Log 2014032801

This morning, I finally got the 2014 Edition of the Ohio Transit Hikers Resource (OTHR) done.  I've been working at this refit for just over a month.  And the map needed to be done first because the new guide is based off it.  And because the map has a lot of new editions, the guide will also have more entries.

Within the last year, the Buckeye Trail Association released it's GIS/ GPS Depository.  Because it did, I'm now able to display every amenity spur from transit to the trail that there is available according to my method of discrimination, which are distances no greater than 4 miles from trail.  General Public county dial-a-ride transit this year opened up in Harrison, Perry, an extension of Fairfield, Pike, Miami, Sandusky, Seneca and Ashland Counties.  A city based dial-a-ride opened up and caters to the general public in Logan of Hocking County.  Dial-a-Ride type services open to "residents only" occurred in Monroe, Athens and Tuscarawas Counties, they are also new to the 2014 edition.

I decided that since there were two hotels on the east side of the City of Medina that I also included 3 new fixed routes in that city.  The track for the Brunswick Transit Alternative, which OTHR abbreviates as "BrTA" (because of the Buckeye Trail Association being BTA), needed to be written.  They have two routes that are routed like a "figure 8."  Last year, I only wrote track for one side of it because I thought that was all the hiker needed.  But, to my chagrin, those buses are circulators, which means that each loop runs in only one direction, so I remedied that and wrote the entire system this year.

OTHR lost transit coverage in the City of Delphos on the Delphos Section - Buckeye Trail (North Country Trail concurrent).  The Lima/ Allen County Regional Transit Authority (L/ACRTA) is no longer offering what OTHR refers to as "hybrid fixed route, or HFR" services to there, or Spencerville (also on trail, but was never listed).  HFR's are buses that are generally routed from one place to another, like point "A" to point "b", but certain deviations could be made and it requires a reservation, much like a dial-a-ride service.  The Buckeye Trail is served by a similar route in Waterville of Lucas County. But the information for both of those transit routes is still listed on L/ACRTA's website. But I hope to see them back up and running in the future.  OTHR's largest transit gap is in that part of Northwest Ohio. 

This year, with the edition of the extended transit services out of Fairfield County, that put the parts of the New Straitsville, Scioto Trail and all of the Old Man's Cave Section - BT [NCT and American Discovery Trail (ADT) concurrent] in range of it and the Greyhound affiliate "GoBus'" Lancaster (Carroll) stop.  Between this location, their stop in the City of Logan and local transit on both sides, one could embark on a 4 day, 65 mile route that would include Hocking Hills and some of the best hiking that the Buckeye has to offer.

So the regional transit in the south area now works like Marietta/ Parkersburg - Logan - Lancaster - Piketon - Peebles - Batavia - Cincinnati.

Last year, I noted that the Huron County Transit offers services extending up the US-250 corridor to Sandusky.  I never wrote a track for it because I considered it to be a part of a dial-a-ride program.  But this year, I changed it's OTHR status to a HFR.  Sandusky's Greyhound stop was out of range and it's Amtrak train arrived in the middle of the night, which would give the transit hiker 3+ hour layover until Huron County Transit was operating.  Well, now I wrote the tracks for the Sandusky-Perkins Area Ride Connection (SPARC).  So, hikers are in transit range of that Greyhound stop now and it should have better hours for transferring there.