The Banks trumps bus service

Upset at paying high air fare at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, two Hamilton County politicians want to see how viable it is to start a luxury bus shuttle service to other airports within 100 miles.

Two other Hamilton County politicians, though, believe that is for the private sector – not government – to decide.

The shuttle idea was presented Monday to Hamilton County Commissioners by Commissioner Todd Portune and Auditor Dusty Rhodes – both residents of western Hamilton County where noise from the airport across the river has caused complaints for years.

Portune and Rhodes wanted the full board of commissioners to approve a plan to set up the framework for a feasibility study for the idea. That study could then be used by private companies who might be interested in starting such a business.

In addition to sticking it to the airport, controlled by the Kenton County Airport Board, the shuttle service would help to provide competition to CVG, dominated by Delta Air Lines, Rhodes and Portune argued.

By allowing Hamilton County residents to shuttle to airports in Dayton, Columbus, Indianapolis and Louisville, that also would encourage residents and business to remain in the area instead of moving to areas where airfares are more competitive, they said.

But the two Republican Commissioners – Pat DeWine and Phil Heimlich – believed the study should be done by private interests.

DeWine wondered if the idea was that great why no such business now exists and added he didn’t think government money should be used that way.

“Like The Banks?” Rhodes and Portune countered in separate arguments.

The Banks is the residential, commercial and retail neighborhood planned for the north shore of the Ohio River and seen as vital to the economic futures of Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati with the additional property and sales taxes it would generate.

Hamilton County, Portune and Rhodes noted, is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on two professional sports stadiums and still decided to spend tens of millions of dollars of public money to attract a private developer to build The Banks.