Tom Hodges, a local attorney and Over-the-Rhine resident, recently became one of the youngest board members of SORTA, the regional transit authority that operates Metro. An advocate for improved public transportation, Hodges shares his thoughts in this week's blogs on where he thinks transportation dollars might best be spent, and gives us a first-hand account of his recent SORTA 'field trip' through southwestern Ohio.
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Thinking about transportation
Posted By: J. Thomas Hodges
6/23/2010
As a board member of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), I got to participate in a bus tour of Hamilton, Butler, and Warren counties a few weeks ago to learn about the future public transportation needs for our region. The presenters from each county seemed to have very differing views on the need for public transit in their communities. As a disclaimer, the following is my opinion and does not at all reflect the views of SORTA.
As we toured Hamilton County, representatives from the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County pointed out the development opportunities that might bring a need for bus service and even light rail. And while admitting the limited effectiveness that traditional public transportation modes might offer, the Warren County representatives remained positive that public transit could eventually play a more prominent role for the growing county. But Butler County seemed resistant to the idea of increased public transportation, even as the county reported large population growth and increases in all types of development.
As Cincinnati continues to develop the concepts of a streetcar system, high-speed rail, and complete streets; Butler County continues to describe transportation solely by counting the number of cars that travel a given road per day. While I understand why non-urban counties might be single-minded in describing how we move from place to place, I think this outlook compromises the future needs of the residents and visitors of such a community.
Every month I spend about $1,000 on automobile transportation when you consider car payment, fuel, insurance, and maintenance. Depending on the length of your commute or the cost of your car, this monthly amount could be much higher. Of course this monthly amount does not account for the taxes that most of us pay to build and sustain the roads that we drive our expensive automobiles on every day. So why does anyone want to build communities in which we are completely reliant on such a costly and inefficient form of transportation? Probably because the issue hasn't been given the consideration it deserves.
It's time we all start giving transportation more attention. It can cost as much or more as your housing. And with the rising cost of fuel, we can no longer afford to assume that anyone will benefit from developing communities where public transportation is not a fully integrated component.