I saw this news release on Columbus Underground a couple of days ago and have been meaning to cross-post it here.
If you missed your opportunity to comment on the MORPC CapitalWays Regional Transportation Plan, you just got another chance to voice your opinions. ODOT wants to hear your ideas and opinions about passenger and freight transportation. See below:
ODOT invites all Ohioans to Join the “Transportation Conversation”
Industry experts and state leaders named to Ohio 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task ForceApril 14, 2008 – Inviting all Ohioans to join in a first-of-its-kind “Transportation Conversation” to determine the type of transportation system the state needs for the future, the Ohio Department of Transportation officially launched the Ohio 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force by naming the diverse mix of industry experts and state leaders who will lead the historic endeavor.
Leading the task force will be Chairman Ty Marsh, president of the Columbus Chamber, Vice-Chair Frank Jackson, mayor of Cleveland, and Vice-Chair Deborah Lieberman, commissioner for Montgomery County. The statewide conversations will be led by individual steering committees centered on three key issues: promoting a multi-modal system, maximizing public investment, and generating economic development.
Supporting the effort will be a host of individuals and experts serving on working committees, with backgrounds ranging from business and industry, shipping and logistics, finance and development, urban planning and agriculture, education and health care, transportation, and state and local government.
In addition to gathering public input and information at a series of open meetings across the state, the task force is encouraging all Ohioans to join the conversation by submitting their ideas and opinions here.
The Ohio 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force will convene its inaugural meeting May 7 at ODOT’s Central Office in Columbus.
A final report from the Task Force is expected by this Fall. Through a consensus around these important issues, Ohio can have one voice on it transportation needs as we enter debate on the state’s next biennium budget and the authorization of a new federal transportation bill.
It seems some people are concerned about the geographic distribution of committee members:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/NEWS11/804200343
[...] the status quo. I guess we’ll see. The best thing you can do is vote with your feet and let ODOT, MORPC, and your local elected representatives know what you [...]
Gasoline tax is wrong way to pay for transportation
Saturday, February 7, 2009 3:08 AM
Columbus Dispatch Letters to the Editor
Last spring, Gov. Ted Strickland appointed me to serve on the 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force. During the course of serving on the task force’s economic development subcommittee, we had dozens of meetings and hearings both in Columbus and around the state. We were enjoined not to engage in a management critique of the Ohio Department of Transportation. But at no time did ODOT explain to the task force how or why it was running out of money.
Strickland’s charge to the task force was clear: Envision and champion the optimum transportation system for Ohio’s future and recommend the resources and financial tools needed to build and sustain it. Members were to see the task force as an opportunity to ask what should be done and what could be done.
Over the past year, the Brookings Institution and my organization, Greater Ohio, also have developed, as a part of the Restoring Prosperity to Ohio Initiative, policy recommendations that call for transformative infrastructure investments, with the goal of revitalizing the state’s core communities and reinvigorating their economic competitiveness.
The task force’s recommendations that call for aligning the policies and practices of state agencies, ensuring the policies and practices are business- and user-friendly; launching a Making Regions Matter initiative; and expanding the use of alternative fuels, technologies, “smart growth” solutions and public transit all dovetail with the Brookings Institution and Greater Ohio Restoring Prosperity policy agenda.
Specific task force-recommended actions with substantial benefits include developing a “Complete Streets” pilot program, preparing a cost-benefit analysis for transportation projects, integrating multimodal transportation and land-use plans, and aligning local land-use policies by incentivizing and promoting smart growth. We applaud these efforts.
“Fix it First” — that is, dedicating resources to fix existing roads and streets before building new — is another action item that aligns with the ODOT report; however, if we are serious about this, then we also need to require ODOT to pay for the maintenance of state highways that pass through cities, instead of stopping maintenance at a city’s edge. This suggestion did not make the report. However, it was one of the main points made by Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown at our Restoring Prosperity Summit held on Sept. 10. Our initial findings and policy recommendations are contained in a preliminary report that was released at the summit, “Restoring Our Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing Ohio’s Core Communities.” You can find the full report at:
http://www.greaterohio.org.
The primary funding mechanism recommended in the task-force report is an increase in the gasoline tax, with the suggestion that the revenue from that special tax be used to secure bonds as part of a capital bond financing program run by the Ohio Transportation Finance Commission. The proceeds of the bonds and the revenue would be made available for all transportation modes. But gasoline consumption is going down; no surprise as Hummers are traded for Hondas. Every time you trade in a car that gets 20 mpg for one that gets 30 mpg, ODOT loses a lot of revenue from you. According to ODOT’s latest business plan, there will be a $3.5 billion deficit by 2015 for transportation in Ohio.
Do we really want to increase taxes on a declining revenue source? ODOT would have an even larger vested interest in keeping us in cars and burning as much gasoline as possible. Furthermore, most other states are incentivizing reductions in vehicle miles traveled. Once again, Ohio is heading down a regressive path.
Since we did not examine ODOT’s management issues, how do we know that there are no cost savings in the ODOT system? How do we know that this increase in gasoline tax, expansion of toll roads and increases in car-registration fees generate the right amount of revenue? What is the right amount?
The proof is in the funding. The funding mechanisms recommended by the task force will not put Ohio on the path to long-term prosperity. ODOT doesn’t need a bailout. What it needs is greater accountability and performance criteria on infrastructure investments so it is truly transformative in meeting Ohio’s economic, social and environment-energy goals — all consistent with Greater Ohio’s Restoring Prosperity to Ohio Initiative.
GENE KREBS
Co-director
Greater Ohio
Columbus
http://dispatch.com/live/content/editorials/stories/2009/02/07/Krebs__SAT_ART_02-07-09_A7_NLCQGUF.html?sid=101
Well said by Mr. Krebs. The Transportation for Tomorrow commission ran into the same problem in terms of the disconnect between generating revenue and discouraging gas use.
I actually like that the gas tax encourages people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles, but we do need a new revenue source to supplement it. I suggest tolls on the freeways and a vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) tax. Ultimately though, the VMT tax could have the same problem as the fuel tax. If VMT declines, which would be good, then revenue would decline too. But if people aren’t driving enough to pay for the highway system, maybe the system is too big.