Ohio Increases Public Transportation Funding

Ohio has increased its funding of public transportation for the first time in more than a decade.

The Ohio General Assembly this month approved a supplemental appropriation for the Ohio Department of Transportation that increased transit funding by $8.2 million.

The move reversed slightly a 15-year decline of state spending for public transportation from $42 million to $7 million.

The increase in funding comes from $6.8 million from a federal TIGER grant and $1.4 million in other federal funding.

Most of the increase will go to the Transit Tech Ohio project to help rural transit agencies purchase hardware and software that allows them to schedule and dispatch transit vehicles more efficiently.

Other funds will be used to reduce fares for elderly passengers.

The legislature, though, tabled amendments by state representatives from Cleveland and Cincinnati to boost transit funding to $97 million annually.

Tags: Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio public transit, Public transportation, public transportation funding, public transportation in Ohio, Tiger grants