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
kenprendergast@allaboardohio.org
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."
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