March 4, 20179 yr You cannot make this stuff up. Anyone thinking (and not acting purely on emotion) knew the street car would be a disaster...but it has turned out worse than even I thought it would. And the cars are butt-ugly too...
March 4, 20179 yr This says it all..... Since opening five months ago ridership has dropped each month, with 35,334 riders in January. That's just over a quarter of what it was in September when 133,322 riders hopped on board. January ridership was down 63 percent from October, the first full month of operation when 95,286 people rode the streetcar. Before the project opened ridership was estimated at 3,200 people a day, but SORTA officials now say they should have done more specific estimates based on weather and the month. They expect ridership will pick up in warmer weather and when festival season starts. Weekends have proven popular, but unreliability has has kept weekday riders way, the number show. As a result the streetcar is operating in the black, but just barely at $51,000 above projections at this point in the year. Fare revenue is off by 41 percent and there have been unforeseen costly repairs to ticket machines. Streetcar riders by month: September: 133,322 October: 95,286 November: 49,920 December: 52,209 January: 35,334
March 4, 20179 yr ^ Gee no kidding. It doesn't go anywhere for people to ride it. Reds season should help some.
March 17, 20179 yr So the street car can not operate on Reds opening day because of the parade route. Yep so big event, cant use it. Will be available 1 hour before game time and after the game.
March 20, 20179 yr Streetcar closes Downtown for emergency repair - Cincinnati News, FOX19-WXIX TV The Downtown loop of Cincinnati's streetcar is closed Monday through Wednesday for emergency street repairs. The Cincinnati Bell Connector's Over-the-Rhine loop will continue to run. A council committee voted 4-0 Wednesday to choose a full four-day shutdown as the best solution to fix crumbling concrete below the tracks of the Cincinnati Bell Connector. City officials say they hope to have it completed by the weekend. They opted to have the work done Monday through Wednesday because those are the streetcar's lightest traffic days. The track is under warranty, meaning it won't cost Cincinnati residents anything to fix. But this is another black eye for the transit project that has virtually seen non-stop issues. Continuous 24-hour construction will occur over the four days, including some nighttime demolition. Two days are needed for the demolition, and two days are needed for the concrete to cure. No traffic of any kind, including streetcar traffic, will be allowed on the tracks. However, the lanes next to the tracks will be open. Once completed, the streetcar contractor Messer Prus Delta Railroad JV will place the concrete under two-year warranty. Other solutions brought to council included keeping the tracks open during the construction period. In this scenario, if the concrete were to fail again, the concrete would not be under warranty, leaving the citizens of Cincinnati to write the check.
March 20, 20179 yr Streetcar closes Downtown for emergency repair - Cincinnati News, FOX19-WXIX TV The Downtown loop of Cincinnati's streetcar is closed Monday through Wednesday for emergency street repairs. The Cincinnati Bell Connector's Over-the-Rhine loop will continue to run. A council committee voted 4-0 Wednesday to choose a full four-day shutdown as the best solution to fix crumbling concrete below the tracks of the Cincinnati Bell Connector. City officials say they hope to have it completed by the weekend. They opted to have the work done Monday through Wednesday because those are the streetcar's lightest traffic days. The track is under warranty, meaning it won't cost Cincinnati residents anything to fix. But this is another black eye for the transit project that has virtually seen non-stop issues. Continuous 24-hour construction will occur over the four days, including some nighttime demolition. Two days are needed for the demolition, and two days are needed for the concrete to cure. No traffic of any kind, including streetcar traffic, will be allowed on the tracks. However, the lanes next to the tracks will be open. Once completed, the streetcar contractor Messer Prus Delta Railroad JV will place the concrete under two-year warranty. Other solutions brought to council included keeping the tracks open during the construction period. In this scenario, if the concrete were to fail again, the concrete would not be under warranty, leaving the citizens of Cincinnati to write the check. It probably doesn't help much that it's raining like crazy today. The forecast does look clearer starting tomorrow though.
May 8, 20179 yr Crash at maintenance facility takes out two streetcars A collision between two Cincinnati Bell Connector cars late Sunday at the maintenance and operations facilities caused "extensive" damage requiring both cars to be taken out of service, officials said. One streetcar had just ended service at the Brewery District Station and was being driven in the yard when it crashed head-on into another parked, unmanned streetcar, according to a memo to City Hall from Paul Grethner, director of rail services for the Southwest Regional Transit Authority No one was injured, but the streetcars must be repaired. "Damage to both streetcars is extensive," Grethner wrote. “Both the operator and the supervisor involved have been removed from service pending investigation, and FTA drug and alcohol tests were administered.” Why is the streetcar late? The streetcars are operated by TransDev who contracted with SORTA for the job. Late last year, city officials threatened to withhold payment to TransDev citing slow services and other problems. TransDev officials fired back and said none of the issues were a breach of contract, and some were caused by a lack of effort on the city to do proper studies and keep the tracks clear. SORTA spokeswoman Brandy Jones said streetcar service would not be impacted. There are five streetcars in total, and only three are needed to run full service. In a memo to city council, City Manager Harry Black said the crash may leave the streetcar operation without any spares. Jones said it isn't known how long the repairs will take.
June 5, 20179 yr Streetcar bosses to city: We need more money The agency that runs the Cincinnati Bell Connector is asking the city for more streetcar money next year, saying they need to run more streetcars to keep the time between stops at the promised 10 minutes. The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority is requesting a 6 percent increase in the streetcar's budget, or $225,000 more than the $4.2 million allocated to the project this year. Streetcar planners had originally said it would need an additional $150,000 next year. It's not clear if any extra money would come from taxpayers or other sources. The request comes as the April revenue report, the most recent available, shows a $15,000 operating deficit. That's the first time since the September opening the streetcar has run in the red. The request was due April 30, but was made June 1. City officials are in the midst of trying to cover a $26 million deficit in the 2018 budget, which must be approved by June 30. The streetcar budget comes from fares, advertising, naming rights (Cincinnati Bell), tax incentives (given to companies near the 3.6-mile streetcar line) and the Federal Transit Authority. Fare revenue is off by 31 percent and ridership 26 percent less than expected, according to SORTA records given to the Enquirer via a public records request. The streetcar has been plagued by delays, not meeting the promised 10-minute wait time between stops. It still struggles to find riders during the week, but has proved popular on weekends. The additional funding would allow for a third streetcar to run on weekends.
June 5, 20179 yr I was in downtown Cincy recently and saw the tracks on the road. In the hours I spent in downtown Cincy, I saw a streetcar go by one time.
June 5, 20179 yr Good thing they got these, with all of the masses of people that ride them regularly.
June 6, 20179 yr In the OHIO Enquirer this morning, the front page was news about SORTA asking for almost $500,000 more due to low ridership based off of 2014 projections. Due big cities everywhere operate as idiotic as Cincy? Cincy treats money about as responsibly as a young 20 something that has moved out of mom and dads for the first time. Probably worse.
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