slumcat

@jmeck. Thanks for posting the pic of Brinks truck on the tracks. Ways to “do something” about the streetcar with pros and cons listed: 1) Cancel project, stop operating. (Very Expensive) 2) Void Bell add contract (expensive as would likely involve litigation) 3) Increase ridership by extending to Uptown and/or south across river (long term investment, little short term gain) 4) Make fare free (minimally expensive see Kansas City.) 5) Enforce parking/ stopping restrictions and increase the fines. (A generator of additional revenues that could be used for future transportation projects maybe and/ or more likely could be used to put more cops and first responders on the street!) Who doesn’t get it and what doesn’t the City understand about this! The streetcar is a potential cash cow for the city if they just start enforcing laws already on the books and make the penalty match the magnitude of the infraction!

As far as the notion of shutting down a federal project and “forgiving” the monetary buyback, there is a local precedent very similar suggesting this is a non-starter. In the late 1980’s the CEO of Greater Dayton RTA tried to shut down the newly-modernized electric trolleybus system in the city and arranged a meeting in DC to discuss a waiver of the multi million dollar payback for the substations and new power distribution system downtown. What I heard from a reliable source is that pretty much the whole SW Ohio Congressional delegation was thumbs down on any kind of waiver of repayment to the feds.

OK, what’s the deal with all this talk about Cincinnati Bell pulling out, and how would that impact the system?

Trav[/member]. Yea...still following your Instagram keep those fantastic pics coming! As for the streetcar, I think we’re slowly winning this thing: just a few short years ago the big boogie man was “criminals, felons, sex offenders will use the streetcar to commit crimes or flee from crime scenes”. Now we’ve graduated to “mold spores riding the streetcar”. We’ll finally win this thing when WLW and Enquirer scream “ shopper from Findlay Market found riding streetcar with contaminated kale in bag.” ? just kidding! Lol!

The level of ignorance never ceases to amaze me. I’ve posted this before, but I’ll say it again. I was in a microbrewery in Dayton OH in 2016 I think it was. I showed somebody my Facebook and she saw I had liked the Cincinnati streetcar. She said “oh that is gone, it lost so much money they cancelled that.” I said “no I was just there and saw guys working on the tracks and wire.” She wouldn’t believe me. She didn’t even understand what tracks and wire had to do with the conversation. Saw her a few months later in another microbrewery and she was wearing a t shirt with a picture of Hillary and a slogan “lock her up”. Let’s never forget that 40% of the US and probably a higher proportion in our area live in an alternative reality where they do not experience reality through empirical observation, they only experience reality through filtered social media. So if you want to believe we have moldy streetcars in Steelers yellow and black...yes there’s a reality cocoon you can hide in.

Obviously all would have been better had not Kasich reallocated the State funds away from uptown. Uptown would have been wonderful and we would be seeing far greater ridership. But let’s not blame the victim. What happened in Columbus is not the city’s (Cincinnati) fault. I live way north, when I come to Cincinnati for any reason, I park on Ohio Ave. for free, walk down the Ohio steps, hop on the streetcar, and I’m at Riverfront in minutes! Please don’t tell anybody about this Lol:) haaa hahaa! or all my free downtown parking spaces by Bellevue Park on Ohio will be taken?

[/member] all those above who have been posting about using Dayton trolleys as de-icing vehicles; glad to help out! Two copies in our electric fleet have full diesel power as well as electric. That’s what we loaned you, one of them. The de-ice tool at the end of the pole can degrade the wire, so use sparingly. The 2 diesel electric dual modes did not quite live up to expectations in testing; I’ve seen reliable reports they may be retrofitted to be all electrics. GDRTA has said future purchases of rolling stock for the electric system will be all-electric with high capacity batteries such as LTO. We are also gradually upgrading the infrastructure. More info at daytontrolleys.net if you’re interested. We also have a Facebook page.

K, thanks, I see that now. I just remember a box thing that I was used to checking.

@mods, thanks for working with me to bring my account back from the dead! :) still wondering...do we get email notifications of replies like we used to? Not clear if it’s an option based on the screen I’m looking at.

Exactly as I suspected. BTW yes I follow your photos on Instagram. Nice work! I hope someone is keeping stats on schedule delays (mean, range etc.) and towing response times. It seems like at some point excessive undermining of project goals could become a Federal contract issue.

I'm interested in getting the opinion of someone who posts here and is very close to streetcar operations. To what extent if any might low ridership be attributed to actions or non-actions directly under the control of City administration? Not talking about SORTA, Metro or the operator. City Administration, period! For example parking enforcement. (I've read some rumors on this thread about booting or ticketing rather than towing--really, are you kidding! That would discourage even the most die-hard supporter from riding). This type of issue has been addressed on this thread many times before, but we have a lot more data now with a full year of ops and stats almost in.

What?? I don't get it. Does she think there's a trade off between trains and streetcars, like the city has funds stashed somewhere that can be spent on one or the other but not both? Most people who support trains also like streetcars because in most cities that have both, streetcars take passengers to train stations! Somebody please buy her an escorted trip/tour to Union Station in Toronto!???

^@jmeck...as far as you know, did they manage to maintain continuous schedule as planned throughout the event, or were there periodic delays/ interruptions due to crowds, parked vehicles, etc. BTW, hope someone can post May ridership stats soon.

I have been reading that John Micah might be the next Sec. of Transportation or at least Head of the FRA. Any read on how this will impact rail and other transit projects, if confirmed?

I rode today for the first time. Did they re-color ALL the streetcars in Cincinnati Bell colors? I liked the orange better, although I understand the need to get corporate sponsorships. Also, I rode the loop twice and it was standing room only most of the way. I bought the all day pass, but another passenger told me I would never have to show it or swipe it. REALLY? WTF! When I deboarded i gave my day pass to a passenger at the stop who was trying to figure out how to use the ticket kiosk vending machine. I assume day passes are transferable? Also, the real time digital posts at the stop seem more reliable than the Metro bus tracker website.