Metro general manager Paul Jablonski's departure to take a comparable job in San Diego is another setback for Cincinnati advocates of light rail, but everyone in this region still faces some big, costly transportation decisions barreling our way.

Last November's crushing 68 to 31 percent rejection of a quarter-cent sales tax increase ended the $2.6 billion light-rail plan for now, if not forever, and may also have signaled an end to Jablonski's competent 10-year term here. But it did nothing to relieve rush-hour congestion on Interstates 75, 71 and 74. As recently as September, the regional committee studying a transportation plan for I-75 recommended a $1.83 billion fix that includes a proposed new light-rail line from Covington to West Chester.

Greater Cincinnati has cobbled together some cross-border bus service pacts, but it still lacks a region-wide transit system. Boards and the public are still split over whether we can road-build our way out of mounting congestion and whether we need to expand mass transit. The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board, which operates Cincinnati's Metro bus system, should push the bus portion of last year's proposed MetroMoves plan.

The questions remain: Can we secure federal dollars and are voters willing to pay the local match?

Jablonski leaves us a well-run bus system, but one still chiefly funded by Cincinnati. A regional bus system could link more workers with jobs and serve more students, elderly and disabled. SORTA and Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments need to put everything on the table and seek a creative mix of options. Any new Metro GM may face a more contentious board. Last month, Hamilton County Commissioners appointed two anti-rail members to the 9-member board - Stephan Louis who led the campaign against a light-rail sales tax and Daniel Peters, board chairman of Columbus-based Buckeye Institute, which has assailed the costs of light rail. They join former Congressman Tom Luken, an anti-rail member appointed by his son, Mayor Charlie Luken. The commissioners appoint five members; the mayor, four. A stalemate would serve no one. The board needs to act decisively to help avert interstate gridlock at peak hours.