August 3, 201014 yr TARTA to seek levy renewal 1-mill, 10-year measure yields about $7M annually Article published July 30, 2010 By DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority board of trustees voted Thursday to place a 10-year renewal for one of the agency's two property levies on the Nov. 2 ballot and approved a drastically reduced service contract with the Toledo Public Schools. The 1-mill levy for which the authority will request renewal from transit district voters generates about $7 million in annual revenue and costs the owner of a $100,000 home $30.10 in annual taxes. Its assessment expires at the end of this year, meaning that if it were not renewed, levy collection would end next year. TARTA also collects a 1.5-mill levy that generates about $10 million annually and was most recently replaced three years ago. Following the trustees' unanimous vote, TARTA General Manager James Gee noted that agency officials had hoped to act yesterday to place a half-cent sales tax on the ballot throughout Lucas County to replace the property taxes and pay for an expanded service area, but that plan was thwarted when current transit authority members failed to vote unanimously to accept the county as a new member. Full article: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100730/NEWS16/7290347
November 16, 201014 yr http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101116/NEWS16/11150386 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published November 16, 2010 TARTA mulls end to bus loop Plan would cut 5 stations, build single Jackson St. site By DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER A single bus terminal on Jackson Street would replace the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority's five-station bus loop in downtown Toledo under a preliminary plan the agency's manager is to unveil this morning during the Downtown Toledo Improvement District Inc. annual meeting. The proposal involves converting what is now the westbound side of Jackson between Summit and Erie streets to two-way traffic and its boulevard median and eastbound lanes into a park, with the bus terminal occupying part of the block between Superior and Huron streets. Although TARTA buses would continue to stop elsewhere in downtown Toledo, the system under which every downtown route makes a complete trip around the loop would be eliminated, as would be the stations on Jefferson Avenue and Erie, Jackson, and Summit streets.
February 10, 201114 yr TARTA ridership falls 19%; losses tied to fewer TPS students, economy, route cuts Ridership on TARTA's door-to-door bus service for disabled people continued to soar during 2010, while the passenger count on regular bus routes plunged by 19 percent, mostly because of reduced school transportation, the agency announced Wednesday. The Toledo Area Regional Paratransit Service's 19 percent increase, from 183,997 passengers in 2009 to 219,257 last year, marked the 14th consecutive year its ridership has grown, said James Gee, the transit authority's general manager. TARPS provides rides on a reservation or subscription basis to travelers whose disabilities preclude their use of regular bus routes. Ridership on the regular routes fell to 3,298,806 last year, from 4,075,250 in 2009, and a more than one-third decline in student riders accounted for more than three-fifths of that drop. Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110210/NEWS16/102100337
May 7, 201114 yr Ohio House backs Perrysburg’s bid to quit TARTA BY JIM PROVANCE BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU CHIEF COLUMBUS — Perrysburg’s fight to extricate itself from the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority received the blessing of the Ohio House this week as part of a proposed state budget that generally isn’t kind to public transit. Rep. Randy Gardner (R., Bowling Green) has presented the issue as one of voters’ rights. Rep. Michael Ashford (D., Toledo) has countered that the provision put into the budget is an attempt to do an end-run around the process Perrysburg has not been able to work to its favor. “This is an attack on the working middle class and people who depend on public transit for employment, medical appointments, education, and other services,’’ Mr. Ashford said as he unsuccessfully tried to block the amendment Thursday night. Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2011/05/07/Ohio-House-backs-Perrysburg-s-bid-to-quit-TARTA-2.html
May 13, 201114 yr TARTA may face ethics probe Ohio auditor orders transfer of levy funds to repay loans BY DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER Ohio Auditor Dave Yost has directed TARTA general manager James Gee to promptly transfer funds remaining in a levy campaign committee's bank account to the transit authority to begin repaying illegal loans he authorized three and four years ago to that committee. In a letter dated Wednesday but received Thursday by Mr. Gee, Mr. Yost said he also has asked the Ohio Ethics Commission "to review the roles that you played in your fund-raising to consider any violation of Ohio's ethics laws" because of the transit chief's dual role as Citizens for TARTA's deputy treasurer when the loans were granted. Read more at: http://toledoblade.com/local/2011/05/13/TARTA-may-face-ethics-probe.html
July 11, 201113 yr July 07, 2011 State of Good Repair grant from FTA helps Toledo paratransit riders Why was Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff in Toledo this week awarding a $3.4 million grant to replace 43 paratransit buses? Because this Administration is absolutely committed to helping provide better transportation options for all Americans. The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) operates a fleet of 56 small buses to transport elderly and disabled passengers. Those buses have outlived their expected service life and need to be upgraded. TARTA will use the grant, awarded under the FTA's State of Good Repair program, to replace its outdated buses with safer, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The new vehicles can carry as many as 12 people and can accommodate up to four wheelchairs. Read more at: http://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/07/tarta-paratransit.html
July 14, 201113 yr TARTA to construct solar array at its offices $1M federal grant aims to boost energy efficiency BY DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority has received a $1 million grant to build a solar-panel array at its Central Avenue headquarters and replace the facility's lights with modern, energy-efficient equipment. "Toledo is increasingly recognized as the solar capital of the Midwest, so this award is particularly fitting," said U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), who announced the Federal Transit Administration grant. "It will not only help TARTA harness the power of the sun, but also lower its operating costs and reduce its carbon footprint." James Gee, the transit authority's general manager, said the grant was not unexpected, as the funds had been included in a transportation appropriations bill passed last year, but the transit administration's action makes the grant "active" and TARTA can proceed with the projects. Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/Energy/2011/07/14/TARTA-to-construct-solar-array-at-its-offices.html
September 14, 201113 yr Perrysburg hears from supporters of TARTA Written by PETER KUEBECK Sentinel Staff Writer Tuesday, 13 September 2011 08:25 PERRYSBURG - The possible consequences of the city leaving TARTA service was on the mind of attendees at last week's City Council meeting. The city is considering putting the matter before its citizenry at some point in the future in the wake of the TARTA Voter's Rights Amendment passed as part of the state's biennium budget earlier this year. Jessica Wineberg, Sylvania Township, expressed concern that if the city should leave the service and only focus on an inter-city transit route, it could prohibit her, a lawyer, from attending regional continuing education events held in the city, and also affect others who wish to travel to the city for other reasons. She said the city should not leave TARTA without having an alternate plan in place. Mayor Nelson Evans said that any discussion of exiting TARTA will include how to connect the city to the rest of the region. Read more at: http://www.sent-trib.com/front-page/perrysburg-hears-from-supporters-of-tarta
December 12, 201113 yr TARTA’s critics look to exit system over costs, benefits Perrysburg, Sylvania Township weigh other options BY DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER When Lisa Justice moved to Perrysburg five years ago, she commuted by car to her job as an executive assistant at the Ability Center of Greater Toledo on Monroe Street in Sylvania. But she made the move believing that, if a degenerative joint disease she has got bad enough that she could no longer drive, she’d have Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority services to fall back on. Two years ago, that stage of Ms. Justice’s disability arrived, and she began using the Toledo Area Regional Paratransit Service for her daily commute, while relying on TARTA’s Call-A-Ride bus to run errands locally. “This system let me retain my independence,” she says. “It let me keep my job.” Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2011/12/12/TARTA-s-critics-look-to-exit-system-over-costs-benefits.html
December 13, 201113 yr As our friends at OHERN said..... Unbelievably narrow, soulless and wrong. Why don't those in Perrysburg and Sylvania Twp. just say it out loud? "We don't want They, Those and Them" in our communities, let alone pay for it! ....and call yourselves Christians while you're at it! Merry Christmas you selfish, shortsighted FEW! I Pray. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 16, 201212 yr Published: 7/15/2012 - Editorial Bus stop A regional public transportation system that efficiently delivers employees to work sites, in the central city and suburbs, is essential to job creation and economic growth and competitiveness in northwest Ohio. Yet as suburban politicians work to dismantle metropolitan Toledo's mass-transit network, a new study makes clear the long-term economic consequences to the area -- and the communities these officials supposedly serve -- of their shortsighted posturing. The report by the Brookings Institution ranks metro Toledo just 69th among the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in the percentage of its jobs that are in neighborhoods with public transit service. Even metro Detroit, which has some of the country's worst and most balkanized bus service, finished ahead of our area. Five out of every eight jobs in the Toledo area are reachable via public transportation, the study says; in the city itself, all of them are. But in the suburbs, just one-third of jobs are transit-accessible. That lack of service is depriving a lot of suburban employers of potential workers. Read full editorial at: http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2012/07/15/Bus-stop.html
October 26, 201212 yr WTOL-TV (aka Toledo News Now) has a story about a proposal for a new downtown TARTA station that would completely change bus routes in downtown Toledo. Below is an excerpt of the story. Video plus a rendering and site plan of the proposed downtown station is at the link: City, TARTA unveil plan for new downtown station Posted: Oct 16, 2012 - 8:06 PM EDT By Rob Wiercinski, WTOL-TV TOLEDO, OH (Toledo News Now) - The City of Toledo and TARTA unveiled a transit hub feasibility study Tuesday, which calls for eliminating the downtown bus loop and building a new downtown station along Jackson Boulevard. (. . .) The study recommends doing away with the loop in favor of having all bus routes going in and out of the downtown area using a centralized location, along Jackson between Superior and Huron. MORE: http://www.toledonewsnow.com/story/19837930/city-tarta-unveil-plan-for-new-downtown-station
November 5, 201212 yr Transit referendums facing voters in 3 local communities BY DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER Voters in three suburban communities will consider transit-related referendums that could reshape how public transportation is provided in the Toledo area. In Sylvania and Spencer townships, trustees have asked voters to consider withdrawing from the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority, as provided by a state law enacted last year. If those measures pass on Tuesday, TARTA service would end in either or both of those communities six months after the votes’ certification. Perrysburg voters, meanwhile, will act on a 1.45-mill, five-year levy to pay for a local transit service that would take the place of TARTA, from which that community withdrew in mid-September after passing an opt-out referendum in March. Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2012/11/04/Transit-referendums-facing-voters-in-3-local-communities.html
November 27, 201212 yr From the "Be Careful What You Wish For Department..... State Rep. Randy Gardner pushed a bill through the Ohio General Assembly allowing local communities to vote themselves out of a local transit district. Perrysburg voters promptly voted themselves out of being served by TARTA. No problem said those backing the opt-out.....we'll get better service from someone else. How's that working out, Perrysburg? Last day for Perrysburg public transportation by WNWO Newsdesk Posted: 11.27.2012 at 8:10 AM Since voters turned down Perrysburg's levy request on Nov. 6, pubic transportation in the city will come to an end at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Ride Right, a company out of Missouri, has been operating since Perrysburg withdrew from TARTA public transportation in September. But the temporary contract expires today, with no plans to extend it. Read more at: http://www.northwestohio.com/news/story.aspx?id=830057#.ULUSKtPjknU
November 28, 201212 yr Published: 11/28/2012 - Updated: 6 hours ago Perrysburg public transit at end of road Residents vent ire at officials BY REBECCA CONKLIN KLEIBOEMER BLADE STAFF WRITER As Perrysburg's public transportation system came to a halt on Tuesday night, so did the freedom of residents who rely on the service. “That's my life source. I have no other transportation,” Rosa Linda Brown said. She was among several Perrysburg residents who attended Tuesday's meeting of the Health, Sanitation, and Public Utilities committee, which discussed options following the narrow defeat of a transportation levy on Nov. 6. While the committee is likely to recommend to city council members that they place a reduced-millage issue for transportation on the May election ballot next year, any hope that the city would draw from the general fund to extend current services was dashed. Read more at: http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2012/11/28/Perrysburg-public-transit-at-end-of-road-Residents-vent-ire-at-officials.html
January 27, 201312 yr Published: 1/27/2013 Moving ahead, together Detroit will finally get its 3.3-mile streetcar line in the heart of the city, after the federal government recently announced it would spend $25 million on the project. The U.S. Department of Transportation formally blessed the plan after southeast Michigan created a regional transit authority late last year. There’s a lesson for Toledo as well as Detroit: The federal government is paying close attention to how urban areas cooperate and collaborate. Those that work together through regional agencies and authorities have a far better chance of securing federal dollars for transportation, economic development, environmental, housing, and other projects. READ MORE AT: http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2013/01/27/Moving-ahead-together.html "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 16, 201312 yr Transit troubles Blade Editorial Perrysburg City Council has put a stripped-down public transportation levy on the May 7 ballot. The minuscule service this plan would provide might be enough to avoid a federal civil-rights lawsuit on behalf of passengers with disabilities. But it won’t meet the transit needs of most of the city’s riders or businesses. In fact, it’s a stretch even to call this paltry proposal — 0.8 mill for five years — public transportation, after city voters withdrew last March from the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority, and then defeated last November a 1.45-mill tax that council members said could provide adequate service for less money. Perrysburg should have contracted with TARTA for limited interim service, and then put the question of rejoining the authority — and its 2.5-mill tax — on the May ballot. A local shuttle service can’t replace a system that provided nearly 67,000 annual boardings in Perrysburg — including more than 6,000 paratransit users — for trips around the region. Full editorial at: http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2013/02/16/Transit-troubles.html
September 16, 201311 yr TARTA Web site, phone app now live Users can keep tabs on locations, arrival times BY DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER It has taken months longer than expected to get up and running, but the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority has finally turned on its bus-tracking Web site and smart phone app, and plans to begin promoting it next week. The TARTAtracker.com system should make waiting in the rain for a late bus a thing of the past in Toledo. Not because buses won’t ever be late, but because riders will be able to track their progress with the real-time location data now available to the public. TARTA Tracker shows the position and progress of every transit authority bus out on the road and offers up-to-the-second updates on when the next bus is expected to arrive at any bus stop a system user chooses. Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/business/2013/09/16/TARTA-Web-site-phone-app-now-live.html#DRswLH2dgcIbAHAq.99
September 23, 201311 yr A challenge to Toledo's and to Ohio's leaders....... Published: 9/22/2013 Commentary Transit lifeline in peril Spencer Twp. vote reflects local disconnect on vital issue BY JEFF GERRITT DEPUTY BLADE EDITOR In predawn darkness last week, Mondia Brown boarded TARTA bus No. 7 in downtown Toledo, the express bus to Spencer Township, on her way to work. A cashier at Meijer, she works 25 hours a week for $12.70 an hour. At 6 a.m., Ms. Brown had already been up for two hours. She had ridden the No. 27 bus from her home in South Toledo to TARTA’s Government Station at Jackson and Erie streets — a 35-minute trek. Her ride from downtown to her job takes another 21 minutes. Without it, Ms. Brown, 37, said she would have to quit her job, unless her employer transferred her. But if Spencer Township votes in November to leave the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority, the No. 7 route that takes Ms. Brown to work will stop within 90 days, TARTA Marketing Director Steve Atkinson said. Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/JeffGerritt/2013/09/22/Transit-life-line-in-peril.html#BYUfPdMZKGCJPm2K.99 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 8, 201311 yr Such spiteful, selfish people..... Published: 11/6/2013 - Updated: 1 day ago Spencer Township residents decide to leave TARTA BY DAVID PATCH BLADE STAFF WRITER Spencer Township voters narrowly approved withdrawing from Toledo’s transit-bus network Tuesday, a year after a larger turnout voted to stay in. Curtis Lancaster, chairman of the township board of trustees, said he believed the withdrawal resolution’s passage — by 16 votes out of 520 cast, according to preliminary results — represents township voters’ true desire, because many voted “no” on the same resolution a year ago thinking that meant withdrawal from the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority. Mr. Lancaster and James Gee, the transit authority’s general manager, both said they were unsure whether a recount would be mandatory. Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2013/11/06/Spencer-Township-residents-decide-to-leave-TARTA.html#SuKRAceEhlqxxw2f.99 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 6, 201411 yr EDITORIAL U-turn The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority ended service to Spencer Township last week, ringing in the new year with another hole in the region’s transit system. Nearly two years ago, Perrysburg withdrew from TARTA, which now serves seven communities, including Toledo. The good news is that a law aimed solely at TARTA, allowing members of any Ohio transit authority funded by property taxes to withdraw by popular vote, expired with last November’s election. Leaving TARTA now will require the unanimous consent of the authority’s other members, an unlikely event. Funded by a 2.5-mill property tax, TARTA provides more than 3.4 million rides a year. It offers regional connections that no local shuttle service can. The region should now focus on encouraging other communities to join TARTA — Oregon and Springfield Township are logical candidates — and improving service with a more sustainable, reliable, and fair funding system. Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2014/01/06/U-turn.html#w4REAUx6LH0E5iKK.99
May 1, 201510 yr City nixes TARTA’s bus station resolution - Toledo Blade http://t.co/8vvhIynkNG via @po_st "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 19, 20159 yr I think the TARTA hub should be built by the Amtrak station with frequent service to the downtown core. It's also time for Toledo to start looking at connecting with SEMCOG. Southeast Michigan's commuter rail plans are a perfect fit for Toledo. I'd love to see Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Toledo connected by commuter rail with service to Detroit Metro Airport. It would make all three cities stronger. I can't believe what I'm reading about Ohio and these bills that allow suburbs to single-handedly vote themselves out of public transit. What Perrysburg did was very short-sighted.
November 19, 20159 yr How about two transit hubs? -- One at MLK Plaza for routes coming in from the south and southwest sides of the city, then run combined on a BRT corridor to a second hub on the near-north side of downtown. At the second hub downtown is where routes from the west, north and east sides of the city should converge, and run combined in the BRT corridor to MLK Plaza. The outcome is a high-frequency transit corridor along Broadway from the near north side of downtown to MLK plaza. Then add a TOD zoning overlay to properties within 500 feet of Broadway between the two hubs. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
August 27, 20186 yr TARTA to begin free rides for UT students, staff TARTA is making back to school a little easier for University of Toledo students. Starting Monday, TARTA will begin providing free rides for UT students, faculty and staff. More below: http://www.wtol.com/story/38954794/tarta-to-begin-free-rides-for-ut-students-staff "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 18, 20196 yr TARTA needs a reboot The downward spiral of TARTA, greater Toledo’s mass transit agency, continues. It cannot go on. https://www.toledoblade.com/opinion/editorials/2019/01/16/toledo-bus-transit-tarta-needs-a-reboot/stories/20190114173 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 11, 20205 yr TARTA board approves resolution to start sales-tax proceedings The TARTA board of trustees took the formal first step Thursday toward a new attempt to put a sales tax on the general-election ballot in Lucas County and Rossford to replace the authority's current property taxes and expand bus service to county-wide. https://www.masstransitmag.com/management/news/21133490/oh-tarta-board-approves-resolution-to-start-salestax-proceedings When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
April 29, 20205 yr Yay! Go TARTA! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
April 29, 20205 yr 3 hours ago, KJP said: Yay! Go TARTA! A transit tax passing by a 2 to 1 margin is incredible. I hope other transit agency are taking good notes on how TARTA positioned and promoted this levy. When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
December 29, 20204 yr "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
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