SORTA to hold virtual public meeting on new bus routes for Cincinnati students tonight

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is holding a virtual public meeting Thursday evening after eliminating specific Metro bus routes that served Cincinnati students. 

Those student routes, dubbed Xtra rides, were often skipped last spring – as frequently as 300 times a month – due to the transit authority's driver shortage, transit officials said. The majority of students who used these routes were Cincinnati Public Schools students.

The transit authority's new plan is to give regular bus passes to all students in grades 7-12 who previously used the Xtra service routes which in the past provided students with nonstop service to school. Transit officials say the new plan will provide more reliable, flexible service to those students. This new plan does not at all affect CPS' yellow bus system.

"My concern about this is at the start of school this will be more than disastrous," CPS board member Eve Bolton said during a Wednesday night board of education meeting. "It will be catastrophic."

CPS board members unanimously voted to oppose the transit authority's new plan on Wednesday. The district holds that those Xtra routes are "crucial" for CPS students who attend school outside of their own neighborhood.

It's unclear what impact the resolution will have. CPS officials said they would be reaching out to the authority after Wednesday's meeting to discuss alternative solutions to the transit authority's driver shortage. Transit officials declined to comment on CPS' resolution.

Loren Johnson, who leads CPS' transportation department, was placed on administrative leave last week after district officials said Johnson made decisions without involving CPS senior administration or the board and misrepresented discussions with the authority. A human resources investigation is underway.

To find bus route information for your student as the plan currently stands, go to Google Maps or the Transit App and enter your home address and school address. Select "arrive by" and enter your desired arrival time. Be sure to enter Aug. 19 as your trip date, as that is the first day of school and when the transit authority's new routes are scheduled to be up and running.

The authority maintains that the new plan offers Cincinnati students access to more options and reduced travel time to and from school. No student should have more than one bus transfer under the new plan, officials said.

Community members can attend the authority's meeting through Facebook Live or on Zoom. The authority will present service change details twice, at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., with time to answer questions immediately following each presentation.