Regionalism takes on many forms, from governmental cooperation to the sharing of natural resources like the Cuyahoga River. But perhaps the oldest example of regional cooperation can be traced back to transportation, the ability to move from on area to another.

(Click for larger view.)

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(Click for larger view.) Professor Edward Hill Vice President for Economic Development Cleveland State University (Dave Pignanelli)

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Regionalism is a buzz word that many communities are exploring as our world continues to change. The economy is a good example of the concept of regionalisms. Companies usually begin by serving local customers and if successful, expand their markets and factories regionally and...as is the case today, globally. Today, many municipalities are considering a regional approach to providing emergency services, such as fire and EMS units. And in some cases, governments are not only considering creating a larger, more efficient municipality, they're doing it. Louisville, Kentucky is an example. It took years to complete, but today, the city is one of the largest in the country following the merger between the city and Jefferson County.

But regionalism is not really a new concept when it comes to transportation. As railroads, highways and other modes of transportation first began criss-crossing the country, regional cooperation was a must. Again, Louisville is an example of how new governmental structures managed to solve a transportation problem that had remained stalled for years. The city's deputy mayor is Joan Riem:

We have been trying for almost as long as merger to build some new bridges across the Ohio River and since that involves agreement with Indiana, which is the other state that the Ohio touches on in our territory, we've had trouble reaching agreement on where the bridges would be located. But we finally did get agreement several years ago to build two major new bridges across the river and to upgrade our roadways. And we think the fact that the past mayor of Louisville wanted a new bridge downtown and the county executive wanted the bridge out in the eastern part of the county, that now we have one mayor who is for both bridges because he represents both the city and the county and that has helped us a lot to speak with one voice and to better represent our needs in Washington and in our state capitol.

But not everything goes so smoothly for a region. There are many challenges for northeast Ohio's transportation needs. Ned Hill is Vice President for Economic Development at Cleveland State University and travels the country on behalf of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs:

Hill: The largest problem we have in terms of transportation is using our transit money in a way that creates not only transportation possibilities, but also for recreational possibilities. I have been impressed at how bikeways have made a huge difference, not in terms of transportation, but as a recreational amenity in a large number of the cities I'm visiting.

Maier: Every one of these projects is viewed either as a project that would improve the economic competitiveness of the region as well as the quality of life.

That's Howard Maier, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, or NOACA for short. The agency is one of about 380 metropolitan planning organizations across the country. Among its goals is to prepare the region's long range transportation plan, whether it be highways, bridges, bike paths, ferries to Canada or access ways to airports and rail stations. Maier says NOACA is one of the earliest examples of regionalism:

Maier: We've been doing this for all these years. Maybe in a sense we fly below the radar because we hardly get any attention for this but the fact is that between the staff and the board members and our technical committee, there's a tremendous amount of regional cooperation that takes place, and an understanding of regional needs and needs of one community understanding the needs of another.

Each regional planning agency, including NOACA, and the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, must lay out a long range plan and short range goals every four years. In Akron, that long range strategy is simply called AMATS 2030 Regional Transportation Plan. For NOACA, it's Connections 2030, prepared by Director of Transportation Programs, John Hosek:

Hosek: What you basically do in the 20 year plan is set the goals and the strategies with various different projects that the region has selected that it either wants to do or would like to do depending on again, if it has enough resources to do so.

From there, Hosek says, you set the four year plan and carry out parts of the plan that the region can afford to do. Currently, two major projects under the 2030 plan are the redesign of the shoreway that former Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell had pushed and the construction of a second innerbelt bridge to ease traffic flow in and out of Cleveland. For AMATS 2030 plan, the two big projects involved the reconstruction of state route 8 into a major freeway from 303 to 271. That project could be completed by 2011. The other is to rebuild I-76 from the Central interchange to route 21 in Norton. Crews will add an extra lane to the highway, working east to west. The construction could break ground within 5 years.

All of these transportation issues are a great example of regional cooperation at its finest. Overlooked in this age of high tech is the "below the radar" transportation network of the information age. Ned Hill is Vice President for Economic Development at Cleveland State University:

Hill: The maps of the fiber optic network have been classified and those that I've seen, honest NSA I've seen three or four years ago and you can't get them anywhere, the two largest nodes of the fiber optic networks are Chicago and northeast Ohio. Which is a set of amazing resources.

Not everything regional goes as planned however. High speed and light rail supporters are still waiting for the day when Cleveland connects to Youngstown by rail, or a bullet train will be able to take you from Cleveland, Akron and Canton to Columbus. CSU's Ned Hill says that will never be cost effective until the price of gas doubles. I'm Dave Pignanelli, 89.7 WKSU.