ODOT's Transit Plan

ODOT recently announced that for the next biannual budget, they'd be freeing up $50M for transit agencies across the state. This is going to include grants for all aspects of transit agencies - operational support, green buses & starting up new services. According to this press release, the funding is coming from a mix of federal & agency monies and will be distributed according to a mix of formula grants & competitively awarded funding.

My feelings on boosting support for public transit are well known and I'm intrigued by this effort by ODOT to boost support for these transit agencies. COTA is the #2 winner here - getting north of $3.5M according to the formula grant for operations. Cleveland's getting nearly $2M more than that - in the largest award for the state.

Additionally, 41 new green buses will be purchased for the regions and there will be some money allocated to help fund rural & smaller urban mass transit options. In all, I think this is a pretty good allocation of the $50M over 2 years, as long as this provides an impetus for these transit agencies to continue to expand & upgrade their service.

MORPC's Sustainability Conference

Two years ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission's (MORPC) Sustainability Conference. It was an educational event centered on what we can do - on a regional level as public and private entities - to enhance the sustainability of the region. Topics ranged from the expected items such as improving mass transit and rebuilding in the urban core to reduce consumption and congestion to more nuanced topics such as how municipalities can work their zoning codes to allow for individuals to erect wind turbines in their back yards, raise chickens and utilize solar arrays.

This year, a number of awards were presented to local corporations and public entities for various green initiatives - ThisWeek German Village has a good wrap-up of the awards presented here. Additionally, MORPC maintains some information relating to the conference on it's home page, the navigation links are on the left hand side below "Summit".

It's a very interesting event that I recommend all governmental subdivisions should send a delegation to. As governments are looking to cut costs things such as saving energy, reducing consumption and making better use of existing structures / land - green initiatives - can help to reign in costs.