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Rep. Isaacsohn Joins Gov. DeWine, ODOT, in Announcing Nearly $5M in Public Transit Grants for Cincinnati, Hamilton County

November 12, 2024
Dani Isaacsohn News

COLUMBUS - State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) today joined Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to announce the awarding of $4.96M in public transit grants to the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) and the City of Cincinnati.

The funding comes through ODOT’s Workforce Mobility Partnership Program (WMPP), which was established by House Bill (HB) 23, Ohio’s biennial transportation budget passed by the General Assembly in March 2023.

“The growth of public transportation is crucial to the daily lives of our residents and the growth of our businesses and communities,” said Rep. Isaacsohn. “Nearly $5M of state investment in Cincinnati’s public transportation—including Metro services and the Cincinnati Connector streetcar—is a massive win for our region, and I am grateful to have helped deliver this much-needed investment to SORTA and the City of Cincinnati.”

The following funding awards were granted through the WMPP program:

  • $381,584 to SORTA for the purchase of one-seat paratransit equipment. In coordination with the Butler County Regional Transit Authority, this funding will go toward the acquisition of hardware and software necessary to implement a One-Call Paratransit Service.
  • $2,277,600 to SORTA for the purchase of three forty-foot fixed route hybrid buses to replace three aging buses currently used by SORTA. 
     
  • $1,092,000 for the purchase of MetroNow vehicles. This funding will allow for the purchase of seven additional vehicles that will connect rides point-to-point in the fleet used for the MetroNow program.
  • $1,213,000 for innovative system enhancement for the Cincinnati Connector. This funding will provide for the implementation of improved technology that will better allow the Cincinnati Connector to coordinate transit trips with bus transit service providers.

The WMPP program was established in Section 755.20 of HB 23 and makes $15M available in both fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The goal of the program is to support projects in rural and urban areas of Ohio that easily and efficiently transport resident workforce members to economically significant employment centers or to places of employment outside of their resident community.

In total, $17.58M was awarded to 33 transit projects in 16 Ohio counties. Hamilton County led the way in funding by county with just shy of $5M awarded, followed by Stark County at $3.95M and Butler County at $2.5M.