jim uber

Yes. joshknut[/member] I don't think the times you are currently seeing in google maps are real; I think they are estimated, either based on schedule or otherwise. If you are saying that the times posted end up reliably being something like +/- 1 minute... please let me know! It is *frustrating* that we are so behind on this. It is made much more so, for me, by what Metro itself says on its own web site: "Metro is committed to bringing real-time information to our riders. We're currently testing a new Real-Time Info Line which will allow riders to call Metro, enter the number posted on their bus stop sign, and get the estimated arrival time based on GPS tracking data. We're also working to release this data to developers to make transit apps that provide real-time bus locations. It's too soon to give an estimated launch date, but it's coming soon." This is just sooo not confidence inspiring. I mean, calling them up and entering a number on my phone? Really? And how, exactly, can it ever be acceptable for it to be "too soon to give an estimated launch date"? An estimated date! This sounds to me like one guy who's managing all their windows updates and firewalls, and tinkering with real-time APIs when she gets the chance.

@jmicha I completely agree with your opinions about new OTR infill. I don't think all of the blame is on the board though. The OTR foundation, citizen groups, and even certain architects complain about "excessive massing" (can we please just leave mass as a noun?) and inadequate "rhythm" on a single lot scale so that it reinforces the board position and historic guidelines. If those same groups were calling for change then I'd think we could get it but it seems really difficult otherwise.

Jake, I'm sorry, but the idea that RT information is not important is off base - you really need to take off the blinders on this one. First, this system is not designed for you - or me, for that matter. If that were the case, it would fail miserably. So let's get out of this idea that "thinking logically makes the most sense." It doesn't. Second, you may have noticed that people < 35 are spending a lot of time with their phones lately. They don't leave their house without knowing what is going on, and believe me, it will seem truly bizarre to go and wait for a modern streetcar and not know when it will arrive. Let's start off with a good customer experience at the beginning, all right? Third, lots of people who take buses check the schedule before going to the stop. That's why there are schedules. On the other hand, the streetcar will never have a reliable schedule, cause it's not designed to be run in that manner. Hasn't everyone had the experience of taking a bus on a slow traffic day and just sitting there waiting at a stop until the bus slowed down to the schedule? That's the only reason why bus schedules are even modestly accurate, and now you have suggested that the streetcar behave similarly. If you wanted to create a customer experience worse than waiting > 15 minutes "in the dark" for a streetcar to arrive, it would be having them wait even 5 minutes one or two stops before they want to get off. To think that mode of operation is better than just running them as fast as you can, but telling people where they are at, is a bit silly, to be frank. Finally, this is technology that's proven and done. Metro has had years to think about implementing this and somehow they haven't done it. It just epitomizes the weakness of these sorts of agencies for implementing technology solutions. They need to allocate resources and get this done, not just acceptably, but in a way that is just as high a quality as the streetcar infrastructure.

I could not agree more. I'm a huge supporter and can't believe this got built and tested without something so basic in 2016. At the same time I just got on at main and 5th and all seats are taken plus about 15 standing. [emoji106]

^ dang. Impressive. On @troyeros points about convenience, it's much more important to me that we have real time info on transit apps. I completely understand and appreciate the role of this circulator route. What I can't understand is how a modern transit system can open to the public without realtime integration. I mean, I can get real time data on the #2141 Westwood Northern metro route but not the streetcar? Really? Just missed the streetcar downtown by 50 steps. Aggravating.

^^LIberty and Elm was recommended for approval by the board. Good thing, in my opinion. Unlike folks at the esteemed OTR Foundation, I do not have any problem at all with the "excessive massing" of the project. It seems that prerequisite for membership there must include some litmus test about your expressed boundary for "excessive massing." I was a little more surprised to see that BILT architects also objected to the development because of "excessive massing." It's all just a bit dumb. We need human beings up here on Elm st.

^ Yeah it seems to get like that each year. They seed it in the fall and spring, and it looks good to start the season. Not sure fake turf would really be an improvement.

The streetcars are great. More than that, though, people were having a great time, being smashed together with other strangers in ways I'm sure that many of them have never experienced. It was exhilarating, and a uniquely mass transit experience. Someone said before that this would help unite Cincinnati, and I can see that's true. In retrospect I can see that most of the benefits that we talk about will come from the social interaction that the streetcar provides, that we can't get anywhere else except for a crowded bar, which is very different and very much more homogeneous. We live at Liberty and Elm and today my wife wants to take the streetcar to Findlay market. Bizarre and... fun!

So for example here's transit app and you can see the streetcar is just scheduled time not real time info.

^hmm. Thanks. I have no idea how to enable RT in transit app for example.

Hey sorry if this has been covered, but what transit apps have real time arrival for streetcar? I've tried ezride, transit app, and Google ... [emoji848]

My God Dusty Rhodes is such an angry old white dude. No love, coming in or out. http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/contributors/2016/09/01/all-aboard-streetcar-hopes-and-dreams/89737826/

I can also confirm on a really small scale that costs are escalating. In rehabbing an OTR apt building we've noticed pricing for anything from flooring to metalwork that seems crazy - i.e. the most logical explanation is that folks are very busy and are throwing out prices that either make you go away or make huge profits. For example I got a quote on a one story addition to an existing fire escape - basically a metal ladder and a 6 ft platform - for $16,500. And there was even plenty of space for a crane so the install was as easy as it could be. I'd conservatively say that's more than three times what a logical price would be from a modest metal works.

My understanding is property owners don't have rights even a few feet below their property much less to the center of the earth. Correct me if I'm wrong, but electric, gas, water, sewer, etc... lines beneath your property are property of the utilities. Then there's mineral rights beneath the property which often aren't part of the deed. The common utility lines that connect to your property from the larger feeders are not owned by the utility, they are owned by the homeowner. As in, you break it, you fix it. And you pay to connect also. Like I just paid $3000 to connect to water. This has become painfully obvious in the case of water, where utilities make sure you know that they do not own the lead service line going into your house, just up to your property line.

I think this is funny, especially since I have Cincinnati Bell telephone wires running through my basement in OTR, as do many other people. When they started running fiber, I got a knock on the door saying that they needed access to my basement in order to run fiber down there. Somehow, Cincinnati Bell owned the rights to my basement, so I figure there must be some way of digging tunnels in the earth below my basement. Just in case you think this is funny too, a side note. A few months back I figured that the old Cincinnati Bell cable as big as my thumb had to go -- it must not actually be used, right? I mean, who even has land line service, anyway? I got out my bolt cutters and snip-snip, my ceiling was clean. The next morning a Cincinnati Bell tech knocked on my door...

Given the recent advances in mini split heat pumps, the small size of the condensing units, and the flexibility of install options I don't understand why these have not caught on for new small apartment buildings

^owner

^are you saying that Airbnb is illegal in ham county? I have never heard that

^thats sad. They looked so happy the way they are now

Are you guys actually saying the streetcar colors will change - as in repainting - or just the logo/colors will change?

I thought the credits were for addresses on Elm

They've not presented any formal permit drawings. I assume they'll do that later this summer since I recall them wanting to start in the fall.

Yeah that's for sure. I can't figure out why some people need to view everything through the Reds/Bengals lens. The bright and somewhat unusual color of our streetcars make me happy every time I see one.

^Absolutely. But Airbnb was designed pretty much exactly for the best situations that you described, and that's where it's sweet spot is. The couple who travels and wants to offset their vacation cost by renting out their home or condo. Or the owner of a duplex or a small apartment building who wants to rent out one of the units via Airbnb so they can have their parents visit for the holidays or a couple of summer months, without getting totally stressed out having them in their space. This sort of thing happens all the time and Airbnb is a beautiful way to gain efficiencies from underutilized assets in those circumstances. So I understand the consternation of the folks in NYC because of people who are distorting the model and making everyone else pay for the inconvenience. But the proposed legislation goes too far in my opinion. It's probably a strategic overreach just to get Airbnb back in line.

^no