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Protestors Rally in Columbus for Statewide Public Transit Reform

Photo of Sandra Ellington
JO INGLES
/
OHIO PUBLIC RADIO

A group of bus riders and union leaders from Cleveland was in Columbus today. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports the group is telling state lawmakers to dedicate more money to funding public transit.

Clevelanders for Public Transit, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and union representatives say the state needs to kick in more money to fund public transit.

Cleveland resident Sandra Ellington says many low-income people who depend on buses can’t afford the $85 pass she buys each month just to ride.

“We live in one of the richest countries in the world. There is no excuse for this," Ellington said. "We have got to figure out a way. We can’t do it on the backs of the working poor. That’s unacceptable in my book.”

The group is asking lawmakers to follow through on the Transit Needs Study by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.