The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority’s executive director says that after plans to get a sales-tax levy before voters this year were thwarted, the agency will return in 2018 with a new strategic plan and a new levy pitch.
It is good that TARTA has embraced the notion of crafting a new, forward-looking strategy with the help of community input. That planning should start soon and it should be based on a few important ideas.
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● We need a new model. Like most cities, Toledo’s transportation needs have changed dramatically over the last few decades and are likely to change even more in the near future. The antiquated bus-route system TARTA uses now has simply become inadequate for the city and region. Expanding it will not work. It must be revamped.
Public transportation will always be an important asset for students, the working poor, and others who need reliable transportation.
● TARTA must be used by the middle class. It must be a vital part of the infrastructure for a community with a thriving urban core. It must be efficient, attractive, and convenient enough to appeal to commuters who have other options. It must be a component of the redevelopment of a city with a growing number of downtown jobs and residents. Mass transit must be part of a city’s “cool” factor.
Successful modern transit redesigns in cities like Pittsburgh have emphasized reaching previously underserved neighborhoods and connecting them with the rest of the city. They’ve been built to carry shoppers, concert-goers, and sports fans efficiently to those attractions. This helps clear city streets of traffic and reduce the need to use valuable city real estate for parking. TARTA must also fully investigate successful new transit ideas in other cities.
● TARTA must be high tech. Other cities are investing in natural-gas powered buses. They’re designing systems that use autonomous vehicles. They’re using phone apps to let users pay fares and track trains and buses.
So, planners must keep in mind that expanding or building on the current system is not a starting point. Thinking boldly — ending downtown bus lanes and looking at bringing back trolleys, for example — is really the only option.
Whether TARTA is funded with the property tax it uses now or a new half-cent sales tax should be part of the community conversation about the future of transit. But this is just one element of the imagining and planning that need to begin now.
Voters must see a reimagined and revitalized TARTA plan before they see another levy request.
First Published August 6, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
