BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- Getting to work is the biggest transportation problem facing residents of Butler County, says a report released Thursday by the county's Regional Transit Authority.
Despite being one of Ohio's fastest growing counties, Butler has only two public bus systems -- one serving Middletown and the other serving Miami University's students and staff.
The issue is all the more urgent because of the demand for more employees in Butler County, and Ohio's push to move more people from welfare to work, said Amy Terango, the transit authority's executive director.
"A lot of people need to get to work who don't have transportation options," she said.
The report on Butler's transportation needs is based on public meetings, discussions with community organizations and civic groups, interviews and public surveys.
The transit authority will accept public comment on the report until Aug. 14, when the organization's board of trustees plans to vote on it.
The report will become part of a transportation improvement program that will be presented to the regional planning agency, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI). OKI must approve the program for Butler County to be eligible for federal transportation money.
Serving elderly and disabled people is another big transportation need identified in the report.
Existing transportation service for this group helps, but isn't nearly enough, the report says.
Elderly and disabled people need a transportation system that would allow them to shop, visit family and friends, go to church, go to medical appointments and travel to recreation and entertainment facilities, it says.
"These two groups are very isolated," Ms. Terango said.
Between this October and September 1999, the transit authority hopes to introduce bus services that would help county residents get to work, enlarge the potential employee pool for businesses and reduce smog caused by traffic congestion on Interstate 75. The plan would:
Revive limited bus service within Hamilton, which ended its public bus service March 1, 1996, because of declining ridership and rising costs.
There would be two fixed bus routes in Hamilton during peak hours: a midday service based on demand-and-response, and buses for special events.
Run buses from downtown Hamilton to a Metro transit system park-and-ride facility at an undetermined location in Butler County.
Route Metro buses on I-75 from Butler County to downtown Cincinnati and back. There would be stops on Sharon Road and Union Centre Boulevard, where smaller buses would take commuters to their workplaces. Run buses to take people from downtown Hamilton to a Metro park-and-ride at the Assembly of God Church on Ohio 4 in Fairfield.
"Most of the system is built around jobs and reducing smog," said Bob Prangley, a transportation consultant who is working with the transit authority.
These transportation initiatives will require about $1.7 million, Ms. Terango said.
