Metro RTA is thinking about changing your ride to work.
Imagine leaving your suburban home, driving a mile or two to a newly developed area with coffee shops and other retail, an apartment complex and a big parking lot.
Instead of driving another 20 minutes to downtown Akron, you get on a bus and tinker with your smart phone and enjoy free Wi-Fi during the ride. You have to walk the last few blocks, but you are happy, given that you save thousands of dollars of wear and tear on you car.
All this is envisioned by the 20-year master plan the bus system is formulating.
And you might not be calling it a bus system as much in the future because Metro also is looking at establishing rail service that could extend from the Merriman Valley to downtown Akron, then to a station near Akron-Canton Airport.
By now you might be wondering how much all of this will cost.
Richard Enty, Metro executive director, points out that transit expansion can’t be done without federal and state help, with perhaps 80 percent of the cost borne by competitive grants. This means the Akron area must prove the cost-effectiveness of a project in competition with other areas for scarce federal funds.
Metro is looking at a more traditional expansion, too, with the addition of stations and buses to the crowded Market and Arlington streets corridor as it tries to strike a balance between serving people who have always used the buses and making the system attractive for the many people who have never stepped on one.
“The challenge is to do a little bit of both: expand service where the demand is greatest but also look to areas of the county where there’s potential for new service,” Enty said.
There might even be a day when you can call for a small vehicle that arrives at your doorstep and takes you to a bus stop or other destination. That’s available now for elderly and disabled riders and might be extended to everyone, Enty said.
It’s also a money issue.
While Metro might be seen as a mostly urban service, it is supported by a 0.25 percent permanent sales tax that’s paid throughout the county. After federal funds are taken into account, fares support only about 12 percent of the operating expense of a route.
“We are very mindful that if some of our communities are not satisfied, they could lead a revolt,” Enty said.
So Metro is both looking for ways to ease the crush of passengers who fight for seats on rush-hour downtown Akron routes and appealing to suburban taxpayers who prefer to drive cars.
That can mean an emphasis on convenience and economic development for the suburbs.
In coming years, Metro will look at establishing “hubs” in Copley, Norton, Stow and Green that offer parking and a bus stop. In forming the hubs, the bus system will encourage development of stores and apartments that might thrive on the traffic a hub creates, according to the master plan.
“You want to create a walkable node, a place that’s well lit [with] lots of fun things to do,” Enty said.
Metro also wants to enter the information age with “smart cards” that can be used to pay fares upon boarding a bus with a swipe of the hand. The cards can be “loaded” with cash at stores or at home with a computer.
Smart phones also might play a role, eventually being able to pay the fare with a similar swipe or to provide information on when the next bus will arrive. You might be able to sit in the shop and have another sip of coffee, confident that you have just enough time to meet the bus without standing in the cold too long. Similar software is available in some big cities.
It all adds up to a different bus system than many area residents visualize.
“The image that is hard to shake is that transit is for the disadvantaged folks, for disabled folks,” Enty said. “But when we are able to provide travel that is safe and reliable and you can go where you want to go, we can attract more people.”
Dave Scott can be reached at 330-996-3577 or davescott@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Scott on Twitter @davescottofakro.