The Ohio Public Transit Association (OPTA) is the primary advocate for public transportation in Ohio. The Association provides a range of services to Ohio’s 63 transit agencies and associate businesses across the state.
OPTA strives to be a powerful and unified voice of our members, the men and women who work in the public transit industry, and our customers. Together, we strive to increase funding opportunities, drive economic growth and improve Ohio’s quality of life.
As the powerful and unified voice of our members, the 60,000 men and women they employ and the millions of people, including seniors, veterans, students, people with disabilities, and commuters who use transit every year, OPTA strives to increase funding opportunities and improve Ohio’s quality of life.
- Ensure that public transit receives federal, state, and local funding that will enable us to meet the needs of Ohioans today, tomorrow and well into the future;
- Drive economic growth and job creation by making Ohio a leader in the research, development, and deployment of alternative fuels, green energy, and state-of-the-art transit technology;
- Encourage cooperation and coordination among transit agencies, government entities, and the private sector;
- Increase awareness of and support for transit among elected officials, community and civic leaders, the media, and the general public;
- Foster continuous improvement in mobility services by providing a forum for members and other key stakeholders to interact, exchange information and ideas, evaluate new programs and concepts, and adopt proven best practices;
- Improve the quality of life in our state by helping our member agencies provide the reliable, affordable, safe, and convenient public transportation services Ohioans want, need and deserve.
In order to accomplish our established goals, OPTA:
- Maintains an active and robust governmental affairs program designed to influence public policy, legislation, and regulation at the local, state, and national level;
- Assembles, analyzes and widely disseminates data and information on mobility, environmental and other issues affecting transit;
- Builds broad-based coalitions committed to promoting and achieving OPTA’s goals;
- Serves as a secure conduit for communication, dialogue, and the exchange of information among OPTA members regarding legislative, professional and technical matters;
- Provides public and media relations services that include drafting and distributing press releases, staging press conferences, arranging interviews, and responding to media inquiries;
- Manages a multi-faceted digital program that includes a fully-developed website and social media presence;
- Stages the highly-popular annual Ohio Needs Transit Conference and OPTA Expo brings together transit agencies, partner, service providers, industry experts, the media, government leaders and stakeholders from the public transit industry.
- Establishes and embraces the highest ethical standards.
