Tuesday, May 25, 1999
Buses roll again in Butler Co.
BY TANYA ALBERT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
After a five-year hiatus, the buses are back in Hamilton. And they'll get commuters a lot farther than they did before the city-only service stopped running.
On Monday, the Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA) started “soft runs” on three routes in Hamilton and a route from Hamilton to Fairfield. The official kickoff is planned Thursday.
In Fairfield, riders can take a shuttle to businesses within 3 miles of the Tri-County Assembly of God at 7350 Dixie Highway, or hop on a Metro bus to downtown Cincinnati.
Metro serves as a reverse-commute vehicle that gives people in Cincinnati a way to get to jobs in Fairfield.
“The issue of mobility needed to be looked at in a
more regional way,” said Amy Terango, executive director of BCRTA, formed after the Hamilton bus service ended. “If you don't have mobility options, it is incredibly limiting to people.”
Through grass-roots surveys, BCRTA found economic issues such as getting people to and from work was the community's greatest need. Companies in Butler County, particularly in the Fairfield and West Chester areas, are in constant need of workers in the tight labor market.
“We have come to a point where transportation is critical,” county Commissioner Courtney Combs said. “We have to be able to show an employee base for companies coming in. ... (The bus service) can get people to jobs.”
The second-greatest need, according to the surveys, is setting up bus routes that give seniors and people with disabilities a way to get around town.
People in Hamilton without cars say they haven't had reliable service since the Hamilton bus service went out of business.
Taxis have been the most available form of transportation, Theresa Renners said. But she said she can't always rely on a cab being available when she needs it.
“If you don't have the cabs, you have nothing,” said Ms. Renners, who has lived in Hamilton for 60 years. “Without any buses, you're stuck.”
That changed Monday when the BCRTA buses started running.
Although Monday's start wasn't heavily advertised, about 30 people took the BCRTA during the morning rush hour. People who used to rely on buses in Hamilton and people who were never regular bus riders tried the new system.
Douglas Cope of Hamilton will save more than $20 a week, thanks to the bus. He was spending about $45 a week on cab fare to get to and from physical therapy at Fort Hamilton Hospital.
Debbie Sims of Hamilton used the bus Monday to get from her west-side Hamilton home to her job in downtown Hamilton.
“It's time they got it back. They shouldn't have gotten rid of it in the first place,” said Miss Sims, who plans to ride the bus daily.
Buses will run 6-10 a.m. and 2-7 p.m. Monday through Friday. During midday hours, passengers can call and make arrangements for curb-to-curb service, (513) 785-5237.
Bus rides will be free until June 1. The fare will be $1 for the scheduled hours, $2 for the midday curb-to-curb service.
The area outside the downtown Elder-Beerman store on High Streetwill serve as the temporary hub for the buses. The hub will move to the Government Services Center at High Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard when it opens in late summer.
Passengers can take Hamilton routes as far out as Meijer Plaza at Lincoln and Laurel avenues — about 2 miles. The hub also will be the pickup and drop-off point for the Fairfield route.
The services starting this week are just the beginning for bus service in Butler County.
In about two weeks, another route will begin in Hamilton, after the Butler Regional Highway opens. Also, a service similar to the Fairfield route will start to West Chester in the fall.
Next year, BCRTA plans to offer Saturday and all-night service in Hamilton. In 2001, there are plans to develop regional trips with Metro and to introduce connecting service from the Hamilton hub to Middletown and Oxford.
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