OKI Regional Council of Governments

Welcome back to Freight Friday Fast Facts – where we’ll provide a different nugget of information each week on our Freight Plan. The Freight Plan provides framework for prioritizing efforts to improve future freight transportation in our region. The Plan takes an in-depth look at current and future conditions related to the movement of goods in, out and within the region across all five freight modes – Road, Rail, River, Air, and Pipeline. Next week, we’ll dig into the Roadway Network. For a sneak peek – check this out: https://lnkd.in/grB2hu-d

Happy National Intern Day to our hard-working OKI interns, Bhavya, Jacob, Gie, Noah and Taylor! You're the future of planning and GIS and your hard work and perspectives are invaluable. #NationalInternDay

So what's a Metropolitan Planning Organization? OKI is the region's MPO, a federally mandated transportation planning agency for urbanized areas with a population over 50,000. We follow standards set forth by the Federal Transit Administration. OKI reports to a 118 member board, along with the governments of the three states and the federal government. Learn more about MPOs:https://lnkd.in/g-jJrq6w

Have you reserved your spot at the 2024 Ohio Conference on Freight yet? Register today for early-bird rates to hear the latest about what’s going on in the big wide world of freight. https://lnkd.in/gVAeBB7W

Join us as we host Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for a stakeholder input forum on Ohio's new Maritime Plan. Ohio’s Maritime Transportation System (MTS) is a significant asset for the state. Between Lake Erie and the Ohio River, the Ohio MTS boasts more than 700 navigable miles of waterways and is the eighth-largest MTS by maritime tonnage in the country. However, our system is underutilized. That’s why ODOT is developing the first-of-its-kind Ohio Maritime Plan. Stakeholders can join us on Monday, August 12, 2024, 3 – 5 p.m. at OKI's Office, Sawyer Point Building, 720 E. Pete Rose Way, Suite 420 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. The meeting is limited to 40 participants so please RSVP at https://lnkd.in/dXBjcKYC

Welcome to our new Communications and Legislative Affairs Manager, Julia Brossart! Previously, Julia was the Executive Director of the National Lieutenant Governors Association. She also has been a radio news anchor, local origination TV station manager, local and national spokesperson, and ambassador to and for elected officials. She has her MA in Public Administration from the University of Missouri at Columbia and BA in Broadcast Communications from Western Kentucky University. A native of Ft. Wright, Kentucky, she wrote a book about her hometown! Check the comments for the link.

Welcome to Freight Friday Fast Facts! Every Friday, we’ll provide a different nugget of interesting info on our recently-released comprehensive Freight Plan. This week, check out the plan: https://freight.oki.org/ & stay tuned for next Freight Friday Fast Facts.

OKI's Gabriela Waesch, GIS Analyst, & Rachel Stuckey, GIS Specialist, are at the Esri User Conference this week and presented regional maps that they created using ArcGIS Pro. Rachel's was a visual comparison between traditional lighting and LED lighting in Over The Rhine and Gaby created a regional bike stress map. Great job!

Last year, OKI successfully developed, and rigorously calibrated and validated the OKI travel demand model, which enhanced accuracy and adaptability of travel and traffic forecasting within the region. The travel demand model is a computer program used to forecast travel and estimate traffic volume, speed, and travel patterns on roadway segments and transit routes. It utilizes information such as land use patterns, socioeconomic characteristics, employment, and the configuration of the transportation system. The model helps predict the impact of travel on highway and transit facilities, including congestion, travel time, and mobile-source emissions. The new model is calibrated and validated to the 2020 traffic and travel conditions, based on a comprehensive array of data sources, including the Regional Household Travel Survey data, transit surveys, Census data, employment data, the traffic counts, StreetLight Origin-Destination data, and INRIX speed data. “Traffic modeling is critical to transportation decision making,” said Bob Koehler, OKI’s Deputy Executive Director. “This update is giving us new insights into how people in the region travel.” For more information about Transportation Modeling, contact Liren Zhou at LZhou@oki.org.

Under the Section 5310 program, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) provides federal funds for activities including the purchase of Paratransit vehicles and equipment to support transportation services for the elderly and people with disabilities. OKI, as the designated recipient of the Section 5310 federal funds in the Cincinnati urbanized area, is responsible for managing the program, which distributed over 2 million dollars in April 2024. https://lnkd.in/gk9Fr6m3