Cranley to introduce Regional Transportation Act

This afternoon at noon, Cincinnati City Councilmember John Cranley will introduce the Regional Transportation Act, a motion that would restructure the finances and control of SORTA.

Cranley's proposal would create the Greater Cincinnati Transportation Authority (GCTA), reforming the governing structure of SORTA to better incentivize jurisdictions who contribute to public transportation and give fast-growing suburban communities more of a say on regional transportation issues.

"A successful regional transportation system must include the fast growing Butler, Clermont, and Warren counties, which have a lot of jobs and currently are not formally part of the governing structure of SORTA," Cranley says in the motion.

The GCTA board would be composed of between 11 and 19 members.

Five of those members would be appointed by the county commissioners of Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, and Warren and by the mayor of the City of Cincinnati.

Additional members of the board would also be selected by the county commissioners and would be apportioned based upon that county's (or Cincinnati's) percentage of funding.

Any county/jurisdiction contributing more than 50 percent of GCTA's funding would be allowed to appoint members to the board until it holds a majority.

In a statement supporting the motion, Cranley outlines five reasons why public transportation should be reformed:

* SORTA has been unable to find significant new funding
* There is no incentive structure for governments to add to the funding pot - the SORTA board has a pattern of adding suburban Hamilton County routes and cutting routes within the City of Cincinnati
* There is no guaranteed representation of transit riders on the SORTA board
* The board has no representatives from Butler, Clermont or Warren counties
* The City of Cincinnati provides the vast majority of the funding but holds a minority position on the board

Cranley also cites Cincinnati's "historic and unmatched financial commitment to public transit" as the reason why they should be the ones to reform SORTA.

"Cincinnati invests $43 million annually in public transit," Cranley writes. "Sadly, no other jurisdiction comes anywhere near this investment. Cincinnati taxpayers contribute over 90 percent of local transit dollars and that investment should be reflected in the amount of representation they have in the body that governs transportation."

The motion has been signed by all nine councilmembers.

If the motion is passed by City Council, City administration will report back to council within 30 days.