Fueling a Modern Mobility System
To remain attractive to business and residents, Ohio must maintain our robust transportation infrastructure network. This could become a challenge if our population growth slows and motor fuel tax receipts continue to shrink.
Ohio’s next Governor and Legislature must prioritize investments to existing assets and consider new, economical transportation solutions that get Ohioans and goods where they need to go. Investments must be made based on metrics that sufficiently account for the benefits generated by active transportation and transit.
A Blueprint for Stronger Communities Includes:
Embrace a true “Fix It First” Construction Policy
Many of Ohio’s transportation corridors are mature. Given the challenges presented by a stagnant revenue source, our main priority should be preservation first, and capacity expansion only where congestion, safety, and freight reliability benefits clearly exceed life-cycle costs. New expansion projects are liable to create long-term financial obligations that may be too much for the state or individual communities to sufficiently handle in the future.
Ohio must embrace a true Fix It First construction policy. We cannot borrow against our future and need to maintain what we own. Such a policy will prevent future unfunded liabilities and encourage realistic asset management.
Developing a Mode-Neutral Transport Network
Ohio should adopt a mode-neutral approach to transportation. Roads, transit, rail, active transportation, and technology-enabled services should compete for funding using performance standards and benefit-cost standards that accurately assess economic, community, and safety outcomes.
To ensure every mode can equally compete for the investment needed to support existing users and provide opportunities for growth, GOPC recommends Ohio:
Maintain investment in public transit at the state level to support these critical services. Targeted, performance-based support for system growth is often more economical than roadway expansion and will also ensure that where riders lack practical alternatives, investments will support necessary economic growth and expansion.
Invest in roadway safety improvements at the state level which provide proven, reliable, and effective protections to vulnerable road users like pedestrians, horse-drawn buggies, and cyclists. This includes enhancements and measures that have been shown to enhance the local businesses by providing pathways of access and accessibility by newfound clientele.
Support passenger rail expansion. Prioritize projects with clear operating plans, strong local participation and local match, and opportunities for private participation or competitive service provision.
Invest in commercial freight networks outside of highways. Ohio has two critical transportation assets that help Ohio stand out from our peers: a large railroad network and significant waterway assets in Lake Erie and the Ohio River. Diversifying our approach to freight and logistics will provide Ohio with a critical advantage, particularly against unpredictable weather conditions that can slow roadway traffic.
How to Build Safe, Vibrant Streets in Ohio
In summer 2024, GOPC published our first volume of How to Build Safe, Vibrant Streets in Ohio: A Guide for Non-Engineers. It provided tips for implementing an active transportation project, funding sources, and technical assistance programs at the state and federal level that can help plan and fund projects. We are proud that the guide has been downloaded nearly 350 times, and hope it is inspiring more innovative approaches to creating calmer, safer streets, and revitalized neighborhoods in Ohio and beyond!
Modernizing the Transportation Review Advisory Council
The Transportation Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) is charged, by the Ohio Revised Code, with reviewing and deciding which expensive transportation projects will receive state funding. As Ohio’s transportation network continues to diversify, the backgrounds of TRAC board members should as well, so that TRAC has the expertise to adequately assess the economic impact of proposed investments.
TRAC should reflect on current economic conditions and invest in projects that will have the greatest multiplier effects. Typically, that is in existing communities with existing residents where decades of public and private investment have already been committed and established, high-income job hubs exist.