The Ohio Department of Transportation has won a federal grant for approximately $6.8 million to increase broadband service, as well as upgrade technology for transit agencies, in rural areas.
Ohio’s 34 rural transit service areas will receive upgrades with the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant awarded to the Transit Tech Ohio project. It will enable them to operate more efficiently and expand broadband access across the Buckeye state. ODOT Assistant Director Jim Barna said, “The lack of these upgrades is leading to inefficiencies—inefficiencies that cost time and money and ultimately under serve the people who rely on the vital services of rural transit.”
Upgraded technology will mean better routing and increased effectiveness for rural transit agencies who run fixed routes on a schedule, or who send transportation by request. New software upgrades will make I easier for residents to make the best choice for their travel. Until the new upgrades are installed, some agencies will operate without broadband access, while others have broadband but need new equipment.
Planned upgrades for transit vehicles include: GPS, vehicle-location systems, tablets and mobile-data terminals. In addition, new equipment will be installed on existing towers for wireless broadband held by the state, and new towers will be constructed as needed, which will bring high-speed Internet access to some rural regions. Lindsay Shanahan, executive director for Connect Ohio, the nonprofit group working to expand broadband access in Ohio told the Columbus Dispatch, “The hope would be that even if folks don’t use rural transit that ultimately broadband coverage would benefit in these areas.”
The project, expected to take nearly three years to complete, will focus on upgrading counties that lack software and broadband access before moving on to counties that have one or the other.
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