9 May 1996

The Transportation Improvement District (TID) of Butler County will begin surveying motorists in Butler and Warren Counties on Monday, May 13. The TID's purpose for this survey is to learn more about motorists driving patterns in order to evaluate the use of tolls for the new Regional Highway. The surveying will last through Monday, May 20. Each day surveyors will locate at different intersections passing out survey cards to motorists. Drivers will be asked to take the cards home, fill them out, and drop them in the mail. It is estimated that over 60,000 cards will be distributed during the eight-day survey period.

The survey project will present reliable information to the TID as it continues to plan for the beginning of construction on the Regional Highway in 1997. The data will project the number of motorists who will use the new Regional Highway, as well as the feasibility of charging a toll.

The TID has contracted with Wilbur Smith Associates from New Haven, Connecticut to conduct the study, officially called a "Traffic & Revenue Study." Wilbur Smith Associates is one of three U.S. firms that conducts these studies and whose research results are accepted by bond markets as reliable. Wilbur Smith is employing about 30 local residents to assist in the collection of the data.

Darrell Barger, Director of the Transportation Improvement District, is asking motorists to cooperate with the survey. Barger added, "It is designed to obtain accurate information, with minimal disruption, from the very people who will use the new highway. It is their opportunity to share their input with the TID."