‘Genuine opportunities’: Ohio group holding community meeting on public transit

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — An Ohio-based nonprofit organization is holding a meeting at the start of next month to discuss public transportation.

From 7-8 p.m. on Oct. 1, All Aboard Ohio, a group seeking expanded passenger rail and improved public transportation in the Midwest, is traveling to conference room A at the Southeast Branch Library, located at 21 Watervliet Ave. in Dayton.

Lenny Zaleski, spokesperson for All Aboard Ohio, told WDTN.com that the nonprofit is excited to come to Dayton to listen and speak to individuals who currently and would consider utilizing public transit on their thoughts towards transportation.

"To be able to engage people, you know, in person and kind of hear their concerns and be an advocate for those people here is something that we think is going to be of great value to people in Dayton, as well as our organization as a whole, to kind of reach a new market that we haven't been engaging in person before," said Zaleski.

One of the topics set to be discussed includes the potential of 3C+D, a proposed Amtrak route that would connect Dayton to Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus through passenger rail.

All Aboard Ohio Executive Director John Esterly believes that the proposed route could be beneficial to the Dayton area, if implemented.

"The Dayton area will be critical to advocacy as Ohio moves forward with passenger rail development," said John Esterly, executive director at All Aboard Ohio. "As the fourth largest population center, including them in the connection between Cincinnati and Columbus will provide genuine opportunities for workforce mobility that we've never seen before."