February 2026

Brian O. Martin, AICP

MVRPC Celebrates Ohio Loves Transit Week

MVRPC celebrated Ohio Loves Transit Week February 16 - 20 in partnership with stakeholders across the region. The week highlighted the importance of transit connecting people to essential services like jobs, schools, and medical services. On February 17, MVRPC, transit partners and mobility managers visited the Ohio Statehouse to thank lawmakers for their historic support of public transit funding in the recent State of Ohio Transportation Budget, which included the permanent establishment of the Workforce Mobility Partnership Program. Additional activities by transit partners throughout the week engaged transit customers, encouraging them to also express their support to lawmakers for public transit and underscore our collective commitment to continued transit funding and development in the region.

As a result of state investment, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Hocking-Athens-Perry Community Action Program (HAPCAP) announced in October several major expansions to the GoBus intercity transit network, adding new connections from Toledo to Cincinnati with stops in Dayton and Yellow Springs. Notably, GoBus will connect with the Flyer route in downtown Dayton, a free bus service operating a loop from downtown to the University of Dayton, as well as to downtown Yellow Springs near the Yellow Springs Station, creating connections to the Miami Valley Bikeways. Service begins on Monday, March 2, 2026. Visit ridegobus.com or call 888-95-GOBUS. 

MVRPC Releases Healthy Communities Data Atlas

MVRPC is pleased to announce the release of the Healthy Communities Data Atlas. This Data Atlas was published as part of recently launched Healthy Communities Planning Toolkit project from the PLAN4Health – Miami Valley Initiative.

The Healthy Communities Data Atlas is a collection of interactive mapping applications that explore health in the Miami Valley from multiple perspectives. The data is presented at the neighborhood level, intended to facilitate shared understanding and collaborative efforts between planners and public health professionals to create better environmental conditions for healthy people and communities.

There are three galleries and they are: Health Outcomes and Factors Map Gallery; Composite Health Score Map Gallery; and Health Relationships Map Gallery.

Recently launched Healthy Communities Planning Toolkit project is intended to be a curated collection of resources for both community planners and public health professionals to advance health outcomes throughout the Miami Valley. More resources coming from a diverse set of sources will become available in the future.

MVRPC’s PLAN4Health – Miami Valley Initiative was launched in the Spring of 2021 to explore how planning can impact health outcomes. The PLAN4Health - Miami Valley Initiative is a multi-year effort with a focus on projects and programs intended to:

• Promote and advocate for “Health in All Plans and Policies”
• Convene and engage partners to improve conditions that are known to be key determinants of health
• Advance planning efforts aimed at creating conditions for healthy people and communities

For questions or to learn more about the PLAN4Health – Miami Valley Initiative, contact Martin Kim, MVRPC’s Director of Community and Regional Planning, at mkim@mvrpc.org.

RPC (Regional Planning Commission) Members adopted the following Resolutions:


• Resolution 26-08: Amending the Agency Constitution and Bylaws (pg. 7)

RTPO (Regional Transportation Planning Organization) Members adopted the following Resolutions:


• Resolution 26-04: Approving the Recommended CY2026 Regional Surface Transportation Program Projects (pg. 39)

MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) Members adopted the following Resolutions:


• Resolution 26-05: Approving the Recommended List of CY2025 STP, TA, and CR Projects (pg.42)
  
• Resolution 26-06: Recommended Adoption of Revision #8 to MVRPC’s SFY 2026-2029 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) (pg.50)
  
• Resolution 26-07: Adopting the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan (pg. 72)

Our 2026 Board of Directors roster lists each voting delegate and alternate for every MVRPC member jurisdiction. **Please note, this list is subject to change as new delegates are appointed. If your organization's delegate is blank, please contact Savannah Diamond at sdiamond@mvrpc.org

Miami Valley Regional Housing Study Debuts its Data Hub with Dashboards

MVRPC is pleased to share the launch of a new suite of interactive Dashboards as part of the Miami Valley Regional Housing Study. The Dashboards can be accessed via the new Data Hub Home Page.

The Data Hub Dashboards draw on demographic, economic, and housing data. These dashboards provide a visual, interactive, and user-friendly way to explore key indicators such as housing types, household composition, and year-over-year change at the county and Census Block Group geographic level.

These dashboards are the first published component of the Housing Study’s Data Hub, which will serve as a central source for data, maps, and insights that will inform housing policy and planning throughout the Miami Valley. Keep an eye out for the next two components to be released; the Data Hub Map Gallery, and the Data Hub Insights & Indicators.

The Miami Valley Regional Housing Study was launched in February 2025 to increase awareness of current housing issues and provide tools and best practices resources. The Miami Valley Regional Housing Study consists of three main interrelated components: Data Hub; Issue Briefs; and Resource Hub. These components are designed to inform housing policies and programs at the local level by providing data and information.

To date, the Housing Study has released the Housing Mobility & Accessibility Assessment, published a Resource Hub, and facilitated two Youth Group Housing Workshops.

For questions or more information on the Miami Valley Housing Study, contact Martin Kim, Director of Community and Regional Planning at mkim@mvrpc.org.

EDA Funding Opportunities

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) offers a variety of programs that support growth and resilience across regional economies. Included is information regarding the current EDA funding opportunities to support your project needs. Feel free to share this with your network or anyone you think may be interested.

As a reminder within our CEDS region Auglaize, Darke, Mercer and Miami counties are eligible for the disaster supplemental funding source. Projects for this funding source are not required to be located directly in the disaster area, but must demonstrate how the project supports economic recovery and resilience.



If you have any questions related to EDA funding or possible projects do not hesitate to reach out to Lee Shirey Ohio’s EDA Representative or Elizabeth Baxter, Resiliency Planning Manager at MVRPC.

Free Ohio Traffic Incident Management (OTIM) Training

On behalf of ODOT’s Office of Transportation Systems Management & Operations, registration is currently open for the February, March and April sessions of this free course. Direct registration links are provided below.

Ohio Traffic Incident Management (OTIM) Training

• March 24 in Lebanon / ODOT District 8 Office
• April 15 in Ashland / ODOT District 3 Office

For persons interested in the Roads Scholar training recognition program (Ohio LTAP), completion of this OTIM Training provides one RS credit, for: Row 4, 5 or 6 of Level I; or Row 9 of Level II (see transcript form in Program Packet).

On a monthly basis MVRPC is highlighting funding opportunities for member villages, cities, counties, and townships on our website. We include a description, contact information and program links. We have also listed other valuable resources for finding funding opportunities for our regional jurisdictions and organizations. Explore more on our Grant and Funding Opportunities page.

This month we are featuring information on:

• 2026 T-Mobile Hometown Grants– Deadline: March 31, 2026
• H2Ohio Healthy Rivers Livery Grant– Deadline: April 10, 2026

If you have any questions, please contact Kathryn Youra Polk at kyourapolk@mvrpc.org or 937.223.6323.

March Meeting Calendar

Please check the agency calendar on mvrpc.org or contact Savannah Diamond at sdiamond@mvrpc.org for the status of your meeting.

MVRPC emails are produced through Constant Contact. We have negotiated a group rate for all of our MVRPC members and partners to join Constant Contact. You could save more than you could joining the platform on your own, and even if you are already using Constant Contact, you can apply our discount to save even more. Best of all, the MVRPC communication team is here to help you get started! Visit our unique Constant Contact link or contact Laura Dent, MVRPC Director of Marketing and Public Outreach to learn more at ldent@mvrpc.org.

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