FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2007

METRO TO USE I-71 SHOULDER LANE BEGINNING JULY 23
First in the nation to use left shoulder for transit buses

CINCINNATI - Go faster when traffic snarls on I-71... ride Metro.

Metro, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Transportation, ARTIMIS, Federal Highway Administration, Ohio State Highway Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies, will begin operating buses on I-71's left shoulder between Kenwood and Kings Island to avoid traffic congestion, beginning Monday, July 23.

Metro's one-year pilot project was modeled after successful programs in Minneapolis and other cities. However, this will be the first use of the left shoulder, which avoids the highway on-ramps and exits.

The goals of the project are:

• To reduce traffic by encouraging the use of Metro as a faster alternative
• To fully utilize the capacity of the highway system

The 11.7-mile Bus-on-Shoulder corridor will be I-71 northbound and southbound between Kenwood Road and Western Row Road, served by Metro's Rt. 71X

Kings Island Express and Rt. 72 Kings Island. These routes provide about 900 rides per weekday. Fare from the Kings Island park & ride is $3.25 one-way.

The 12-ft.-wide shoulder lane will be used when traffic slows below 30 mph. Buses will not be permitted to go more than 15 mph faster than the speed of the highway traffic and buses will not exceed 35 mph on the shoulder.

Only Metro buses and emergency vehicles will be permitted to use the shoulder; buses will yield to emergency vehicles. Metro bus operators who drive I-71 routes are being trained to safely use the shoulders.

ARTIMIS provides a direct fiber-optic feed with real-time camera images to Metro's radio control center to monitor traffic in the area.

Metro and the project partners have been working for more than a year on the development of the Bus-on-Shoulder project, which required approval from both ODOT and the Federal Highway Administration.

"This is a true multi-modal strategy for reducing congestion and increasing safety on our highways," said Hans Jindal, ODOT District 8 deputy director. "We cannot build our way out of congestion, we must find creative ways to utilize the full capacity of our highway system and work to incorporate multi-modal solutions into our highway projects."

"No one wants to sit in traffic. By using the shoulder lane, Metro will be able to get commuters to work and home faster than driving," said Mike Setzer, Metro's CEO. "That's a real-time advantage that we believe will attract more people to transit. We're grateful to ODOT for its leadership in making this innovative project happen, and to all of our partners for their support."

Metro is a non-profit public service of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, providing about 22 million rides per year in Greater Cincinnati.

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Click here for the Bus on Shoulder Project Backgrounder