The Ohio Chamber of Commerce joined with local officials to discuss tips for advocacy, local needs, and how best to effectively lobby for transportation funding. The first annual Mobility Management Conference, hosted by Knox County Mobility Management in Mount Vernon, brought together Mobility Managers and transit officials from across the state.
With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, and with 20,000 future jobs announced just in 2022 as coming to Ohio over the next decade, public transit and other mobility options for Ohioans to access work, education, commerce and medical services are critical. According to the Federal Transit Administration, the rising costs of cars and gas are causing workers to spend as much as 37% of their income on commuting.
Along with Knox County Commissioner Bill Pursel and Knox Public Health Commissioner Zach Green, OCC Senior Vice President Rick Carfagna discussed unmet needs in counties and how to navigate local and state governments and collaborating agencies to finds solutions for gaps in service. Carfagna stressed the need to develop relationships early and “without an ask”, something particularly important with term limits resulting in widespread legislative turnover. With 63 public transit agencies operating in Ohio, most of which serve rural and suburban counties, many state officials aren’t immediately aware of how people in their own districts – far from metropolitan centers – are served by transit programs.
In addition to public transit, many private mobility companies are helping to fill needs where reliable transportation is lacking. SHARE Mobility, another presenter at the Mobility Management Conference, uses proprietary routing software and a trusted network of fleet operators to provide reliable and efficient transportation operations for companies and their employees. These types of operations complement public transit, while allowing employers to provide commuter benefits as an employment tool. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce is helping advocate for a budget amendment to create a commuter benefits tax credit to financially encourage these types of employee benefits. The OCC agrees that these arrangements such as these result in improved access to jobs, reduction in roadway costs, and increased buying power for workers.