EDITOR’S NOTE: This marks the third in a four-day series of stories that examine the issues surrounding public transportation in Richland County.
NEWARK — Lee Nichols has helped guide many communities through public transit strategic planning efforts.
The key to success, he said, is found after the study is complete.
“You have to identify a project champion,” he said. “Someone who has the ear of political leaders who can help move the project forward once the study is done.
“It can just end up on a shelf gathering dust without a project champion,” said Nichols, now a senior associate at The Goodman Corp. in Texas, responsible for the development of transportation, infrastructure, community and regional planning projects.
Nichols, then employed by WSB Consulting of Minnesota, helped lead Licking County through the same kind of planning project Richland County Transit has scheduled in 2022.
“It was a really fun project,” Nichols said. “It was a community that was really passionate about having a good public transportation system. It was nice to come into a community with that kind of passion.”
The plan, which took about two years to complete, was based on public meetings, rider surveys, a community-wide survey, stakeholder interviews, discussions with transit staff and operators, and an online public comment period.
The key initial step is in selecting the right consultant for the project, according to Nichols, who has a master’s degree in city and regional planning and more than two decades of experience in public transit planning.
“There are a lot of capable consultants out there who do this type of work,” he said. “The important this is, when you do your request for proposals, is to have a solid direction for what you want to accomplish with the project.
“Have a defined sketch of the work you want to get done. But be prepared — sometimes a consultant will offer some tough love. He may say, ‘You’re doing this well, but you need to fix this.’
“Get a good structure for your plan, a good steering committee, multiple stakeholders involved, a good public engagement plan,” Nichols said.
The planning effort must be community-wide in breadth and layers deep in depth, he said.
“In Newark, we rode the buses. We did passenger surveys. We interviewed the drivers and the agency employees, who deal with the clientele every day.
“We got their input on how to improve the service and identified issues and concerns of employees that will help us hire and retain drivers,” Nichols said.
He also suggested Richland County leaders select some low-hanging fruit for initial goals.
“Identify some early wins. What can we implement in the next three to six months to show people some immediate changes and improvements?” Nichols said.
In Licking County, which has a population about 50,000 people larger than Richland County, the transit development plan that emerged offered a five-year schedule for improvements.
Interestingly, some of the improvements called for would only match some of the services already available in Richland County.
One improvement will be the addition of deviated and fixed routes to the system then in place, which only provides for Dial-a-Ride service. The plan, approved in June 2020, called for the creation of seven fixed routes with limited hours and weekday service.
Richland County currently has nine fixed routes, in addition to Dial-a-Ride services.
A survey of riders in Licking County found that 72 percent of the transit users had a household income of less than $25,000. Almost nine in 10 had no driver’s license. It found 40 percent had no vehicles in their household, 89 percent considered themselves to have a disability, 45 percent were riding to work and four in 10 would not have made the trip without a bus service.
Join Richland Source City Editor Carl Hunnell at Relax It’s Just Coffee, 105 N. Main St., for “Coffee and Transit Talk” on Thursday, Jan. 6, at noon. Read the series and join Hunnell for an hour-long conversation to offer your thoughts on what improvements the public county bus service should consider.
Can’t make it? Email your thoughts to carl.hunnell@richlandsource.com.
According to the Licking County Transit website, it doesn’t appear any fixed routes have been added. Board chair Rick Black, also a county commissioner, didn’t return Richland Source phone calls or emails for comment.
It also appears Licking County Transit Services have similar funding sources as Richland County. According to its website, Licking County buses are funded, in part, by the Federal Transit Administration, the Ohio Department of Transportation, Licking County Board of Commissioners and users.
Just like in Richland County, additional funding is provided by contracts with agencies to provide transportation services for their clients.
According to a June 20, 2020, story in the Newark Advocate, the plan found two remaining hurdles: funding and drivers.
Transit board member Jeff Hindel was quoted as saying, “A couple of things bother me. Where’s the money coming from to expand this, because we’re at bare bones now. And second, where are we going to get the drivers?”
Nichols said he was not surprised.
“It always comes down to funding,” he said. “You see that everywhere, especially in smaller communities. There has to be funding for services, drivers, buses … that’s where city councils, county commissioners kind of balk.
“They recognize the need for buses get people to work, to medical appointments, etc., but how to pay for it always comes up. These political leaders have a lot of other things that need funding — transit may not be their top priority,” Nichols said.
“When we look at these plans, we talk to clients and we look at potential funding sources,” he said, adding tax laws vary by state. “If there are opportunities for funding, it may have to go to the voters and sometimes voters are reluctant to do that.
“In a lot of these smaller communities, where general fund dollars are needed, transit is fighting for money with police, fire, roads and other community services,” Nichols said.
