Transportation
WHAT IT IS
Transportation is the system that moves people and products around and through our region.
Partner Sites: OKI
WHY IT MATTERS
Maintaining and expanding roads, supporting public transportation and moving freight efficiently are important for attracting and retaining businesses and for overall economic development as well as good quality of life.
WHERE WE ARE
Commute times in Southwest Ohio are relatively low the U.S. Census Bureau ranks the Cincinnati metro area No. 46 among the 68 largest metro areas with an average of 21 minutes per commute.
But roadway congestion and maintenance remain a concern. After all, the region's roads carry the vast majority of people where they need to go.
The Census Bureau projects that population and job growth outside of hamilton County will continue. That will strain existing roads and bridges in surrounding counties. Meanwhile, hamilton County is expected to remain the leader in population and employment into the year 2030, which will bring its own demands on existing infrastructure.
Regarding public transportation, the Agenda 360 survey shows broad support for more transportation options. Ninety percent of respondents ranked as a high priority that we "provide choices in transportation that make it easy, convenient and economical to get where residents want to go."
A bus full of people replaces about 44 automobiles, with one person in them, on the road. yet right now the seven major public transit systems in Southwest Ohio, Southeast Indiana and Northern Kentucky face significant challenges in their goal to provide safe and efficient service, according to the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI).
Finally, freight capacity is a crucial issue in growing our economy.
We are located within a day's drive of nearly 70 percent of North America's manufacturing capacity, OKI says. Businesses locate where they have the most efficient way to get goods to markets. An efficient transportation system lets our region take advantage of our competitive location.
OKI's 2030 Regional Transportation Plan, which was updated in2008, says during the past 10 years, there has been a 44 percent increase in truck traffic on Interstate 75 in Southwest Ohio, and this growth is expected to continue.
WHERE WE'RE GOING
A look at successful cities shows there is not one answer to the challenges of transportation. Instead, we need a comprehensive plan with a variety of options. It's time to look again at existing plans and consider what's appropriate as we move forward.
Transportation projects take local, state and federal money, and the costs only increase as time passes. They also take time to develop, win government approval and build. So the sooner we get started, the less they will cost.
Agenda 360 identified three primary strategies for meeting the region's transportation needs and helping us compete with other metro areas.
Complete planning and funding for major road projects
The backbone of the region's transportation system is the roadway network. Even buses and streetcars, which move more people more efficiently than automobiles, rely on efficient roads to do their jobs. Investing in roadways is necessary for strong regional transportation.
More than 9,000 miles of roadway run through OKI's eight-county area. And they all need regular maintenance. Its plan gives priority to funding that preserves the system: $6.3 billion of the $9.7 billion in recommended projects through the year 2030 are allocated to roadway work.
But we also need to build new and bigger roads as population and commerce grow.
Create a regional transit strategy
It is urgent that we find ways to expand public transportation.
Reducing the number of cars on the road will help our air quality, our fuel costs and our road rage, not to mention our whole quality of life.
Our transportation policies have been shaped around the automobile, and most of us have come to travel almost entirely by car. But savvy metro areas are realizing the benefits to all their residents, from those living below poverty to talented young professionals, of investing in mass transportation, allowing people to live, work and play without reliance on an auto.
Public transportation helps reduce congestion on city streets and highways, which reduces the need for expanding those roads. It's also good for air quality. And if residents don't have to have a car to live here, it makes the region more affordable.
The OKI plan calls for "recommended improvements for expanded bus passenger service, preservation of right of way for transit facilities and future passenger rail transit," which are intended to provide viable alternatives to automobile travel.
Expand multi-modal freight capacity
The region needs to ensure we provide a variety of viable ways for industries to move their goods: air, road, river, and rail. Otherwise they may move elsewhere.
OKI is laying the groundwork for fully including freight in the transportation planning, programming and project development process.
One method OKI has developed is to identify certain transportation projects as crucial to freight movement. Creating a new category of its Transportation Improvement Program project prioritization process will allow freight projects to be more accurately evaluated for funding.
OKI also established a Regional Freight Working Group in 2007. The group is made up of industry representatives and is developing public-private partnerships to improve goods movement, to facilitate the flow of freight and stimulate economic development.
Their work could become a national model for metro areas in addressing obstacles constraining the movement of goods and people. Their work also has helped give Agenda 360 a clear direction in defining the commercial transportation needs of our region.
GETTING STARTED
Below are initiatives the Agenda 360 research has so far identified as good ways to make progress on the above strategies. They are just a start; new programs and initiatives will be found, created and evolve with the changing needs of our community.
The Brent Spence Bridge
The Brent Spence Bridge is arguably the most important transportation link in our region. It's also arguably the neediest. The bridge has been found to be functionally obsolete and unsafe. And yet, in carrying Interstates 71/75 across the Ohio River, it handled 155,000 vehicles a day in 2007. That's estimated to rise to 200,000 within five years. yet the 45-year-old bridge was designed for 85,000 vehicles a day.
The bridge's overcapacity translates to traffic bottlenecks for commuters and longdistance travelers who use it to get through the region. The American highway Users Alliance ranks it one of the 24 worst highway bottlenecks in the country.
The bridge must be replaced.
Because this bridge is a vital part of the federal interstate system and because it connects a wide swath of the United States, local leaders are working with our Congressional delegation to gain support from the federal government to underwrite most of the bridge replacement project.
The group, called Bridge Builders, includes the cities of Cincinnati and Covington, Hamilton County, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and Northern Kentucky municipalities.
Regional bus service
In the fall of 2008, a strong step was taken toward creating a more regional public transit system when the city of Cincinnati and hamilton County reorganized the board of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA).
The reorganization means that Cincinnati City Council now appoints seven members of the SORTA board and hamilton County appoints six, including three representing the interests of Butler, Warren and Clermont counties.
This is important because it gives the board a regional perspective and can help the Metro bus system better meet the transportation needs of residents in Butler, Clermont and Warren counties.
The longer-term vision and the need for our region is that someday SORTA will be a part of a larger public transportation system, whether it be bus routes coordinating with an urban Cincinnati streetcar or integrating with light-rail service for commuters and regional travelers.