By John Kiesewetter
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - Catherine Huesing doesn't look forward to October, when The Shuttle buses stop running.

"I'm 74. I don't drive. And if there are no buses, I'm stuck," said Huesing, who rides the bus from her west side home to shop in downtown Hamilton every Tuesday.

A half-mill, five-year tax levy to fund the transit system in this Butler County seat was soundly defeated Tuesday by 69 percent of voters. The fourth levy failure in four years leaves the Butler County Regional Transit Authority at a crossroads.

"We're looking at several options, up to and including stopping service and going out of business," said Transit Director Carla Lakatos.

Supporters of the bus tax will meet Monday to make a recommendation to city council. The committee is not expected to ask for another transit tax, said Richard Holzberger, former Hamilton City Council member and transit authority board member.

Lakatos promised to examine all options before shutting down, which would also eliminate funding for Queen City Metro park-and-ride service in West Chester and Fairfield. Lakatos says she plans to explore collaborations with state and federal agencies serving people who need transportation.

The transit authority had stopped The Blast, a countywide bus service, in December 2002 after a third county tax levy failure. Three-day-a-week Hamilton service began in October, under a one-year contract with the city.

Since the levy defeat in 2002, the transit organization has given up seven buses and eight vans to other agencies. It still has 21 buses, eight of which are being leased by Cleveland, Lakatos said.

"We must explore everything, because there is a need for public transit in Hamilton," she said. "And once the buses are gone, and the (garage) facility is gone, it will be hard to bring them back."

Huesing is among the 100 weekly riders who agrees that the city needs bus service. Before The Shuttle began running last year, she paid $20 a day in taxi fares to commute downtown to a YWCA desk clerk job.

"I had to quit. I spent $140 in seven days just to get to work and back," she said. "I just can't believe the people of Hamilton didn't vote for it."

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com