By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

They don't generate nearly the controversy that light rail does, and may not be as sexy to potential riders.

But buses are as much a part of a proposed regional mass transit plan as light rail. On Nov. 5, Hamilton County voters will consider a half-cent sales tax increase to expand the system.

INFOGRAPHIC

Bus expansion plan

"Buses can do some things that light rail can't and vice versa," says Metro general manager and chief executive officer Paul Jablonski.

The $100 million bus plan is part of the $2.7 billion MetroMoves plan proposed by Hamilton County's transit agency, which is asking county voters for the tax increase to help cover the local portion of the bus expansion and a $2.6 billion light rail system.

If approved by voters, the proposal would create several new bus routes in the county's outer ring of suburbs and fatten up existing commuter routes.

To execute the plan, which would begin immediately and take 12 years to complete, Metro would buy about 100 more buses, build a new terminal and build transit "hubs" throughout the county.

Those expansions would allow the agency to increase the mileage its buses travel on a typical weekday by 21.8 percent, with most of the new or expanded routes running outside Cincinnati city limits.

"One of the challenges of this was to lay out a new system in a county where there are not a lot of east-west routes," says Tim Reynolds, Metro's director of strategic planning.

The plan would add 10 new east-west routes, including one that essentially follows Interstate 275 from Anderson Township to Northgate Mall and then on to Harrison.

Initial estimates call for the new bus service to add 15,000 to 18,000 riders a day to the approximately 74,000 riders Metro currently carries on a typical weekday. Metro officials say that if the 60-mile Hamilton County light rail system is approved and finished on schedule in 23 years, it would carry about 100,000 passengers per weekday.

`Behind the times'

The bus plan creates 27 transit hubs throughout the county, with Metro for the first time shifting to smaller shuttle buses.

The shuttles, which measure no longer than 30 feet and seat up to 30 riders, would be used as "feeders" around the hubs. Those buses would then serve mainline bus routes and light rail stations.

Metro officials compare the operation to that of a locally based regional airline.

"It's a lot like Comair using smaller planes to feed into the hub and the thicker Delta routes," Mr. Reynolds says. "The current system we have at Metro is so behind the times; it's regional in name only and that needs to change, and I'm very happy with what we came up with."

Even opponents of the proposed sales tax increase say that buses are a good idea, but criticize the way they have been presented in the MetroMoves plan.

Stephan Louis, chairman of the Alternatives for Light Rail Transit, an opposition group, wants to see a bus plan implemented before light rail is even considered, to see if there is a demand for increased mass transit.

"We wouldn't have had a serious problem if they had just presented a bus plan last year, or even this year, as a political group, because we support a well-run efficient Metro system," says Mr. Louis, a Pleasant Ridge medical supplies salesman. "But we don't have that, and on none of the corridors was it even considered to use buses. Instead, all we get is light rail, and we don't get to see a bus plan on its own."

Mr. Louis points out that Minneapolis/St. Paul will use a dedicated bus way for one of its corridors to complement a planned light rail line. He also is critical of the hub concept, saying that using buses was just a way to get light rail stations built in Hamilton County.

Mr. Reynolds denies this, saying that the locations of the hubs would have been chosen even if light rail were not in the picture, although the location of several hubs has yet to be finalized.

The plan, he says, was to have light rail and buses complement each other.

"Buses can get into neighborhoods that light rail can't," Mr. Reynolds says. "But those buses will be stuck in traffic and can be unpredictable.

"And another objective of the plan was to reduce congestion, and rail has shown that it does attract more new riders to transit. Still, it was never a bus versus rail situation; it was what makes sense for this area."

More jobs, but higher fares

Mr. Reynolds says that if the light rail system is built, it will be more cost-efficient than buses, since light rail can carry more passengers per load than a bus.

Critics say this argument fails to consider the initial construction cost, which is much more expensive for light rail.

The bus plan by itself would add 300 to 400 new jobs at Metro and raise per-passenger cost from $2.36 to $3.12.

The estimated operating cost per passenger on the completed Hamilton County light rail system would be $2.53based on current ridership numbers, not including the construction costs.

Mr. Reynolds adds that only one operator is needed per 300-person train, compared with one driver for a 45-person bus.

According to Mr. Jablonski, while officials considered having voters weigh funding for light rail and the bus expansion separately, they decided to present them jointly on the ballot.

"At the 20,000-foot level, we set out to design and present a comprehensive and integrated transportation plan, and one won't work as well without the other," Mr. Jablonski says. "We have to combine the best of all modes, and one without the other won't be the same for the future of the region."

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com