The affordable housing charter amendment - unbelievably - picked its .3% rate because that's what Metro had:

 

You can't make this stuff up.  They literally don't know how much money they need because there is no specific housing plan. 

 

https://www.scribd.com/document/669503599/Nov-2023-Affordable-Housing-Charter-Amendment#

Cincinnati’s singular “bus only” lane in action today. 
 

Edited September 12, 20231 yr by Gordon Bombay

1 hour ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Cincinnati’s singular “bus only” lane in action today. 

Not great, Bob!  I'm not sure why, but something funky was going on with traffic, causing big backups on Main St this evening. It seemed like something to the east of downtown was blocking cars from turning eastbound onto 7th St or Central Parkway. I was on bike and didn't care enough to investigate so I just biked around the stopped cars. But it was definitely worse traffic than typical. 

20 minutes ago, jwulsin said:

I'm not sure why, but something funky was going on with traffic, causing big backups on Main St this evening. 

I think it was street closures for Oktoberfest preparations. Definitely heavier than normal, but sadly this is a daily occurrence with the bus lane. 
 

No, I take that back. Usually there’s a few cars parked in it. 

https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/driving-change-the-future-of-cincinnati-metro/

Has there been any recent news on the SORTA BRT.   It seems to be pretty quiet.   I thought there would be some public engagement at this point on the plan and next steps. 

15 hours ago, GHOST TRACKS said:

Has there been any recent news on the SORTA BRT.   It seems to be pretty quiet.   I thought there would be some public engagement at this point on the plan and next steps. 

Hasn't been awarded yet. Hoping to hear about that by the end of the year or January 2024, I think.

Metro just posted a job opening for "Director of Bus Rapid Transit Planning & Design", I feel like a few people on this forum could apply... I don't remember seeing a timeline for when they planned to have it up and running, but hopefully this means they are getting closer to implementing the plan

 

https://www.go-metro.com/careers?gnk=job&gni=8a7885ac814582580181a6979633054d&lang=en

Newest Cincinnati Metro route directly connects portion of West Side to Uptown for first time

 

A brand new Metro bus route directly connects the West Side to two of Cincinnati’s major universities, the region’s cluster of hospitals and Norwood for the first time.

 

Until Dec. 10, riders who wanted to go from Delhi or Price Hill to the University of Cincinnati, "Pill Hill" and Xavier University would have had to take a bus downtown first. The new route, 36, will cut travel times in half.

 

The route starts at St. Dominic Parish in Delhi and heads through West Price Hill, East Price Hill and South Fairmount before hitting Uptown along East McMillan Street. It has stops at UC along McMillan and Jefferson streets and UC Medical Center and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Burnet Avenue before proceeding through Avondale and to Xavier University and Norwood along Montgomery Road.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/12/11/new-cincinnati-metro-route-west-side-uptown.html

 

I believe all of these new signs will also be on poles owned by SORTA, making long-term maintenance (and accountability) better.

 

 

I just noticed that TANK's #2 Airport Express has been extended far to the south.  This line extension was made possible by construction of a new road connection built in conjunction with the Amazon Prime Air hub. 

 

Wendell H Ford used to terminate at DHL but it was recently extended to Aero Parkway:

 

The #2 Airporter used to serve DHL at point C, then turn around, but now extends far south into Florence.  This is a huge improvement.  Also, in the past, I and I'm sure other people were confused by the #2's route at the main CVG terminal.  You'd see the bus pull up way before it was due, then be told it was going to DHL before coming back.  I rode it to DHL for the hell of it once. 

 

 

 

2024 will be a telling year for Metro. Hopefully the new funding source will help continue to build ridership 

3 hours ago, thomasbw said:

2024 will be a telling year for Metro. Hopefully the new funding source will help continue to build ridership 

 

Could Metro ever support/operate rail? Or is it forever limited to rubber wheels on asphalt services?

3 minutes ago, Miami-Erie said:

 

Could Metro ever support/operate rail? Or is it forever limited to rubber wheels on asphalt services?

Im sure they could, but the one time they tried (streetcar) it didn’t go well. 

48 minutes ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Im sure they could, but the one time they tried (streetcar) it didn’t go well. 

 

Due to the influx of funds from sales tax, it's a whole new Metro. They're staffing up and doing BRT. Maybe it'll take another crack at it and be more successful?

4 hours ago, thomasbw said:

2024 will be a telling year for Metro. Hopefully the new funding source will help continue to build ridership 

 

 

I'd like to see corresponding car ownership rates in Hamilton County since 2000. My guess is that as the city and county have become wealthier, more people have come to own cars.

 

It would also be difficult but useful to compile a list of demolitions versus new construction along bus lines. Tons and tons of homes and apartments have been demolished on the west side since 2000.  Meanwhile, most new apartment and home construction has been on the east side, where people typically own cars.

 

 

2 hours ago, Lazarus said:

 

 

I'd like to see corresponding car ownership rates in Hamilton County since 2000. My guess is that as the city and county have become wealthier, more people have come to own cars.

 

It would also be difficult but useful to compile a list of demolitions versus new construction along bus lines. Tons and tons of homes and apartments have been demolished on the west side since 2000.  Meanwhile, most new apartment and home construction has been on the east side, where people typically own cars.

 

 

 

In 2010 there were 36,702 Hamco household without a car and 121,322 with one car. In 2022 those figures were 38,716 and 127,804.

 

2010 households without a car in the city were 24,166 and one car households were 55,963. In 2022, those figures were 27,087 and 63,049

^ I ran those numbers too, plus for 2000 and for total vehicles vs. population:

 

Vehicles per capita in 2000, 2010, 2022: 0.643, 0.658, 0.719.

 

Percent of households with no car in 2000, 2010, 2022: 13.5%, 11.3%, 10.9%.

 

So Jake's intuition that car ownership has increased since 2000 is correct, but not by enough to explain a 50% decrease in Metro ridership.

 

Probably would have made more sense to do Vehicles per Population ages 16+, but it's not what I did.

 

2000: 543595 Vehicles / 845303 Population
.643
2010: 527584 / 802252
.658
2022: 593042 / 825037
.719

 

No vehicle households
2000: (9218 homeowners + 37587 renters)
46,805 no vehicle households / 346790 households
13.5%
2010: 5287 + 31416
36,703 / 324915
11.3%
2022: 5129 + 33587
38,716 / 355784
10.9%

3 hours ago, Robuu said:

^ I ran those numbers too, plus for 2000 and for total vehicles vs. population:

 

Vehicles per capita in 2000, 2010, 2022: 0.643, 0.658, 0.719.

 

Percent of households with no car in 2000, 2010, 2022: 13.5%, 11.3%, 10.9%.

 

So Jake's intuition that car ownership has increased since 2000 is correct, but not by enough to explain a 50% decrease in Metro ridership.

 

Probably would have made more sense to do Vehicles per Population ages 16+, but it's not what I did.

 

2000: 543595 Vehicles / 845303 Population
.643
2010: 527584 / 802252
.658
2022: 593042 / 825037
.719

 

No vehicle households
2000: (9218 homeowners + 37587 renters)
46,805 no vehicle households / 346790 households
13.5%
2010: 5287 + 31416
36,703 / 324915
11.3%
2022: 5129 + 33587
38,716 / 355784
10.9%

 

That makes sense. Proportion went down but total "no car" households still went up in absolute terms. Just not as fast as multi car households. 

On 2/13/2024 at 12:06 PM, Miami-Erie said:

 

Could Metro ever support/operate rail? Or is it forever limited to rubber wheels on asphalt services?

IIRC, the current sales tax levy sunsets after 30 years. Unless there is a drastic change to Federal funding, that might be the earliest the region could vote for a regional rail network, whether that's LRT or HRT.

The majority of the mileage on SORTA's proposed BRT system are "Bus and Turn" (BAT) lanes.

 

 

Here's an example from St. Peterburg, FL. Keeping traffic from just driving straight through these lanes is going to be difficult (especially on our four-lane roads compared to the seven(?) lane road pictured here).  Without automated photo-enforcement, I don't see how we're going to be able to do it. 

, 

The 42X is no more.  I reverse commuted with my bike on the front of that bus for several years.  It was an incredibly fast trip from Government Square out to Butler County. 

 

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/bus-rides-from-butler-county-to-cincinnati-are-free-through-the-end-of-march

 

https://www.butlercountyrta.com/bus_routes/cincylink/

 

The new route is completely different than the 42X.  The old bus ran express between Government Square and the Union Center Blvd interchange.  It then ran a circuitous route through the West Chester industrial parks. 

 

The new bus will be very convenient for UC/hospital people but will be slower for downtown commuters since it spends 10 minutes crawling across Martin Luther King Drive:

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Lazarus said:

The 42X is no more.  I reverse commuted with my bike on the front of that bus for several years.  It was an incredibly fast trip from Government Square out to Butler County. 

 

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/butler-county/bus-rides-from-butler-county-to-cincinnati-are-free-through-the-end-of-march

 

https://www.butlercountyrta.com/bus_routes/cincylink/

 

The new route is completely different than the 42X.  The old bus ran express between Government Square and the Union Center Blvd interchange.  It then ran a circuitous route through the West Chester industrial parks. 

 

The new bus will be very convenient for UC/hospital people but will be slower for downtown commuters since it spends 10 minutes crawling across Martin Luther King Drive:

 

 

 

 

I saw one of these this week. It’s a motor coach. 

It only took six years but it's finally happening 

 

“Government Square area G is being removed from service to deconflict with streetcar operations. The Rt. 6, previously serviced at Area G will now board at area H”

 

 

8 hours ago, thomasbw said:

It only took six years but it's finally happening 

 

“Government Square area G is being removed from service to deconflict with streetcar operations. The Rt. 6, previously serviced at Area G will now board at area H”

 

 

 

One streetcar Day 1, I saw someone mistake G for a streetcar stop.  The streetcar stopped there...they pushed the button...nothing happened.  I have to imagine that this has happened at least once per day since. 

 

 

5 hours ago, Lazarus said:

 

One streetcar Day 1, I saw someone mistake G for a streetcar stop.  The streetcar stopped there...they pushed the button...nothing happened.  I have to imagine that this has happened at least once per day since. 

 

 

yes

On 2/24/2024 at 4:07 PM, Miami-Erie said:

I saw one of these this week. It’s a motor coach. 

 

I see one of these every day on my drive to UC. It's nice that this service exists but it's sad that this service isn't provided by fast, frequent, high-capacity commuter rail.

On 2/28/2024 at 6:07 AM, thomasbw said:

yes

 

"I hear you knocking, but you can't come in..."

 

 

Here are the old Dixie Terminal ramps in 1955.  TANK buses had a fully grade separated and dignified entrance into DT Cincinnati until 1999.  Now the routes are 10 minutes slower and people think it's okay. 

No fewer than four Ohio buses now travel through Kentucky without stopping:

 

I recall that there used to be a law prohibiting them from picking up or dropping off paying customers in Kentucky. I'm not sure if it's still in effect or not. 

Edited April 16, 20241 yr by Lazarus

Metro, TANK, and the Cincinnati Streetcar all posted ridership gains in March compared to last year.

 

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the streetcar is one of the best-performing systems in the entire country, Metro has nearly fully recovered and TANK ridership is slightly below the national average. 

 

It's good that Metro has reversed it's long term ridership declines, but I was hoping there would be more ridership growth with the expanded Issue 7 funding. 

 

 

[This should be over in the streetcar section; accidentally posted it here]

 

I made this chart to test my hypothesis that Cincinnati had the shortest span of service of any modern streetcar system on Sundays. Turns out we don’t but we have the second-lowest total hours of service span. 

 

 

Fun facts-

 

Earliest Start Time is Tacoma 4:30am followed by Dallas 5:30am

Latest End Time is a four-way tie- Tucson, Tampa, DC and OKC 2am on Friday and Saturday

 

Earliest End time is also Tacoma at 630pm on Sundays 

 

Tucson, Tampa, KC, DC and OKC all have extended hours on Friday and Saturday nights (KC only goes until 1am)

 

Also weirdly Tucson has extended late-night hours on Thursdays, no one else does. 

 

Edited April 19, 20241 yr by thomasbw
whoops

I'm surprised SORTA hasn't launched Route 61 yet. Seems like it would do much better than the 5 or the new 67.

 

 

These two charts really underscore just how important signal priority is going to be for BRT. 

 

Consolidating stops will cut doors open time and be the single biggest (and by far the cheapest) time saver for our proposed BRT. 

 

Signal priority is pretty cheap as well (about $25,000 an intersection) but we actually would have to approve that and then keep it active (see Cleveland Healthline). 

 

Bus-only lanes will make a huge difference in heavily congested locations (e.g. Walnut St., Jefferson) but won't make much difference elsewhere (Ludlow going down the hill to Northside where we're going to have center-running bus lanes that make zero difference). 

After doing some more searching, I'm amazed how similar they all are (except the tri-met one, although they explicitly indicate that it's an estimate while the other ones appear to be observed data) 

On 4/18/2024 at 2:02 PM, thomasbw said:

[This should be over in the streetcar section; accidentally posted it here]

 

I made this chart to test my hypothesis that Cincinnati had the shortest span of service of any modern streetcar system on Sundays. Turns out we don’t but we have the second-lowest total hours of service span. 

 

 

Fun facts-

 

Earliest Start Time is Tacoma 4:30am followed by Dallas 5:30am

Latest End Time is a four-way tie- Tucson, Tampa, DC and OKC 2am on Friday and Saturday

 

Earliest End time is also Tacoma at 630pm on Sundays 

 

Tucson, Tampa, KC, DC and OKC all have extended hours on Friday and Saturday nights (KC only goes until 1am)

 

Also weirdly Tucson has extended late-night hours on Thursdays, no one else does. 

 

 

If the U. of Arizona doesn't have Friday classes that might mean Thursday is a big party night. That's how it was when SSU was still on quarters.

^I've only been there a couple times but Tucson is definitely a college town with a college supported route, and Thirsty Thursdays are a thing so I think extending the hours Thursday night makes sense. To prove this they have in the past, including during my first visit back before 2020, shortened operating hours during the summer months because of college kids not being around, not sure if they are still doing that anymore though. 

I noticed that SORTA issued an RFP for the design of the new Walnut Hills Transit Center at the corner of Taft and Gilbert yesterday.   Does anyone know more about the 

status of this project?  Seems like the project had been dormant for sometime. 

Route level ridership changes compared to pre-pandemic. If any route dropped to zero or was discontinued, it's omitted here. 

 

15 minutes ago, thomasbw said:

Route level ridership changes compared to pre-pandemic. If any route dropped to zero or was discontinued, it's omitted here. 

 

 

Would it be difficult to plot ridership changes compared to frequency, on time performance, or some other metric to see if there's a correlation between improved service and improved use?

 

I'm thinking specifically of comparing to % change in travel times or % change in round-trips between 2019 and 2023

I checked to see the amount service increased on the two top performing Metro routes, here's the number of runs on each line compared to 2023

 

That's sad to see TANKs numbers down so much, it seems like they need to copy what METRO is doing as best they can and create some psuedo-BRT lines out to Florence, Southern Covington/Independence and NKU respectively and chop the rest that goes to less dense neighborhoods or less job focused areas. 

10 minutes ago, ucgrady said:

That's sad to see TANKs numbers down so much, it seems like they need to copy what METRO is doing as best they can and create some psuedo-BRT lines out to Florence, Southern Covington/Independence and NKU respectively and chop the rest that goes to less dense neighborhoods or less job focused areas. 

 

They're dealing with a lack of funding that has caused them to scale back their system. They got rid of 7 routes altogether in 2021. They did increase frequency on some of their most popular routes though.

With all those warehouses down there people need decent transit.

If you want to support Transit-oriented development along our busiest transit routes, please sign this open letter to City Council in support of Connected Communties.  

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDd3QVQOHaRaLCPA4A7NiASqfAv-VHBYkzpEPYbl1v4860iQ/viewform?pli=1

This guy gets it-https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/05/06/my-view-transit-lanes.html

Metro's finally moving ahead with Route 61 Galbraith Crosstown.  

Updated Cincy Transit Pride stickers for 2024.

 

*Metro reflects the new livery colors

*Added CincyLink

 

Feel free to use for any non-commercial, pro-transit/equality purposes 

Edited June 3, 20241 yr by thomasbw

^What is "CincyTwink"?

22 hours ago, jwulsin said:

^What is "CincyTwink"?

A play on CincyLink, Butler County's new service