BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- This Butler County township is about to lurch into the world of public transportation.
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Metro announced Wednesday it is starting a park-and-ride express bus service from McGinnis Park on Cox Road to Cincinnati on Aug. 24. The announcement follows a unanimous vote by Union Township trustees the night before to grant a lease to Metro for 200 parking spaces in McGinnis Park.
During the next two years of Fort Washington Way construction, eight buses will leave the park weekdays from 5:58 to 7:58 a.m., and eight will return from Cincinnati between 3:45 and 6:10 p.m. Parking is free and bus fare is 50 cents each way until Labor Day. After that, it will be $1.50 each way, or $56 for a monthly pass. Buses will run express from the park on Interstate 75 to downtown Cincinnati, where it will make nine stops.
It will be called the Route 42 West Chester Express, referring to the route, not the highway U.S. 42, which is Cincinnati-Columbus Road.
Trustee Catherine Stoker said the service will help families who work in Cincinnati save money on parking while cutting pollution. "There's a real significant savings to families using the vehicle, and the frosting on the cake is that it reduces congestion and smog," she said. "We are hopeful we will have permanent buses, but this is just a tryout."
The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) received $3.1 million from the state to operate park-and-ride lots at Fairfield, Harrison, West Chester and a future lot in the Eastgate area during Fort Washington Way construction.
Though McGinnis Park could belong to a private developer after the township swaps land with the company later this year, SORTA spokeswoman Sallie Hilvers said the agency is working out an agreement with the developer to leave the park-and-ride lot there.
Residents like Bruce Simeone are encouraged by the bus system, but say more is needed.
Three of his four children each need a car to get to separate schools and back home again after extracurricular activities, he said. His wife needs one to get to work in Hamilton, and he needs one to get to work at Procter & Gamble on Center Hill Avenue in Winton Hills, where he is an engineer and manager.
He hopes to see a bus system develop within West Chester and between neighboring towns so he can cut back on car insurance and gasoline expenses.
The Butler County Regional Transit Authority is currently doing a needs assessment to plan a bus system within the county. "I snicker when I see signs issuing smog alerts when there is nothing in the area to get around," he said.
