New bus route a welcome addition

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11:20 AM Thursday, February 4, 2010

Last year, we praised the establishment of a partnership between the Butler County Regional Transit Authority and the Middletown Transit Service that re-established a bus route between Hamilton and Middletown. As we said at the time, we find it encouraging when local government agencies look for ways to collaborate for the benefit of taxpayers, and we were hopeful that more collaboration would be forthcoming.

So we’re pleased to report that another collaborative effort got the green light this week.

After Middletown City Council’s approval on Tuesday, Feb. 2, a daily bus route between Middletown and Oxford will be established by the Middletown Transit System and Butler County RTA, and paid for with Federal Transit Authority grants and by Butler County RTA.

The route is planned to operate along Ohio 73 between Miami University’s Middletown campus and Miami’s Oxford campus, at a cost of $2 each way, with a stop in the city of Trenton along the way.

“The idea originally came from the university, but it’s really for everyone,” Middletown community revitalization director Doug Adkins told staff writer Ryan Gauthier recently. “We saw this growing need to connect Middletown, Trenton and Oxford and decided to do something about it.”

Butler County RTA Executive Director Carla Lakatos told Gauthier that increased demand in Oxford for more public transit — including students taking classes at the Middletown campus — helped drive the establishment of the Middletown-Oxford route.

Mass transit options in Butler County — outside of Middletown where the city’s bus system has operated for decades — have been limited after Butler County RTA discontinued most of its bus routes several years ago. In the meantime, gas prices have soared and Americans have vowed to take action against the nation’s dependence on foreign oil — hence the newfound interest in mass transit.

We applaud this latest collaborative effort that will provide another transportation alternative for Butler County residents. As always, the challenge will be getting the word out about the new route — so that as many riders as possible take advantage of this opportunity. You can reach Butler County RTA at (513) 785-5237 for more information.

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