Tag: bus

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Political kickbacks land Cleveland major transit dollars

Vice President Joe Biden announced over $600 million in new awards for transit projects across the United States. The funding went to 191 different transit projects in 42 different states and Puerto Rico.

Ohio walked away with more than $24.5 million worth of transit funding, of which the overwhelming majority went to northeast Ohio, where the state’s two Senators are from, with $6 of transit funding going to each of the 2,088,291 people in the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). Cincinnati meanwhile ranks as Ohio’s most populous MSA with 2,155,137 people who received $0.13 each for transit funding (view full list of recipients).

The $6 per person transit funding for Cleveland equates to roughly half of Ohio’s total funding received and more than $12.5 million. The Cincinnati MSA barely made the list at all as Middletown, on the far northern reaches of Cincinnati’s metropolitan area, received the MSA’s only funding of just under $281,000.

Cleveland MSA received $6/person while Ohio’s most populous metropolitan area received just $0.13/person. Click chart to open large version in new window.

In a press release received from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Vice President Biden stated that, “Investing in these transit upgrades not only puts construction workers on the job at project sites, but supports American manufacturing jobs all the way down the supply chain. At a time when jobs are priority number one, that means twice the employment bang for the Recovery Act buck.”

One could make the argument that the Cleveland metropolitan area received the most money to help create and retain jobs in arguably Ohio’s most devastated market in terms of jobs and foreclosures. The evidence further supports this when you see that Columbus and Cincinnati, the state’s two strongest job markets, received the smallest per-capita funding. That is where the connections stop though, as Dayton, ranking close to Cleveland as one of Ohio’s worst economic performers, received a measly $0.84 per person for transit funding.

“Investing in modern, efficient transit systems will mean safe, reliable travel and clean air in our communities” said FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff. “These projects are putting thousands of Americans to work right now while improving the lives of millions of Americans for years to come”

Unfortunately while this is true, it seems that at least in Ohio that these funds were distributed based on political ties than anything else. Both Senator Sherrod Brown and Senator George Voinovich hail from northeast Ohio Maybe not shocking, but certainly disappointing especially if you are one of the hundreds of thousands living in Hamilton County that voted for Senator Brown in 2006 and in turn saw $0 of this transit funding.

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News

Metro service changes take effect on 3/7

In response to customer requests, Metro will start offering earlier service to the University of Cincinnati’s Raymond Walters campus along bus route #4 to Blue Ash, and will be making a variety of changes geared towards improving service to the Central Business District from the city’s west side neighborhoods.

The special service changes will go into effect on Sunday, March 7 along with the routine seasonal service changes all seen below:

Metro officials will be on hand to answer questions and field concerns at the Government Square Transit Hub from 8am to 10am on Friday, March 5. New bus schedules for affected bus routes will also be available.

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Development News Politics Transportation

Where would they all park?

Metro, the non-profit that operates Cincinnati’s bus system, is facing a budget deficit of $16 million in 2010. To preempt this crisis, officials in December elected to reduce service on virtually every route, and eliminate some routes entirely (new schedules). Many Cincinnatians values Metro’s presence because it is a critical service for residents and visitors alike, but some remain hard to convince.

Metro’s important role in Cincinnati goes beyond the obvious. For example, there simply is not enough parking downtown to eliminate bus service. If Cincinnati were to eliminate Metro entirely, the city would need 127 acres of additional parking.

According to Carter Dawson, the group that is managing The Banks development on the riverfront, 85,000 people work in downtown Cincinnati, and according to Metro, 20 percent of them commute using the bus. Therefore, 17,000 people ride to bus downtown to work each day. The amount of space needed for each parking space is estimated at 325 square feet after factoring in space needed for access lanes. As a result, Cincinnati would need to add more than 5.5 million square feet of additional parking space, or about 127 acres.

The land area bounded by 3rd Street, Race Street, Central Parkway, and Sycamore Street is about 130 acres (map created here).

Cincinnati simply cannot afford to throw away 127 acres of prime real estate. Not only does downtown hold some of the region’s most lucrative businesses that would have to go elsewhere, but the tax revenue lost by this displacement would be catastrophic as well. In addition, roadways would need to be expanded to accommodate the increased traffic, stealing even more valuable downtown space. Residents would also be displaced, taking with them the income tax revenue on which the city relies. Cincinnati cannot afford to eliminate Metro. Instead, policymakers ought to be seeking ways to bolster this community asset.

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News Politics Transportation

SORTA re-elects board members

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) has named the 2010 board members that will oversee the operations and direction of Metro – Cincinnati’s primary bus operator. Both Chair, Melody Sawyer Richardson, and Vice Chair, William Mallory Sr., have been re-elected to their positions.

Richardson has served on the board since 2003 and has acted as SORTA chair since 2007 while Mallory Sr. has served as Vice Chair since 2008. During Richardson’s tenure as Chair, she has helped advance several initiatives including:

  • grow*Metro community involvement process to refine Metro’s capital plan
  • A new federal lobbying effort to secure funds for replacement of buses past their useful life
  • SORTA Board strategic planning process
  • Inclusive SORTA budget process that sought input from elected leaders and community partners
  • Diversification of Metro services through the addition of articulated (accordion) and hybrid buses
  • Expansion of the Everybody Rides Metro foundation

Also during that time Metro has faced extraordinarily difficult budget shortfalls due to what local leaders call a “failed” funding source and a difficult economy. As a result fares have been increased, service reduced, and ridership has even declined during this tumultuous time for transit agencies across the nation.

“Most people recognize the bus funding model is a failure,” said Cincinnati City Council member Chris Bortz in a recent interview with the Cincinnati Business Courier. “There are going to be those that are resistant to any new tax structure. But we’ve got to think through it.”

The solution, seen by many, is a county-wide funding structure instead of one that only focuses on Cincinnati’s Earnings Tax. As SORTA’s re-elected Chair and Vice Chair focus on long-term plans for the transit authority there needs to be serious discussions about how to permanently right this ship and make Metro a financially stable transit operator.

You can stay connected with the latest news and updates from Metro on Twitter @CincinnatiMetro.
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News

Metro adds five new articulated buses to its fleet

Articulated buses have arrived in Cincinnati and will be used along Metro’s highest capacity corridors to add capacity and improve productivity. Each of the five new articulated buses has a capacity in excess of 100 people (62 seated, 50+ standing) which represents a 50 percent increase over normal bus capacity.

“The articulated buses are workhorses. They will allow us to carry more customers per bus and increase the efficiency on routes that are frequently crowded,” said Marilyn Shazor, Metro’s CEO. “This is especially important now as we try to stretch every dollar to serve as many customers as possible with a smaller budget.”

New articulated bus images provided by Metro.

Each of the new buses cost just over $611,000 and were paid for primarily with federal Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ) funds that were made available through the Ohio Department of Transportation and the OKI Regional Council of Governments.

The new 24-ton articulated buses are being deployed along Metro’s heavily used 43, 45, and 47 bus routes along the Reading Road corridor, and are replacing existing buses that were beyond their useful life according to Metro officials.

Financially these buses represent a potential gain for Metro through the additional capacity added while maintaining the same labor costs with only one bus driver. Future articulated buses are being investigated and might even be hybrid like many of Metro’s newer buses.