Plan

The Ohio Higher Education Rail Network (OHERN) is a plan to link all public and private colleges and universities in the state by rail.

Founding Principle

The OHERN concept grew out of the belief that there is a mutually beneficial and interdependent relationship between education and transportation; where colleges and universities can help build a statewide network of passenger trains and, by building that network, strengthen Ohio's system of higher education.

Mission

The primary mission of the OHERN Institute is to strengthen collaboration among Ohio’s colleges and universities by helping to build a statewide passenger rail system.

The OHERN Plan calls for extending the state’s rail service by connecting public and private colleges and universities to the Ohio Hub – Ohio’s near future, high-speed rail system.

The OHERN Plan extends the Ohio Hub by providing commuter rail service to smaller communities where high-speed train service may not be economical.

The system’s funding comes largely from a user tax, that is, a modest increase in student, faculty and staff fees.

Making the Argument for OHERN

A critical element in Ohio’s Strategic Plan for Higher Education is the call for a reduction in costs of education through various cost-cutting measures and new initiatives. Centers of excellence are to be recognized and the historical counter-productive competition among institutions is to be reduced through greater collaboration and the sharing of resources.

Solutions to encourage collaboration include increased reliance on distant learning, adoption of new learning strategies and streamlined admission standards. However, faced with the unpredictable and often high cost of transportation, the overall effectiveness of these new initiatives could be blunted.

Most Ohioans confront the problem of high travel costs. However, since transportation is one of the largest indirect costs associated with higher education, the burden of this cost falls especially hard on households with members in college.

The cost of fuel prices many families out of the higher education market and makes it all the more difficult for people on different campuses to collaborate. For example, how can students, faculty or staff be expected to increase their travel to other schools at a time of high fuel prices? Distance learning technologies provide one solution but there are limits to what Internet technologies can do. There will always be times when it is essential for students to visit a science lab, art museum, agricultural experiment station, or attend a conference or athletic event on another campus. But how can these firsthand experiences continue or even be expanded in the face of rising costs? Is there a way to reduce transportation costs associated with higher education while simultaneously increasing collaboration among Ohio’s colleges and universities?

The OHERN Institute is proposing to link all Ohio institutions of higher learning via rail as a way to lower the transportation costs associated with higher education.

The OHERN solution is relatively inexpensive since the plan relies on the use of existing freight rail and self-propelled, diesel-electric passenger trains. The system can be funded largely through a modest increase in fees -- amounting each school year to the price of one textbook.

Once completed, students and faculty will have unlimited use of a statewide transportation network that will run seven days a week from 6:30 am to 12 pm, year round. And Ohio families should see an annual average reduction of several hundred dollars in their travel expenditures associated with higher education.

The Ohio Higher Education Rail Network will provide the state with a unique, tightly integrated system of colleges and universities, distinguishing it from all other university systems in the United States. And since the rail network will be available for all to use, it will help strengthen and extend Ohio’s entire system of transportation.