MANSFIELD — A series of pop-up events are planned in the next few weeks to gain greater public input into Richland County Transit’s 10-year transit development plan.
“We are hot and heavy in the public input process,” RLS & Associates representative Megan Matheny told RCT board members on Wednesday morning. “We are excited about the public engagement effort.”
RLS & Associates is a Dayton-based consulting company the RCT board selected to help develop the plan guiding local public transit through the next decade.
The Ohio Department of Transportation awarded $165,779 through the Ohio Transit Partnership Program to fund RCT’s planning efforts.
Jean Taddie, transit development manager for the Richland County Regional Planning Commission, has said the planning process includes an extensive public and community stakeholder engagement effort.
Christy Campoll, a senior associate with RLS & Associates, told the board in October public awareness is a key component for a successful public transit system.
“I feel like that’s the half of the job … helping people to understand how to make the (transit) system work for them,” said Campoll, a senior associate with RLS.
An online survey is available at https://www.rctvision.com and will remain available through the first week in February. Taddie said Wednesday that nearly 50 local residents have responded to the online survey.
“It’s not where we want to be. Our goal is 300,” Taddie said. “We are going to be taking the survey to the people at these pop-up events. We will have clipboards and pens and we will do the survey for them.”
Matheny said RLS & Associates will have staff members in attendance at the sessions to assist with the surveys.
Here are the scheduled pop-up dates, locations and times:
Jan. 24
Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging; 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 2131 Park Ave. West, Ontario.
North End Community Improvement Collaborative; beginning at noon; 134 N. Main St., Mansfield.
North Central State College; beginning in the afternoon; Health Science Building.
Jan. 25
Ohio State University-Mansfield; 9 to 11 a.m.; Ovalwood lobby.
Ohio State University-Mansfield; noon to 2 p.m.; Eisenhower Marketplace.
Jan. 26
Cypress High School career and resource fair; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 1160 W. 4th St., Mansfield.
North Central State College; beginning in the afternoon; Fallerius Building.
Feb. 4
Mansfield-Richland County Public Library (Black History Celebration); 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; 43 W. Third St., Mansfield.
The final plan is scheduled for release in September and will include service updates and technology solutions for RCT over the next 10 years.
For more information about the transit planning process, call the Richland County Regional Planning Commission 419-774-5684.
In addition to the public surveys, RCT board chair Clint Knight said 126 surveys were sent to employers around the county and 34 have been returned. It asked questions regarding an employer’s number of employees, shift schedules and where employees reside.
Surveys of riders are also being offered on buses and 140 have participated, according to Taddie, who said a fourth survey is being drafted to ask questions of transit services in neighboring communities.
