Government spending
This newspaper is committed to tracking spending at agencies such as the Greater Dayton RTA and other entities that rely on tax dollars to operate.
The Greater Dayton RTA is spending millions of dollars this year to renovate its buildings, buy new vehicles, upgrade security and technology and offer new “customer-friendly” tools and services.
The improvements are part a of broad overhaul intended to modernize transit operations. RTA’s five-year capital budget is nearly $200 million.
“It is an aggressive capital program but one that contains projects in some cases long overdue for additional investment,” said Mark Donaghy, the agency’s CEO.
The agency’s capital budget for 2016 was projected at about $40.3 million, with more than $33 million coming from federal and other sources, according to a December budget update to the Greater Dayton RTA board of trustees.
The capital budget for 2015 was about $22.5 million, according to the minutes from a December 2014 update.
Capital expenditures are funded through a combination of federal dollars and local sources, typically through an 80/20 percent split. Local matches comes from capital reserve financed by local sales tax proceeds, officials said.
The Greater Dayton RTA said it is committed this year to replacing 50 large buses and 25 Project Mobility vehicles.
The agency is spending millions of dollars on new diesel-powered coaches to replace its aging fleet. Also, a new phone call service will notify Project Mobility riders 10 minutes before the arrival of a bus.
RTA also plans more than $2.5 million in renovations to the facades and roofs of the downtown buildings at Wright Stop Plaza.
The American building at Third and Main streets will get a sloped awning, and its second- and third-floor windows will be replaced.
The storefront of the Cooper building, located on Third Street, will get a makeover, as will the facade of the main Concourse building.
Other improvements include new lighting, tuck-pointing and brick replacements. The renovations, originally planned for 2009, were delayed until funding could be secured, officials said.
“When you own real estate like this, from time to time you have to reinvest to keep things current,” Donaghy said.
In December, the RTA also approved spending almost $2.2 million to improve its bus garage, machine shop and maintenance area at 600 Longworth Street, which is about 40 years old. The project also adds offices, expanded locker areas, a larger break room and training area.
Additionally, the RTA has upgraded the on-board video-surveillance technology of 256 vehicles. Earlier this year, the agency awarded a nearly $3.2 million contract to pay for the high-definition video system.
The new video surveillance technology is part of a $15 million investment in technology and system enhancements that are intended to create a state-of-the state transit operation, transit officials said.
RTA also has invested in a new GPS technology that will be able to provide transit riders real-time information about bus arrivals and wait times. The RTA RideTime app is expected to start in the fall.
The agency is switching to a new radio system and computerized dispatching system. The radio technology, which dates back to the 1970s, is obsolete, officials said.
On top of all of that, the RTA this year will start upgrading the electrical infrastructure that powers the trolley bus system. Some of the current infrastructure is more than 100 years old. RTA will upgrade poles, wires and other parts across the 124-mile network.
The first segment will be in west Dayton along Ohio 4, which will start this year and wrap up in 2017. The project is expected to take more than 10 years to complete.
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