Topic: Greater Dayton RTA News & Discussion

[Jeffery]

Another good op-ed on the issue by Marvin Gottlieb, the DDN editor

Non-Drivers Losses in 3-C, Beavercreek, show a pattern

The bus-to-the-mall opponents can’t believe there are many who are law-abiding, non-troublesome and affluent enough to shop at Fairfield Commons.

Search around the Internet a little and you’ll find words for people who are afraid of driving in a car (amazophobia), afraid of automobiles (motorphobia) and, for that matter, afraid of trains (siderodromophobia).

What’s needed is a word for fear of people who don’t drive.

The non-drivers are out there. They’re regular people, or there wouldn’t be so many of them. They’re keeping alive modes of transportation the rest of us only turn to in emergencies. They’re more numerous in bad economic times, it stands to reason. And they apparently need a public relations rep.


 

[noozer]

Ellen Belcher: B-creek may face RTA riders in court
By the Dayton Daily News | Sunday, April 3, 2011, 06:03 AM

I don’t mean to pick on Beavercreek. I do mean to criticize Beavercreek City Council.

Its meeting last week — when it voted 6-0 not to allow Greater Dayton RTA to put three bus stops on Pentagon Boulevard near the Mall at Fairfield Commons — was not a proud moment.

An editorial here March 30 (“Beavercreek vote against RTA embarrassing”) explained why the council’s objections are bogus. I won’t repeat them all here, but if you missed the coverage, among the council’s demands was that the shelters be heated and air-conditioned.

Read full editorial at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2011/04/03/ellen_belcher_bcreek_may_face.html?cxtype=feedbot

[Jeffery]

The Dayton Daily News has an op-ed that talks about the implications on the regionalism issue (which I think is a dead issue).

Is Regionalism Still Possible After Beavercreek?

"....The controversy dealt a blow to the cause of a united region, to the notion that the people of the Dayton area need to see themselves as in the same boat, need to identify with one another, need to focus on what unites them rather than wallow in division, fear and competitiveness...."

Comments at the DDN facebook page are excellent, as usual:

"...Dayton has become the cancer of the Miami Valley, unfortunately. Few will touch it with a ten-foot pole. The City of Dayton has become the proverbial red headed stepchild in regards to the rest of the Miami Valley. Only the CoD can change that..."

Opinion Page Comments

[ColDayMan]

Dayton ranks No. 27 (out of 100) in transit study

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/05/12/dayton-ranks-no-27-in-transit-study.html

[ColDayMan]

And for the map:

http://www.brookings.edu/metro/jobs_and_transit/Map.aspx

[Jeffery]

The Beavercreek rejection of RTA is the basis for a civil rights complaint.  But its being filed by a church coalition, not RTA

Group Alleges Beavercreek Violated Civil Rights Act

An attorney for Leaders for Equality and Action in Dayton Inc., or LEAD, held a press conference on the steps of the Tony Hall Federal Building in Dayton to announce that the council’s March 28 vote to reject the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority’s request for the bus stops near the mall constituted discrimination.

The group is calling on the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Civil Rights and the United States Department of Transportation to conduct a Title VI compliance investigation into the denial and Beavercreek’s actions.

Good!   I hope they are sucessfull!

Beavercreek is the heart of hypocrisy of the Miami Valley.  The place exists because of defnese spending yet they are the most rabid righty anti-government tea-party Sarah Palin lovin' conservos in the region. 

Though this sounds implausible there was a sucessfull suit (out of court settlement, though) in Milwaukee over the very same issue.

From an article on the politics around  the proposed Milwaukee streetcar....


Synposing:  Due to suburban political opposition the state opposed constructing a busway out to the suburbs, and , later, a regional light rail system, which resulted in the following:

In frustration, Milwaukee community activists filed two civil rights complaints against the state with the U.S. Department of Transportation in late 1998.

The complaints noted that many of the central city's African-American residents didn't have cars, but nearly all white suburbanites did. Therefore, activists argued, the state was discriminating against minorities by favoring freeways over public transit....
 
...A year later, attorneys for the state and the activists quietly settled the complaints, with the state's promise to "fully cooperate" with the connector study and to ensure its recommendations "are fairly considered" for inclusion in state and regional transportation plans. Transportation projects must be included in such plans to qualify for federal funding.

The settlement also called for the state Transportation Department to "use its best efforts to assist the Milwaukee County Transit System to expand and improve transit service within the Milwaukee metropolitan area to enable transit-dependent residents of Milwaukee to better access areas of job growth."

...which sounds a lot like the sitaution in Beavecreek, except its not a state highway department involved.

[Jeffery]

Beavercreeks' excessive bus stop design issue is now screwing up Greene Counties CATS (sort of an on-demand system that has one fixed-route service) attempt to open a stop at a shopping center off US 35

Bus Stop Embargo Stalls Shuttle

BEAVERCREEK — Beavercreek’s six-month moratorium on permits for public transit stops will delay plans by Greene CATS for a park-and-ride stop at Lofino Plaza at U.S. 35 and North Fairfield Road.

Beavercreek city attorney Stephen McHugh confirmed that all public transit stops — whether on private or public land — are covered by the resolution.

...if you read the article to the end it seems that both Xenia and Fairborn are OK with normal bus stop amenties supporting CATS, and that Beaverceek Council (reading between the lines) didnt realize that this was going to screw up a Greene County based bus service.

[slumcat]

Dayton RTA fans, anybody out there know why GDRTA isn't running their electric trolley buses, despite recently spending funds on filling in gaps in the overhead wire system.  The most trolleys you see running currently are 2--thats two buses not two routes--in the AM rush hour and 2 in the PM rush hour.  They say it's because of construction detours but that's not true with respect to routes 3 and 4.  UPDATE: They just brought trolley routes 3 and 4 back on-line this week.   See my post under Ohio urban photos/Dayton Trolley thread.

[Jeffery]

Beavercreek vs the Bus....the tale continues....


The Feds started an investigation earlier this year in response to the civil rights complaint.

Agency examining Beavercreek’s denial of RTA request

DAYTON — A federal agency has launched an investigation into allegations that the Beavercreek City Council discriminated against minorities when it unanimously voted against adding three bus stops near the Mall at Fairfield Commons.

A civil rights specialist with the Federal Highway Administration will lead the investigation and meet with Leaders for Equality and Action (LEAD) in Dayton during a public meeting at 7 p.m. April 9 at College Hill Community Church, according to organization officials.


Then Beavercreek city govt. decided to revist the issue, passed another ordnance, but not much changed....and the Feds continue to investigate....


The latest:

Revised Beavercreek bus stop criteria approved


The Federal Highway Administration continues to investigate a civil rights complaint against Beavercreek filed by Leaders of Equality and Action (LEAD), a coalition of 16 congregations in the Dayton area, said administration spokesman Doug Hecox. LEAD claimed in its complaint that the vote rejecting the bus stops discriminated against minorities.....
 
.......Mark Donaghy, executive director of RTA, said his agency will decide how to proceed after the federal investigation is complete.

He called changes council has made to the 28 page criteria minor and requirements like surveillance cameras, traffic studies and vehicle turnouts in high traffic area burdensome and overly expensive.

[cranston]

More troubling to me is that as a Montgomery County taxpayer, that extra 0.5% sales tax the 500000 people in Montgomery County pay to run the RTA will now be subsidizing travel outside the county to spend money. 

[Jeffery]

This already exists in that RTA runs to WSU.   

So they turn the WSU line (Route 1) into a loop on Pentagon Blvd.   Since most of the cost of operating transit is in personnell...the drivers....this wouldnt be adding a personnell cost since they already have drivers on the route.  The only additional cost would be the fuel/wear n tear cost for the extra leg on Pentagon Blvd, and maybe the stop improvments (one-time capital cost).

That this is a fairly low-cost service enhancment is probably why RTA is even considering this.   

[cranston]

I was annoyed as a taxpayer when the Wright State connector bus stopped running to Murray Loop, and Rt 13 came into being.  But it wasn't too bad in 1986 (?) -- there wasn't a whole lot out Airway in Greene County except WSU.  And I comprehend the idea that a line to WSU is a convenience for Montgomery County residents in order to access WSU.  As such, Rt 1 should run express to WSU within Greene County, or people who want to get on or get off anywhere other than WSU should contribute to their eroding of the tax base and pay a surcharge.  It is utter lunacy that Montgomery County taxpayers (in response to whomever is driving this) would choose to subsidize anyone to shop and do business in Greene County.  What businesses are out there which are *not* available in Montgomery County?

[Jeffery]

If you look at RTA as a lifeline service to the working poor (which it is), what's "out there" are hotel/service jobs and cheap shopping at Meijer.   I use that bus out to WSU on occasion and that seems to be who uses the bus, beyond the WSU riders.   

If you lived near line 1 this would be a good destination since you wouldnt have to transfer to go shopping...you could ride it out to Meijer.   I think there's also an Aldi over in Westtown, but the selection is better at Meijer.

"as a taxpayer...."  yeah we all are taxpayers.  But I'm also a rider, so I put myself in a rider or customers perspective.    Again, not such a big deal to make a handful of stops beyond the county line since the bus is already running to WSU.

But yeah, cutting or not expanding service to Greene County is a win-win.  A position for fiscal conservatives in  Montgomery County ("a taxpayer" vs "a citizen") and for racist snobs in Beavercreek (reduce the "crime risk" by minimizing exposure to the, ahem, "undesirable element") to come together on.   

[cranston]

I'm not thinking it's a Meijer question;  there are several Krogers and Meijers within the county all of which are closer or on par to downtown than all the way out Airway.  A one-seat ride?  I agree that's certainly a boon to those on Rt 1, but changing routes downtown in the WSP is more convenient than on the street.  The point is, running on Airway outside the county has brought us onto a slippery slope.  OK, let's do that simple loop on Pentagon to serve the *three* hotels there ... now what about all those people who want to go to Target down North Fairfield?  It's just a *little* further. 

And I agree with you that it's right to consider the question as a taxpayer *and* a rider.  Perhaps the other taxpayers and riders in Montgomery County ought to have their voices heard as well.

[Jeffery]

RTA now goes to Austin Landing!

Route 61: Weekday, Saturday, and Sunday southbound service to Austin Landing will be added via St. Rte. 741 to right on Innovation Dr., left on Abbey Rd., and left on Landing Way. Trips to Kingsridge Dr. to serve Walmart and the Shops of 725 will be added. Stops on Mall Woods Dr. to Fred J. Miller will be eliminated because of low ridership.