GOPC Releases Memos Recommending Strategies to Reform Ohio’s Transportation Policy

GOPC is a leading advocate for policy reforms that will support a diverse and modernized transportation system in Ohio.  To support GOPC’s most recent policy recommendations, GOPC has published a series of research memos that:

• Analyze Pennsylvania’s 2013 comprehensive budget reform and identifies strategies that Ohio could replicate.  Undertaking a similar reform in Ohio could produce more resources and recalibrated funding to better fund all transportation modes, especially public transportation.

• Outline the benefits of “flexing” $30 million of Ohio’s federal dollars to public transportation.  Ohio is the 7th most populous state in the country yet ranks 38th in state support of public transportation.  The allocation of existing federal funds to transit could support 370 new rural transit vans or 107 new full size buses per year.  Ohio currently has 275 rural vehicles and 900 urban buses beyond their useful life and 22 rural counties without any transit service.

• Discuss the benefits of raising the state motor fuel tax, indexing it to inflation and removing, through statewide ballot, the constitutional provisions that restricts the gas tax’s use to highways.  By the Ohio constitution, the state’s gas tax can only be used for highway construction and repairs.  While increasing the gas tax is not a complete  solution, it is a longstanding resource that will remain so for Ohio.

To attract and retain businesses and residents, states across the country are investing in diverse, modern transportation systems that support all modes.  Ohio has a geographic advantage of being within 600 miles of over half of the U.S. and Canadian populations.  To leveraging this prime position, Ohio must invest in transit, bike/ped, rail, deep water ports, airports and highways. GOPC’s memos outline strategies to support and enhance all the modes that make up Ohio’s transportation system.

Click here to for more information and to access the memos.

GOPC Announces Finalists for the 2015 Greater Ohio Sustainable Development Awards

GOPC is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2015 Greater Ohio Sustainable Development Awards. Don’t forget to join us for the Awards Ceremony, where winners will be announced, on Wednesday, June 10^th from 8am-9am, which will presented as part of GOPC’s Summit: Restoring Neighborhoods, Strengthening Economies: Innovation & Sustainable Growth in Ohio’s Cities & Regions. Click here to register now!

The awards recognize those who are working to create vibrant and sustainable communities, cities, and regions in Ohio. We received nominations from around the state for many worthy contenders; working with an independent advisory committee, three finalists were advanced for each of the four awards.

Public Sector Leader Award

This Award recognizes a public sector individual or entity exemplifying outstanding leadership and innovation in advancing policies or programs that incentivize and enable community reinvestment and sustainable development in Ohio’s cities and regions.

Public Sector Leader Finalists:

• Senator Bill Beagle is in his second term in the Ohio Senate, representing all or part of Darke, Miami, Montgomery and Preble Counties. He is Chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Workforce. He previously served as a member of Tipp City Council, where he was Council President. In addition to his legislative duties, Beagle operates his own small business. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University and earned an MBA from Cleveland State University.
• The Ohio Department of Transportation’s Statewide Transit Needs Study examined existing transit services and quantified transit changes that might be needed. Looking at travel trends and demographics, ODOT found a rising need for both urban and rural transit and developed short- and long-term strategies to bring the most efficient and cost-effective improvements to transit riders and taxpayers. In addition to the study report itself, ODOT published focused study reports and initiative papers to inform citizens and decision-makers about Ohio's transit needs and proposed solutions.
• Mayor Georgine Welo was first elected as mayor of South Euclid in 2003. She has spearheaded innovative community revitalization projects to transform neighborhoods hard-hit by foreclosure and vacancy. Under Mayor Welo’s leadership, South Euclid’s Green Neighborhoods Initiative used competitive grant funds and involved design students to remodeling postwar bungalows using green building techniques and universal design features. Vacant lots were transformed with the building of two “idea homes” and the creation of eight community gardens and three pocket parks, all designed to show the potential of South Euclid’s affordable bungalow housing stock and walkable community and to build neighborhood camaraderie. Since the launch of the initiative, South Euclid has attracted over $33 million in private residential investment and has been named a Top 10 Northeast Ohio Community by Keller Williams Realty.

Private Sector Champion Award

This Award recognizes a private sector individual or entity that has demonstrated a commitment to and excellence in investing in existing communities and strengthening local economies in Ohio. Their contributions foster a holistic approach to sustainable development, leading to environmental, social, and economic prosperity.

Private Sector Champion Finalists:

• The Model Group is an integrated property development, construction, and management company with a passion for revitalizing urban neighborhoods. Founded in 1978, the company has grown into the preeminent affordable housing developer in Cincinnati. With the philosophy that affordable housing must be developed and constructed in a way that is indistinguishable from market rate housing, The Model Group partners with a variety of funding sources, local municipalities, and community stakeholders to build and redevelop housing and mixed-use developments that transform neighborhoods.
• PNC Bank is a leading investor and partner in community development throughout Ohio and the country. Working closely with local and state partners, PNC has made significantly contributed resources, capacity, and leadership to urban revitalization efforts in Ohio’s large and small communities.
• Wagenbrenner Development specializes in acquiring blighted and underutilized properties and redeveloping them to become community assets. The company’s expertise in brownfield redevelopment, from treating contaminated soil to structuring complex financing tools, has enabled it to take on major urban infill projects in Columbus. In addition to these residential and mixed-use projects, Wagenbrenner has been active in neighborhoods such as Columbus’ Weinland Park, where the company is engaging neighborhood stakeholders while building forty-one planned new single-family houses and renovating a line of row houses into 90 apartments.

Non-profit of the Year Award

This Award recognizes a nonprofit individual or entity in Ohio that works with communities to identify local needs and addresses them with efficiency and effectiveness. Open to 501-c3 designated non-profits and philanthropic institutions, this Award honors those organizations that are innovating community solutions and meeting local needs and opportunities with distinction.

Non-profit of the Year Finalists:

• The Downtown Dayton Partnership works with downtown property owners, businesses, and residents, providing strategic planning, business development, advocacy, public space management, and marketing services to grow and strengthen Dayton’s downtown. A key partner in the community-driven Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, the partnership has helped guide successful implementation of the original plan launched in 2010 as well as the 2015 update. In addition to spurring public and private investment in downtown, the plan is bringing active living downtown, with a bike share program launched in May and the bidding process underway for the $4 million RiverScape River Run project, designed to transform the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton into a recreational destination.
• Cleveland’s University Circle, Inc. development, service, and advocacy organization is responsible for the growth of University Circle as a premier urban district and center of innovation in health care, education, and arts and culture. University Circle, Inc. is creating a vital urban center by activating former land bank sites on key commercial corridors with dense, mixed-use development. The organization achieves that objective through land leases that shape development plans and a longstanding architectural review board that assures quality urban design. The new, infill developments join the neighborhood’s anchor educational, medical, and cultural institutions to attract residents, workers, students, and visitors. The Uptown neighborhood and its new apartments are a prime example of this.
• The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation was launched in 2009 in partnership with the City of Youngstown and The Raymond John Wean Foundation to catalyze strategic neighborhood reinvestment in neighborhoods throughout the city in order to transform vulnerable, undervalued, and transitional neighborhoods into healthy neighborhoods of choice. YNDC uses a dual approach of strategic investments to rebuild market confidence in neighborhoods with strong assets and broader partnership strategies to strengthen Youngstown’s community development capacity and the citywide infrastructure supporting neighborhood revitalization. Over the past six years, YNDC has grown to provide neighborhood planning services, homeownership education and counseling, and lending services. YNDC carries out home repair and rehabilitation, has established a farmer’s market, and is an AmeriCorps VISTA and AmeriCorps State project site involving a total of 19 AmeriCorps members in strengthening program areas and cleaning up vacant properties.

The Catalytic Partnership Award

Communities are strengthened when sectors work together to meet common goals for sustainable development. This Award recognizes a cross-sector partnership that has had a measurable positive impact in a community or region in Ohio, and represents a model for creative and effective collaboration.

Catalytic Partnership Finalists:

• Hamilton Mill and Regional Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Southwest Ohio is a unique partnership in which the Hamilton Mill business incubator collaborates with the City of Hamilton so that start-ups can use the “City as a Lab” to test their concepts. Start-ups have immediate access to customers and expertise. The Mill introduces client start-ups to regional local partners that will assist and promote their success in the Southwest Ohio economy. In addition to garnering multiple awards for the incubator, this new approach has led to the creation of new companies and jobs in Southwest Ohio.
• The Healthy Neighborhoods, Healthy Families initiative (HNHF) in Columbus’s Near South Side neighborhood is spearheaded by Nationwide Children’s Hospital (NCH) and Community Development for All People (CD4AP). HNHF addresses affordable housing, health and wellness, education, neighborhood safety and accessibility, and workforce development on the South Side of Columbus. Partnering with the United Way and the City of Columbus, the initiative has resulted in repairs and renovations to over 100 homes, a community garden and farmer’s market, elementary school mentoring and enrichment programs, neighborhood infrastructure improvements, and investments in minority- and woman-owned businesses.
• Kent State University and the City of Kent have joined together to revitalize downtown Kent by bringing together city, university, and business assets to catalyze economic revival. Together with the Portage Area Regional Transit Authority and private developers, the revitalization plan led to the establishment of a multi-modal transportation center, which spurred additional development. Redevelopment, including demolition of blighted buildings, repurposing of historic properties, and new construction, has connected the university campus to a revitalized downtown. To date, a total of $130 million has been invested, with additional projects still in progress.

Click here for more information about the Greater Ohio Sustainable Development Awards nomination process.

Two GOPC Policy Recommendations Incorporated in Statewide Transportation Budget Bill

Throughout February, Greater Ohio Policy Center has been testifying to the Ohio House of Representatives on the Ohio Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) biennium budget, calling for policies that would lead to a modern and diverse transportation system in Ohio.

The Ohio House Finance Committee has incorporated two of GOPC’s policy recommendations into the transportation budget bill that passed out of the House Finance committee in late February. As a direct result of GOPC’s testimony and educational efforts, the bill now includes:

Sec. 5501.08. The department of transportation, in order to assist in statewide strategic transportation planning, shall develop metrics that allow the comparison of data across transportation modes and that also incorporate the full spectrum of state strategic transportation goals, including all of the following:

(A)   Anticipated future costs of maintaining infrastructure in acceptable condition, both short-term and long-term;

(B)   Short-term economic impact, one to five years, and long-term economic impact, thirty years and longer;

(C)   Economic impact on a region's future rate of job growth and job retention;

(D)   Motorist, bicyclist, and pedestrian counts, and number of accidents by mode.

Section 755.40. There is hereby created the Joint Legislative Task Force on Department of Transportation Funding. […] The Task Force shall examine the funding needs of the Ohio Department of Transportation. The Task Force also shall study specifically the issue of the effectiveness of the Ohio motor fuel tax in meeting those funding needs. Not later than December 15, 2016, the Task Force shall issue a report containing its findings and recommendations to the President of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. At that time, the Task Force shall cease to exist.

These provisions will help the state maximize resources and fully leverage the potential of Ohio’s multi-modal transportation system, which is essential to enhancing Ohio’s draw as a place where businesses can thrive and where people want to live.

The bill, Amended Substitute House Bill 53, will be voted on by the House of Representatives in early March. The Ohio Senate will begin hearings in early March and GOPC will be testifying in support of these two provisions, as well as other policy recommendations that could lead to a modern and diverse transportation system in Ohio.

GOPC applauds the House Finance Committee for its contributions to this proposed legislation.

GOPC Testifies on ODOT Budget

GOPC calls for policies that would lead to a modern and diverse transportation system in Ohio By Alison Goebel, Associate Director

Every two years, Ohio’s Governor submits a proposed Operating Budget to the General Assembly. This biennium budget for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 is proposed at $72.3 billion. Of that overall budget, $5.9 billion have been allocated to the Ohio Department of Transportation to support its capital projects and operations.

The Ohio Department of Transportation oversees and funds all modes of transportation in Ohio, including railroads, maritime ports, airports, state routes and highways, and public transportation.

Approximately 92% of ODOT's biennium budget is to be used for the maintenance and construction of highways and bridges, which mostly translates into capital dollars for highway repair and expansion. Undoubtedly, Ohio’s highways are a critical asset to the state; with key national highways running through Ohio, the state must maintain the highways in good repair.

However, other modes are critical to the long-term economic health of the state, as well. In particular, public transit has always played, and will increasingly play, an essential role in job growth in the state. Public transit connects workers to jobs—low wage workers utilize public transit, as do “choice riders” who prefer the convenience of public transit to driving. National studies have confirmed again and again that young professionals are showing a strong preference for a range of transportation options.

To attract and retain young professionals in Ohio—the next generation of economic generators—the state of Ohio must assist local transit agencies in meeting the demands of this workforce.  Currently 2% of the ODOT budget goes to supporting Ohio’s 61 public transit agencies.

This past week, GOPC provided testimony to the House Finance Subcommittee on Transportation urging the Legislature to increase funding for public transit and to put into place policies that would help “level the playing field” for transit, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and other options that would modernize the state’s transportation system and help prepare the state to attract and retain residents who expect a range of transportation choices.

GOPC will be providing similar testimony to the full House Finance Committee and the Senate Finance Committee in the coming weeks as the Legislature works to finalize the ODOT budget.

Let's Talk Transit

ODOT Hosts Five Regional Stakeholder Meetings on the Future of Transit in Ohio

Join the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) at one of five regional stakeholder meetings to help shape a long-term strategy for meeting the needs of Ohio's transit riders today and in the future.

Trends show there is a definite rise in the need for convenient, affordable public transportation to jobs, medical appointments, shopping and recreational activities. Ohio's transit agencies are struggling to fund existing service, let alone meet increasing demand. From light rail and bus service in large cities to rural van services, the Ohio Statewide Transit Needs Study is examining existing transit needs and drafting recommendations for better addressing them. ODOT needs your input, comments and ideas!

Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2-4 PM Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Board Room 1240 West 6th Street Cleveland, OH 44113

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2-4 PM Hancock Family Center 1800 North Blanchard Street Findlay, OH 45840

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2-4 PM Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission Scioto Room 111 Liberty Street Columbus, OH 43215

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2-4 PM Athens Community Center 701 East State Street Athens, OH 45701

Friday, Oct. 31, 10 AM-12 PM OhioMeansJobs Building 300 East Silver Street Lebanon, OH 45036

Unable to attend? All meeting materials will be available online starting Oct. 21 at www.TransitNeedsStudy.ohio.gov. Comments accepted through Nov. 14.

Questions or comments? Email ODOT at Transit.Needs@dot.state.oh.us.