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Passengers board a TARTA bus in downtown Toledo.
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Running out of gas

The Blade

Running out of gas

Toledo’s regional bus system must raise its state-lowest fares just to maintain basic services, underscoring the need to find more reliable and sustainable ways to pay for public transportation here and throughout Ohio. The state, which ranks near the bottom in transit support, must also do much more if it hopes to redevelop its cities and keep talented young people in Ohio.

To avoid service cuts, the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority plans to raise fares July 6. The only real question is by how much, TARTA spokesman Steve Atkinson told The Blade’s editorial page.

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Any fare increase must consider the impact on riders, who can attend TARTA’s public hearings on the matter at 12:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May 12 at the Toledo Area Regional Paratransit Service administration building, at 130 Knapp St. in Toledo.

TARTA’s base fare of $1 per trip is 25 cents cheaper than the next lowest charged by urban transit authorities in Ohio. Local fares last rose in 2006.

Farebox revenue accounts for 19 percent of TARTA’s operating budget. That’s low, even by transit standards. If TARTA raised fares by 25 cents, the base rate would still rank among the state’s lowest. The cost of monthly passes for unlimited travel, now $40 (for seniors and people with disabilities, it’s $20), also will go up.

One of the few transit systems that is supported by local property taxes, TARTA must find more adequate, reliable, and fair sources of funding that don’t create a hodgepodge of routes because of myopic communities that opt out of bus service. These funding options should include a regional sales tax.

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Funded by a 2.5-mill property tax that generates more than half of its $30 million annual operating budget, TARTA serves Toledo, Sylvania, Sylvania Township, Maumee, Waterville, Ottawa Hills, and Rossford. TARTA does not serve much of eastern and western Lucas County: Oregon and Springfield Township, whose location and density make them logical candidates for membership, are not part of the regional system.

Federal funds account for 18 percent of TARTA’s budget. State funds provide a stingy 1 percent — down from 12 percent in 1994 and 4 percent in 2004.

Moreover, state transit funding remains vulnerable to budget cuts. Last year, the state allocated a paltry $7 million in general revenue to transit statewide — down 80 percent from $43 million in 2000.

Ohio spends about 63 cents per person annually on transit — one of the nation’s lowest rates. By contrast, New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland spend more than $150 per person, reports the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

Only one transit authority in Ohio — Cleveland’s — operates rapid-transit buses or rail service. Nearly one-third of Ohio’s 88 counties have no public transportation.

Ohio should follow the lead of other states and use a portion of its fuel-tax revenue for transit needs. Doing so would require the state to repeal a constitutional amendment that bans the use of such taxes for public transportation.

Transit helps drive economic development and urban redevelopment. In Toledo, nearly 14 percent of households — disproportionately poor and African-American — don’t have vehicles.

With nearly 3.5 million annual boardings, TARTA’s ridership in 2014 was the highest in recent years, despite the loss of Spencer Township and Perrysburg from TARTA’s service area.

Urban regions nationwide that compete with Toledo and other Ohio cities for talent and capital are expanding transit to slow sprawl, reduce road congestion, improve air quality, connect people to jobs, attract young people, and jump-start millions of dollars in transit-oriented development.

An assessment of Ohio’s transit needs recently conducted by the state Department of Transportation called for expanding service to another million people, and doubling transit investment by 2025. That won’t happen in the Toledo area without more communities joining TARTA, a better way to pay for its services, and stronger state support.

First Published March 21, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

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