for forty-one environmentally-friendly,

clean-fuel buses for eleven local and regional transit authorities across the state).

Innovative New Service Starts $10 million (Competitively-Awarded Funding)

Funds will be distributed on a competitively-awarded basis. ODOT’s Office of Transit is currently

developing the application criteria, including prioritization for new services connected to job centers in

both rural and urban areas and new services aimed at younger populations, workforce retention, or other

targeted ridership. This effort to invest in Innovative New Service Starts will complement the work of

Ohio’s Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) - the nine-member independent committee that

assists ODOT in selecting its largest investments - which adopted new criteria for prioritizing transit

projects more than $5 million in cost that add new service capacity.

ODOT responds in a big way to population

changes and a growing demand for public transit

All Aboard Ohio urges $250 million per year for transit

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — October 18, 2010

 

Contact:

Ken Prendergast

All Aboard Ohio Executive Director

(216) 288-4883

[email protected]

 

Today, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced it will quintuple the state’s support for public transportation. All Aboard Ohio urges ODOT to quintuple it again in the coming years to address minimum transportation needs.

 

ODOT’s significant new public transit initiative will help keep more than 1 million of the most-vulnerable Ohioans mobile and involved in the state’s economy. All Aboard Ohio, a nonprofit association that advocates for improved passenger rail and public transportation, welcomed the new effort as an important step toward addressing a decades-long under-funding of transit statewide.

 

ODOT’s new program is the “21st Century Transit Partnerships for Ohio’s Next Generation.” Through significant project savings and additional federal resources, ODOT has identified up to $50 million in the current fiscal year – and is pledging $50 million in each year of the next biennial budget – to invest in a sustainable transit partnership for Ohio’s next generation, with targeted funding to preserve existing transit services ($25 million), provide ‘clean and green’ new vehicles ($15 million), and add innovative new service starts ($10 million). Download the ODOT program description here: http://freepdfhosting.com/e82dcda099.pdf.

 

“This is a major step forward for Ohio which has invested less per year in public transit ($10 million) than it has for cutting grass along its interstates ($12 million),” said All Aboard Ohio President Bill Hutchison. “Ohio has ranked 45th in the nation in transit funding in recent years but is the nation’s ninth-most densely populated state. This new level of investment in transit is a welcomed step forward and more is needed.”

 

The need for additional funding is great. Too much of Ohio is inaccessible for the 8½ percent of Ohio households without cars (US Census 2000). Many more Ohio households have multiple wage earners where one car must be shared. And there are elderly who have cars but can seldom use them, especially for driving longer, tiring distances. If Ohio allocated just 8½ percent of its $2.5 billion transportation budget for public transportation, it would be investing nearly $250 million.

 

America’s two largest demographic groups are driving less and seeking more transportation alternatives:

 

Generation Y, aged 21-30 years, is the largest generation in American history – 80 million strong. According to Kiplinger.com Generation Y motorists make up only 14 percent of the miles driven in the U.S., down from 21 percent by the prior generation in 1995. Younger Americans are more apt to consider driving to be a waste of time and expensive, competing for time and money with computers and smart phone applications.

 

Baby Boomers, the second-largest generation in U.S. history, start turning 65 years old in 2011. Retirement is followed by decreasing physical ability to drive as frequently or over longer distances. They need more mobility to reach health care, activities and amenities so they stay independent and involved in their communities. Many of Ohio’s elderly are shut-in and isolated from family or friends without public transit.

 

“Cities as large as Lorain and Warren have little or no public transit within them or to larger cities nearby like Cleveland and Youngstown,” Hutchison said. “If we want to keep our young people in Ohio and our older citizens engaged in the state’s economy, we cannot ignore our public transit systems anymore. ODOT’s new transit programs are a big step forward in addressing that growing need.”

 

END

Leftover state funds help transit agencies

Friday, October 22, 2010  02:51 AM

By Doug Caruso

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

The Ohio Department of Transportation is committing more money to public transit agencies than it has in a decade, promising $150 million over three years.

 

The Central Ohio Transit Authority is set to receive $3.6 million per year to operate its bus system and will compete with other agencies across the state for millions more designated for new routes and low-pollution, energy-efficient vehicles.

 

"This is a very significant commitment on the part of the governor and the director of ODOT to support public transit in Ohio," said Bill Lhota, COTA's president and chief executive.

 

Full story at: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/22/copy/leftover-funds-help-transit-agencies.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

ODOT responds in a big way to population

changes and a growing demand for public transit

All Aboard Ohio urges $250 million per year for transit

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 18, 2010

 

Contact:

Ken Prendergast

All Aboard Ohio Executive Director

(216) 288-4883

[email protected]

 

Today, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced it will quintuple the states support for public transportation. All Aboard Ohio urges ODOT to quintuple it again in the coming years to address minimum transportation needs.

 

Great news!  And nice work on any influence you/All Aboard Ohio had in getting this boost towards public transit...

11/17/2010    Report

 

Expiration of federal tax provision could impact transit ridership in 2011, report says

 

Public transit systems could experience a ridership drop in 2011 if Congress does not extend a pre-tax provision that reduces workers’ monthly commuting costs, according to a recent report issued by TransitCenter Inc., a non-profit provider of commuter benefit programs.

 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included a provision that increased the maximum pretax deduction that employees can apply toward monthly commuting expenses from $120 per month to $230 per month.

 

The provision is set to expire at the end of 2010, returning the maximum deduction to $120 per month.

 

Full story at: http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=25080

 

ODOT invests $15 million in Next Generation Clean and Green buses

More than three dozen new vehicles part of three-year $150 million transit partnership pledge

 

COLUMBUS (Friday, December 3, 2010) - Call it an early Christmas present: as part of the Ohio Department of Transportation’s three-year $150 million pledge to assist Ohio’s transit agencies, ODOT is directing $15 million to the purchase this year of more than three dozen “Clean and Green” buses and transit vehicles across the state.

 

“The demand for greener transportation choices continues to rise, especially among Ohio’s next generation,” said ODOT Director Jolene M. Molitoris. “In Ohio’s cities, nearly two-thirds of all bus trips are work-related, providing young people with access to education, first-time jobs, homes and a quality way of life.”

 

In all, ODOT will help transit agencies purchase 38 new vehicles, including electric-diesel hybrid buses, cleaner ultra-low sulfur diesel vehicles, and buses that run on biodiesel or compressed natural gas.

 

In October, ODOT identified additional federal transportation dollars made available through significant project savings and supplementary federal resources. With those flexible federal funds, ODOT targeted $50 million to make immediate investments in transit, and pledged similar funding in each of the next two fiscal years.

 

Under this 21st Century Transit Partnerships for Ohio’s Next Generation, the new funding is helping to preserve existing transit services by providing $25 million in operational support, $15 million in clean and green new vehicles, and $10 million for innovative new services - all to better connect Ohioans to job centers and new opportunities.

 

For the current fiscal year, ODOT’s Office of Transit has already allocated the $25 million in operational assistance and is currently accepting applications to fund $10 million in innovative new services.

 

As part of budget information submitted this week to the Ohio Legislature, ODOT identified similar levels of funding - $50 million in each state fiscal year 2012 and 2013 - to continue this important investment in Ohio’s transit system.

 

“Under Governor Strickland, ODOT has identified new ways to invest in transportation choice,” added Director Molitoris. “This critical investment will not only allow the state to help preserve services - so buses can continue to arrive on time and help people get to work and school - our investment in new vehicles will improve fuel efficiencies and reduce maintenance costs, so our transit agencies don’t have to spend so much on gas and repair costs.”

 

Clean and Green Vehicles for Ohio’s Transit System

SFY 2011 Allocation

Transit System     Allocation   Vehicles

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (Cincinnati) $3,868,800 6

Metro Akron Regional Transit Authority $3,066,000 7

Central Ohio Transit Authority (Columbus) $2,460,200 7

Portage Area Regional Transportation Authority $2,800,000 7

Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority $1,200,000 2

Stark Area Regional Transit Authority $710,000 2

Western Reserve Regional Transit Authority (Youngstown) $600,000 3

Richland County Transit $225,000 3

Washington County/Community Action Bus Lines $70,000 1

GRAND TOTAL $15,000,000 38

 

###

 

For more information contact: Scott Varner, ODOT Central Office Communications, at 614-644-8640.

Kasich has already announced he is giving the buses to other states.

 

(Just kidding!)

ODOT cuts funding for transit agencies

Tuesday, February 8, 2011  11:12 PM

By Robert Vitale

 

Kasich administration officials are rescinding a three-year, $150 million funding pledge to Ohio's public-transit agencies that former Gov. Ted Strickland made in the waning days of last fall's campaign.

 

Instead, the state plans to share $80 million in federal transportation funding with 59 local transit authorities through 2013, Jerry Wray, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation, said today.

 

Although the cut takes away grants awarded in January to the Central Ohio Transit Authority and nine other transit agencies for new routes, it mostly involves money promised but not yet delivered.

 

Full story at: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/08/odot-cuts-funding-for-transit-agencies.html?sid=101

^ While I don't appreciate the war on public transit currently being instituted, the one silver lining here is that they're using the savings to pay down debt, rather than re-directing it to road infrastructure projects. ::shrug::

And it at least involves "cuts" only to planned future increases, not to established routes.

 

Of course, I don't give Kasich too much credit for that because the money came from the feds; had it been state funding, he might have cut it all.  Of course, he's been known to turn down federal grant money for rail projects, so maybe I should give him some sardonic credit in this instance.

http://allaboardohio.org/2011/02/09/odot%E2%80%99s-budget-request-risks-more-%E2%80%9Ceconomic-blood-letting%E2%80%9D-for-ohio/

 

ODOT’s budget request risks more ‘economic blood-letting’ for Ohio

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — February 9, 2011

 

Contact:

Ken Prendergast

All Aboard Ohio Executive Director

(216) 288-4883

[email protected]

 

CLEVELAND – All Aboard Ohio is urging the Ohio Department of Transportation to increase its public transportation budget for operating and capital assistance to $250 million per year to help ensure half of Ohio’s population will have access to jobs, health care, education and shopping. Instead, it appears ODOT wants to reduce its already token-level transit budget to far meager levels that will further isolate Ohioans from jobs, worsen the state’s “Brain Drain” and sentence the poor, disabled and elderly to house arrest.

 

The current administration wants ODOT to step backwards to serve the Ohio of 1950s and 60s when driving was increasing and fossil fuel was cheap. In late-2010, ODOT’s Transportation Review Advisory Committee recommended spending $646.2 million for Tier I new-capacity highway projects over 2012-13. All Aboard Ohio urges a fiscally responsible moratorium on highway expansions and pulling back the public’s tax dollars to help communities expand public transit and maintain existing roads and bridges rather than build more roads which ODOT cannot afford to sustain, and return the Ohio Highway Patrol budget from the deficit-ridden general fund back to the gas tax.

 

In the past year, ODOT used $10 million in non-gas tax state funding to leverage $40 million in federal funds for transit. However, All Aboard Ohio points to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics which estimates 4% of gas taxes come from non-highway users (agriculture, marine, state, county, and municipal activities, industrial and commercial use and construction vehicles, etc). In Ohio, where taxes collected from motorists must, by law, be spent on highways, that could mean that more than $40 million of state gas tax revenues may be flexible for use in non-highway transportation. Combined, the $50 million would be enough to leverage another $200 million in federal funds for Ohio’s transit needs.

 

That fiscally responsible investment strategy would acknowledge 21st-century transportation priorities and realities:

 

+ That would raise Ohio, the 7th-most populous state, to 12th in the nation in per-capita investment in transit (SOURCE: American Public Transit Association).

 

+ Ohio ranks 12th in the nation in transit use (SOURCE: ODOT).

 

+ Hundreds of Ohioans jammed ODOT statewide public hearings in 2008, with requests for increased transit investment being a dominant theme (SOURCE: ODOT).

 

+ More transit investment will respond to citizens’ basic needs as 8.5% of Ohio households have no car (SOURCE: Census).

 

+ To meet that need, 8.5 percent of ODOT’s biennial budget should go to transit, or $210 million per year (SOURCE: ODOT).

 

+ A more robust figure of $250 million per year for transit operating and capital assistance would acknowledge that nearly 3 million Ohioans must share cars (living in 1.2 million one-car households), and 2 million Ohioans are 65 years or older (SOURCE: Census).

 

 

Yet this does not account for dramatic changes in the transportation market that ODOT will ignore with its FY2012-13 budget request:

 

++ Generation Y (ages 21-30, the largest demographic group in American history) represents just 14% of miles driven vs. 21% for the prior, smaller generation in 1995 (SOURCE: Kiplinger Business Research).

 

++ The second-largest group, the Baby Boomers, starts turning 65 years old in 2011 and will become less physically able to drive as often or as far. They will represent 20% of Ohio’s population in 2020 (SOURCE: Census).

 

++ America imports two thirds of its oil, and an equal amount is used for transportation. U.S. motorists’ fuel consumption alone accounts for 11% of global oil production (SOURCE: USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics).

 

++ Global oil use outpaces new oil discoveries, with the world using about 12 billion more barrels per year than it finds (SOURCE: International Energy Agency).

 

“When I travel to small- and medium-sized towns throughout Ohio that I’ve visited in decades past, I notice something very disturbing,” said All Aboard Ohio President Bill Hutchison. “I see a lot of old people and I see a lot of poor people. I see fewer young people and middle-class families which are the lifeblood of communities. Although Ohio’s metropolitan areas have experienced net losses of young adults, the effect of Ohio’s ‘Brain Drain’ is more clearly visible in the rest of Ohio. It is also an economic blood drain. Our state’s highway-dominated transportation policies are a major factor in this by not offering the kinds of travel choices young people want. They have no choice but to move and leave a weaker Ohio behind.”

 

Hutchison noted that young adults are attracted as much to a community’s quality of life as they are to jobs. Many will work lesser jobs if their location can offer a quality of life they want, according to “Creative Class” researcher Richard Florida. That includes having choices in how to travel other than just by car. Many young people view driving as a waste of time, preventing them from using smart phones or reading.

 

The increasing isolation of Ohio is clearly evident in these two intercity public transportation maps:

 

1979 OHIO PUBLIC TRANSPORT MAP:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb90/Peepersk/Transit/ohiopublictransitmap1979s.jpg

 

2009 OHIO PUBLIC TRANSPORT MAP:

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb90/Peepersk/Transit/ohiopublictransitmap2009s.jpg

 

“Ohio must respond to the needs of its people who need to get to work, the doctor, to school and to shopping,” Hutchison said. “Instead, this ODOT budget responds to the needs of powerful oil and highway industry lobbyists, including ODOT’s own director who was president of Flexible Pavements, the asphalt industry lobbying group. To ignore changes in Ohio’s population demographics and the worsening global energy crisis risks even more economic blood-letting for Ohio.”

 

END

Those maps are crazy, looks like mostly the loss is Greyhound

RTA loses funding for Wright Patt bus service

By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer

Updated 10:44 PM Wednesday, February 9, 2011

 

DAYTON — The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority’s plan to expand bus service to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and other high-employment areas lost its funding Tuesday.

 

Former Gov. Ted Strickland pledged $150 million over three years to public-transit authorities across the state, including $560,000 for the Greater Dayton RTA to create bus service. On Monday, Jerry Wray, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation, announced that all but $40 million already allocated and committed would be rescinded.

 

“I know this is not easy. Given the current budget environment, we do not have the funds necessary to fully support all transportation projects,” Wray said.
Frank Ecklar, director of planning and marketing for the Greater Dayton RTA, said he learned Tuesday that all of the award had been pulled.

 

Read more at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/rta-loses-funding-for-wright-patt-bus-service-1077529.html

RTA loses funding for Wright Patt bus service

By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer

Updated 10:44 PM Wednesday, February 9, 2011

 

DAYTON — The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority’s plan to expand bus service to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and other high-employment areas lost its funding Tuesday.

 

Former Gov. Ted Strickland pledged $150 million over three years to public-transit authorities across the state, including $560,000 for the Greater Dayton RTA to create bus service. On Monday, Jerry Wray, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation, announced that all but $40 million already allocated and committed would be rescinded.

 

“I know this is not easy. Given the current budget environment, we do not have the funds necessary to fully support all transportation projects,” Wray said.
Frank Ecklar, director of planning and marketing for the Greater Dayton RTA, said he learned Tuesday that all of the award had been pulled.

 

Read more at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/rta-loses-funding-for-wright-patt-bus-service-1077529.html

 

Well, that didn't take long. Nice going, Guv.

Those maps are crazy, looks like mostly the loss is Greyhound

 

Yes, most of it is Greyhound. But there were also a number of small, independent bus operators that faded away after deregulation in the late 70s and early 80s. One would think there would be more small operators picking up after Greyhound was allowed by federal regulators to discontinue routes, but it didn't work out that way. A big reason was worsening urban sprawl made possible by the expanding free highway network where supply, not price, was used to regulate demand.

Ohio collective bargaining overhaul could jeopardize federal transit money

Published: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 9:51 PM    Updated: Wednesday, February 23, 2011, 11:28 PM

By Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ohio could lose a significant portion of its $171 million in yearly federal transit money if state legislators adopt a proposal that would curtail collective bargaining powers for transit workers and other public employees.

 

Federal law forbids the Federal Transit Administration from dispensing money for transit operation, acquisition or improvements without Department of Labor certification that the collective bargaining rights and work conditions of affected transit employees have not been diminished.

 

Ohio House Democrats and union groups fear the Republican-backed proposal to overhaul Ohio's collective bargaining rules was written without taking the federal law into consideration.

 

Full story at: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/02/ohio_collective_barganing_over.html

Four-year plan for city transit includes big plans, uncertain funding

 

6:09 AM, Mar. 18, 2011

Written by

RICK ROUAN

 

LANCASTER -- The Lancaster Public Transit system hopes to add mobile data terminals, bike racks and television monitors to its vehicles and grow its fleet in the next four years if funding can be secured, according to its four-year plan.

 

"I think anyone who has any type of government funding right now is concerned," said Carrie Woody, the city's transit superintendent. "This is just a plan. It's nothing set in stone."

 

All of Ohio's transit agencies must submit a four-year plan outlining anticipated operating costs, revenue sources and capital projects to the Ohio Department of Transportation. In Lancaster's four-year plan, it keeps steady the amount collected through ride fares and relies heavily on uncertain state and federal grant funding.

 

Earlier this year, ODOT rescinded a $1.2 million federal grant that had been awarded to the Lancaster Public Transit System for countywide expansion. Ohio Gov. John Kasich released a draft budget this week that cuts funding to the state Transit Office from almost $24 million in 2010 and 2011 to about $14.6 million in 2012 and 2013.

Read more at: http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/article/20110318/NEWS01/103180303/-1/

As Kasich's ideological brother in Wisconsin (Scott Walker) proved in attempting to kill off collective bargaining by state workers (which as of yesterday was stayed by regional judge as potentially, illegally violating that State's Open Meetings laws), Kasich isn't cutting transit funds to save money; he's doing because of the GOP's nationwide social agenda against transit (or any other program designed to level the playing field for poor or middle class people).  To him, "his people" wealthy whites in places like Medina, have little use for public transit... Why should they need it if Kasich's de-urbanization, sprawl agenda can place jobs and retail away from cities and out near the Medina's and Burton's of the state, where the locals can drive and not have to deal with those pesky minorities and/or liberals anyway?  As as been noted before, Kasich's history of killing 3-C and being generally an Amtrak opponent in the past, makes this latest move higly predictable.

RTA loses funding for Wright Patt bus service

 

Funding additional service to Wright-Patterson AFB would be a colossal waste of money.  This is actually a good thing, that the money isn't going to this.

 

 

Yes, most of it is Greyhound. But there were also a number of small, independent bus operators that faded away after deregulation in the late 70s and early 80s.

 

You could post a similar map of Kentucky.  A lot of the branch lines from Greyhound that I remember from the 1970s, out into Eastern KY and Southern Indiana, are gone now. 

 

For Dayton its even more interesting to look at bus service in the 1940s and early 1950s, where Greene County had scheduled local bus service provided by local operators...through Beavercreek to Xenia and to what is now Fairborn.

 

Going even further back, into the 1920s and 1930s, there was rural bus service out to Lebanon and north to Greenville, I think. 

 

Regional mass transit has just withered away over the years as we became more motorized and roads improved. 

RTA loses funding for Wright Patt bus service

 

Funding additional service to Wright-Patterson AFB would be a colossal waste of money.  This is actually a good thing, that the money isn't going to this.

 

 

 

Highway expansion is a bad thing.  Public transit by the county's largest employer is a good thing.

As Kasich's ideological brother in Wisconsin (Scott Walker) proved in attempting to kill off collective bargaining by state workers (which as of yesterday was stayed by regional judge as potentially, illegally violating that State's Open Meetings laws), Kasich isn't cutting transit funds to save money; he's doing because of the GOP's nationwide social agenda against transit (or any other program designed to level the playing field for poor or middle class people).  To him, "his people" wealthy whites in places like Medina, have little use for public transit... Why should they need it if Kasich's de-urbanization, sprawl agenda can place jobs and retail away from cities and out near the Medina's and Burton's of the state, where the locals can drive and not have to deal with those pesky minorities and/or liberals anyway?  As as been noted before, Kasich's history of killing 3-C and being generally an Amtrak opponent in the past, makes this latest move higly predictable.

 

This is a heated issue, but this type of generalizations don't help anything.  I do agree that Kasich's policy tends to hinder income distribution, but you cannot say that that is his agenda.  But things like limiting transportation options to low-income travelers do create added barriers to the most economically stressed demographics.  I think he doesn't know better.  His only interest seems to be cutting costs in the state.  Why he continues highway expansion investment despite his so called budgetary priorities  is beyond me.

For all the imbedded links, see: http://allaboardohio.org/2011/08/03/ohio-public-transit-services-in-serious-jeopardy/

 

Ohio public transit is in serious jeopardy

 

If Congress fails to extend the current federal surface transportation spending authorization by Sept. 30, 2011, numerous public transportation services will cease. If the recent ideological fight in Congress over the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, which will terminate 4,000 FAA workers and 80,000 construction jobs, is any indication, a similar and much more serious debacle is coming to surface transportation this fall.

 

Without public transportation, thousands of Ohioans will lose their only way to reach their jobs, which is the same as a layoff. Indeed, the Ohio Department of Transportation says more Ohioans (500,000) use public transportation each day than fly in and out of Ohio’s airports (fewer than 130,000). According to the Ohio Public Transit Association, six out of 10 public transit riders use transit to get to work. Others use transit to visit the doctor, go to school, get groceries and make other trips.

 

Federal surface transportation taxes due to expire Sept. 30 include the following:

 

+ 14.1 cents of the total 18.4-cent per gallon of the gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and alternative fuels taxes.

+ Reduced rate of tax on partially exempt methanol or ethanol fuel.

+ Tax on retail sale of heavy highway vehicles.

+ Tax on heavy truck tires.

+ Annual use tax on heavy highway vehicles.

 

(As a reminder, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration presents the following summary of federal highway user taxes.)

 

Although renewing the Highway Trust Fund excise taxes has typically been a routine affair, observers at Politico, DC.StreetsBlog, and the Council of State Governments question whether this case will be different.  Given the continuing debate over the federal debt ceiling and surface transportation reauthorization bill, compromise may be harder to reach in time, as evidenced by the current Federal Aviation Administration partial shutdown.

 

Some in Congress see this as an opportunity to sharply reduce or eliminate a federal role in funding transportation programs. While this may seem tempting considering that gas tax-donor states like Ohio send more money to Washington than they get back in funding, turning over transportation funding control to states could devastate public transportation that hundreds of thousands of Ohio families depend on for their livelihoods.

 

The reason is Ohio’s Constitution (Article XII, Sec. 5a) which prohibits the spending of state-levied taxes on road users for anything other than building and maintaining roads. There is no such restriction on federal transportation funds. So some federal gas taxes are used to fund public transit capital and operating costs. If some or all federal funding of transportation stops and/or is turned over to the states, the quality and quantity of public transportation in Ohio will be seriously affected.

 

Gone will be the federal funding share (up to 80 percent of project costs) for new bus purchases, rail improvement projects in Cleveland, new ore rebuilt bus garages, new bus rapid transit projects, and more. Big-city transit providers may have to cannibalize some transit operations to fund capital costs to keep other services functioning safely. Gone will be operating assistance to small-city and rural transit agencies, most of which will likely cease some or all operations.

 

How many Ohioans are affected?

 

The Census shows 8.5 percent of Ohio households have no car — that’s 1 million people! And there are 1.2 million one-car households where 3 million Ohioans live and are forced to share cars to reach work, health care, shopping, school or to vote. Lastly, 2 million Ohioans are 65 years or older, many of whom may have cars but can no longer drive them safely, the Census shows. Rising gas prices, reduced interest by young people in driving everywhere and an aging populace means we need more funding for transit, not less!

 

You don’t have to accept this…

 

Contact your Congressperson

Contact your Senator

 

Please don’t forget to support All Aboard Ohio! Help us in reaching our $5,000 goal for the $250 NOW Campaign — we are only $1,000 away. Even if you don’t have $250 to help All Aboard Ohio, please donate whatever you can afford. Please visit our Pay Online feature. Or kindly send checks payable to “All Aboard Ohio” to 309 South 4th Street, Suite 304, Columbus,  OH 43215-5428.

 

Together we can win this fight for more and better transportation choices in Ohio!

These are the 20 most populous counties in Ohio. GREEN counties have a locally generated, dedicated funding source for transit (such as a county sales tax, etc). RED counties do NOT have a locally generated, dedicated funding source for transit making them less able to provide transportation choices for their community and mobility for those who cannot drive (for example, in Lorain County, more than 20,000 adults do not have cars):

 

    County   Total Population

 

1. Cuyahoga          1,314,241 

2. Franklin          1,095,662

3. Hamilton            822,596

4. Summit              545,931

5. Montgomery          542,237

6. Lucas                445,281

7. Stark                380,575

8. Butler              354,992

9. Lorain              301,993

10. Mahoning            251,026

11. Lake                232,892

12. Trumbull            217,362

13. Warren              201,871

14. Clermont            192,706

15. Medina              169,353

16. Delaware            156,697

17. Licking              156,287

18. Portage              155,012

19. Greene              152,298

20. Clark                141,872

 

SOURCE: http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Planning/Transit/Documents/Programs/Publication/StatusOfPublicTransitinOhio2011.pdf

Clevelanders would spend more on public transit to relieve traffic, rather than build roads, poll says

Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 3:00 PM

  By Tom Breckenridge, The Plain Dealer

 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cuyahoga County residents favor a boost in public transportation to relieve traffic congestion, rather than building new roads, a new poll shows.

 

And locals believe, like respondents nationwide, that governments should invest more in public buses and trains.

 

But raising gas taxes to do so? No way, residents told pollsters for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The NRDC, an environmental group based in Washington, D.C., released a national poll this morning on public transportation that includes sampling done in the Cleveland area.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/09/clevelanders_want_to_spend_mor.html

Interesting story from The Atlantic Cities:

 

Why Are States Passing Up Billions in Federal Transit Funds?

ERIC JAFFE10:27 AM ET

 

Money for mass transit is hard to come by, so you'd think when the federal government offers some, states and localities would jump at the chance. A few do, but most don't, according to a GAO report released earlier this month [PDF]. Of the $53 billion in "flexible" transportation funding issued from 2007 to 2011, only about $5 billion was used for urban public transit.

 

Federal funding for public transportation generally comes from the mass transit account of the rapidly depleting Highway Trust Fund. Since 1991, however, state and metropolitan planners have had the option of shifting some federal money intended for highways into transit projects. These "flexible" funds arrive through the Federal Highway Administration via two main sources: the Surface Transportation Program and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program.

 

The $53 billion in flexible funding issued by the highway administration over the past five years represents about 29 percent of all federal highway aid, according to the new G.A.O. report. Just four states accounted for more than half of the $5.7 billion transferred from highway to transit projects during this time. California flexed about $1.27 billion, New York $632 million, New Jersey $735 million, and Virginia $411 million.*

Read more at:  http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2012/11/why-are-states-passing-billions-federal-transit-funds/4004/#

Yeah... when I read the headline, it seemed to put the onus for getting those funds on the cities and transit agencies when it lies on the states to divvy up. Upon reading the article, that becomes a bit more clear, but still seems to blame agencies/cities.

Does anyone really know how much tax revenue a broader sales tax would generate? I think that's the big question for transit agencies.

 

Kasich declares war on Ohio transit?

 

The proposal also will impact county and transit authority sales tax rates. To ensure those taxes do not generate an additional 30-percent revenue increase as the tax base expands, Kasich is proposing to reduce those rates and guarantee a 10-percent growth rate. Locals would not be allowed to change their sales tax rates for three years.

 

The change means counties and transit authorities would get a $120 million increase over two years, instead of the $700 million if rates were left alone.

 

More Here:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/02/12/Income-tax-cut-sales-tax-expansion-debated.html

Does anyone really know how much tax revenue a broader sales tax would generate? I think that's the big question for transit agencies.

 

Kasich declares war on Ohio transit?

 

The proposal also will impact county and transit authority sales tax rates. To ensure those taxes do not generate an additional 30-percent revenue increase as the tax base expands, Kasich is proposing to reduce those rates and guarantee a 10-percent growth rate. Locals would not be allowed to change their sales tax rates for three years.

 

The change means counties and transit authorities would get a $120 million increase over two years, instead of the $700 million if rates were left alone.

 

More Here:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/02/12/Income-tax-cut-sales-tax-expansion-debated.html

 

This thread is so depressing. I don't know what to say about Ohio any more.

Contact your state lawmakers in Columbus by TOMORROW MORNING and tell them how you feel about this idea. See the contact info at the link below....

 

Show some love, Ohio, for complete streets

Marc Lefkowitz  |  02/13/13 @ 11:00am   |  Posted in Transportation choices

 

Do you think Ohio should do more to make streets safer and more attractive? Should bike lanes and new sidewalks have their own fund? How about including buses and trains?

 

State lawmaker Matt Lundy thinks it’s about time Ohio funded transportation choices. The Democrat from Elyria is trying to get the General Assembly to pass an amendment called Ohioans for Transportation Choice. It would create a fund for cities who want bike lanes and crosswalks. Or a new bus stop and better transit service.

 

Transportation Choice calls for a modest $75 million a year, starting in 2014, so that cities like Cleveland can fund good ideas like the W. 65th Street improvements (pictured). Or, bike lanes on Denison Avenue and Detroit Avenue, a Lakefront bike path or more Euclid Corridors. It begins to ensure that transit, biking and walking get accounted for in the state’s multi-billion transportation budget.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.gcbl.org/blog/2013/02/show-some-love-ohio-for-complete-streets

This Steubenville-area bus service is in doubt. State law blocks a local levy from saving transit lifeline for workers, elderly. So not only does the state provide less funding for transit than its for cutting grass along Interstate highways, it also denies local efforts from voting locally for new funding until the transit service is destroyed....

 

Village bus service in doubt

August 20, 2013

By LINDA HARRIS - Staff writer , The Herald-Star

       

WINTERSVILLE - Village resident Bob Sutton says life as he's known it the past three years is over now that Steel Valley Regional Transit Authority is pulling the plug on bus service, although officials hope the change is only temporary.

 

"Being able to get the bus has been a blessing to me, and I know to many other people," said Sutton, who is legally blind. "My dad died in '02, my mom died five years ago. I live by myself, so if I wanted to go to the mall, to the gym, to physical therapy - if I wanted to go to a diner for lunch or if wanted to get home, I took the bus. That's how I was able to get around. It's going to make me a shut-in, not having buses out here."

 

SVRTA plans to suspend services to Wintersville effective Aug. 31, when the grant that's underwritten the routes since 2010 expires. Village Council was unable to cover the cost of service in its budget and unwilling to allow residents to be taxed without letting them decide if buses are something they need and want. Mayor Bob Gale said they worked with SVRTA to get a levy on the November ballot but were told by the state it's not doable because of a little known, short-lived law banning renewals from going on the ballot more than 18 months before an existing transportation levy expires. He said that law, which apparently benefits some larger communities in Ohio, is only in effect for 2013.

 

READ MORE AT:

http://www.hsconnect.com/page/content.detail/id/589473/Village-bus-service-in-doubt.html?nav=5010

Please take a moment to participate in a study of transit systems across the state. This study is being conducted by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

 

We need your opinions about the transit service we provide and how it meets or does not meet your needs.

 

A brief survey can be found on the study website for the next TWO WEEKS ONLY at:

 

www.transitneedsstudy.ohio.gov

 

Just click the RIDER SURVEY BUTTON.

 

Please take a few moments to fill out this questionnaire.

 

If you have already completed this same survey, please do NOT take the survey again. Thank you.

Didn't ODOT just do a big multi-million dollar study on tranportation needs under Strickland that determined they need better funding? Why waste more money studying to find that they need more money that'll never get through the legislature? Just seems a waste of time to me. (Though I did complete the survey previously.)