(The Center Square) – Ohio plans to spend $17.5 million in taxpayer funds to get people to and from work.
The state announced a series of grants Friday to fund workforce transportation efforts in both rural and urban areas across the state as part of the Ohio Workforce Mobility Partnership Program.
The money will go to 33 public transportation projects designed to increase the ease and efficiency of moving residents to economically significant employment centers or places of work outside their home communities.
“Transportation should never be a barrier to opportunity,” Gov. Mike DeWine said. “With these grants, we’re ensuring that Ohioans can easily travel to and from work without having to choose between a good paying job or the relocation of their family.”
The program funds infrastructure, equipment, technology vehicles and planning projects.
The projects include more than $1 million for the Central Ohio Transit Authority, covering Columbus and the surrounding areas, for an entry drive, canopy and technology that shows real-time bus arrival information at the system’s transit hub at Rickenbacker International Airport.
The hub connects central Ohio’s transit authority and the Groveport Rickenbacker Employee Access Transit to transit agencies in Fairfield, Fayette, Madison and Pickaway counties.
“Public transit serves an important role by providing mobility options for our workforce. This funding ensures that transit agencies are better able to connect Ohio’s workers to their jobs and to employment opportunities across the state,” Ohio Department of Transportation Director Pamela Boratyn said.
Also, the Butler County Regional Transit Authority, near Cincinnati, will get $2.5 million to expand its bus yard, add a propane fuel station and train drivers. It supports the CincyLink Commuter route that connects people in Butler and Warren counties with jobs in Hamilton County.
The state estimates 25,000 jobs within 3 miles of CincyLink.
Funding is also going to Clinton, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Lake, Marion, Morgan, Ottowa, Perry, Portage, Sandusky, Shelby and Stark counties.