7 minutes ago, 646empire said:

“One key factor identified in the department’s analysis is an increase in 911 calls from areas surrounding transit centers, such as Government Square (+71%) and Oakley Station (+70%).

 

I'm surprised CPD's tried and true tactic of standing around in groups on their phone or napping in parked cruisers isn't helping. 

By my count there's about 460 Metro boardings per day in the Clifton business district before BRT. That's way more potential customers than you'd get from 6-8 parking spaces.

 

 

On 2/21/2025 at 7:02 AM, thomasbw said:

By my count there's about 460 Metro boardings per day in the Clifton business district before BRT. That's way more potential customers than you'd get from 6-8 parking spaces.

 

460 minus (6-8 parking spaces times 1 hour per space times 20 hours times 1.5 occupants per car) = a difference 220-280 per day. 

 

This whole BRT plan is a warbling cookie clown. 

If you need more parking meters, extend the existing meters on Ormond to Howell & Telford to Shiloh. That creates a net gain of 13-15 spaces. 

 

If the Clifton Business District really needed more parking, they'd add structured parking to the "Merchant's Lot"

5 hours ago, Lazarus said:

 

460 minus (6-8 parking spaces times 1 hour per space times 20 hours times 1.5 occupants per car) = a difference 220-280 per day. 

 

This whole BRT plan is a warbling cookie clown. 

 

Some really shaky assumptions here.

GCRTA Bus Rapid Transit (Healthline and Cleveland State Line) numbers are "up" to 2.1 Million. The reason I added quotations is because the Healthline alone had 4.2 Million riders in 2017 but has steadily declined. No Signal prioritization, no all door boarding anymore (had it in the beginning) and a 15 Minute frequency can be pointed at as reasons for the decline. Hopefully Cincinnati can avoid these issues because the Healthline is just an expensive version of the regular bus it replaced now. 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/cleveland-rtas-ridership-rebound-whats-behind-the-numbers.html

4 hours ago, DEPACincy said:

 

Some really shaky assumptions here.

 

Well you're the expert so give us your numbers so that we can be exactly correct like you are.   

22 hours ago, DEPACincy said:

 

Some really shaky assumptions here.

If the parking meters are only in effect from 8am to 6pm (10 hours a day), you're not going to have a consistent turnover for 20 hours a day. 

Edited February 28Feb 28 by thomasbw

Indy's Purple Line now has three full months of ridership data in the FTA NTD. It appears that close to 100% of the riders have simply migrated from standard bus service . Now, if this new line has allowed large numbers of riders to avoid a transfer, that would show up as less ridership in terms of UPTs. Hopefully, this will pick up when the weather improves (if you're going to try a new transit system, the coldest winter in decades is probably not the time you want to do it). 

Cincinnati slaps regulations on bus rapid transit stops planned in $339M project

 

When Cincinnati Metro opens the first line of its new Metro Rapid bus lines in 2027, people will not be allowed to loiter and hang out at the stops under new regulations passed by Cincinnati City Council.

 

The unanimous March 19 vote came after some council members worried about an earlier version of the ordinance that could have meant jail time for those cited. It would have imposed a Class 4 misdemeanor for violations, which could have meant 30 days in the county jail. Council ended up passing an ordinance that makes violations a minor misdemeanor punishable by a $150 fine.

 

Council also adjusted a nearly identical ordinance that applies to streetcar stops in downtown and Over-the-Rhine, which made loitering at a stop a Class 4 misdemeanor. It is now a minor misdemeanor.

 

Some neighborhoods and businesses complain about non-transit riders hanging out at bus stops, some of which include benches.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/03/20/city-fines-loiter-metro-rapid-bus-transit-stops.html

 

Bizarre headline, but a good step in the right direction. 

Yeah I saw that headline and feared the worst: no signal priority or no removal of on-street parking.

On 2/27/2025 at 9:27 AM, MyPhoneDead said:

GCRTA Bus Rapid Transit (Healthline and Cleveland State Line) numbers are "up" to 2.1 Million. The reason I added quotations is because the Healthline alone had 4.2 Million riders in 2017 but has steadily declined. No Signal prioritization, no all door boarding anymore (had it in the beginning) and a 15 Minute frequency can be pointed at as reasons for the decline. Hopefully Cincinnati can avoid these issues because the Healthline is just an expensive version of the regular bus it replaced now. 

 

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2025/02/cleveland-rtas-ridership-rebound-whats-behind-the-numbers.html

Cinci - Please study Cleveland's BRT and hold Cinci Metro to the promised performance standards - unlike Cleveland's RTA. The BRT Healthline seems to be so slow and unreliable that soon riders will likely opt to fastwalk on the dedicated BRT lanes on the route from downtown to Cleveland's second downtown in UC.  

IndyGo's Purple line's fourth full month of service was February 2025. As far as I can tell net ridership increase from the Purple line was probably around 6-14k riders per month. Total ridership was 93,080 but when you factor in ridership drop on the Red Line, the elimination of the 39 and migration from other routes, you're looking at very few new net riders. 

 

Edited April 2Apr 2 by thomasbw

I emailed someone at Metro asking about this, but I genuinely have no idea where they got this 117% of pre-pandemic ridership number. Best month was October (Blink) which was up 7%. For all of 2024, fixed route was up 0.5%, which is still better than the national average, but no clue where 117% came from. 

 

Cincinnati's first Metro rapid transit lines are coming. We should make them better

 

Cincinnati and Hamilton County have the opportunity to do something special when the region’s first two Metro Rapid transit lines open in 2027 and 2028, the region’s first real attempt to build public transportation that tries to compete with a car.

 

But the new bus-rapid transit (BRT) lines will not be speedy if the city and Metro allow some folks who live along the routes to impose conditions that will slow down riders' trips and ensure potential new users will never try it. And these neighbors’ concerns are eminently solvable.

 

Metro Rapid is a system of bus lines that have some characteristics of a rail line: More distance between stops, stations with level boarding so the disabled can easily board, bus-only lanes for at least part of the route and pre-paid fares so there's no logjam while boarding.

 

The $339 million plan is expensive, but a fraction of light rail's cost; nevertheless, depending on the system's quality, bus-rapid transit can be enough to spark development. It also could bring more people to city business districts.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/04/04/metro-bus-rapid-transit-improvements-opinion.html

 

If you only show the exclusive bus-only lanes, the map is much less impressive and the longest continuous section (going down the hill from Clifton Gaslight to Cincinnati State) is an area where they will make zero impact. 

 

Hopefully the improved bus stops, branding, and easier wayfinding helps make this a success. I'm worried that there's going to be very little "rapid" in this bus rapid transit plan if they're running on mixed traffic. Getting down the hill from UC to downtown can be incredibly slow on a good day.

 

On 4/3/2025 at 6:42 AM, thomasbw said:

I emailed someone at Metro asking about this, but I genuinely have no idea where they got this 117% of pre-pandemic ridership number. Best month was October (Blink) which was up 7%. For all of 2024, fixed route was up 0.5%, which is still better than the national average, but no clue where 117% came from. 

 

I'm fairly confident it's sourcing from this site and it's just lagging data based on their methodology. 

 

https://transitrecovery.com/agency/?id=50012

 

I can't tell if I'm misremembering or if the site's appearance has just changed significantly but I seem to remember screenshots from that site, or a very similar one, being presented at board meetings in past months.  

Edited April 9Apr 9 by shawk
Removing mistaken double-quote.

On 4/7/2025 at 1:43 PM, JaceTheAce41 said:

Hopefully the improved bus stops, branding, and easier wayfinding helps make this a success. I'm worried that there's going to be very little "rapid" in this bus rapid transit plan if they're running on mixed traffic. Getting down the hill from UC to downtown can be incredibly slow on a good day.

 

The phrase "rapid transit" historically meant 100% grade separation.  Now it means zero.  And if you point that out, you're the bad guy. 

 

 

11 hours ago, shawk said:

 

I'm fairly confident it's sourcing from this site and it's just lagging data based on their methodology. 

 

https://transitrecovery.com/agency/?id=50012

 

I can't tell if I'm misremembering or if the site's appearance has just changed significantly but I seem to remember screenshots from that site, or a very similar one, being presented at board meetings in past months.  

Very strange. The actual numbers for 2024 are 12.6% increase for hours and 0.5% increase for riders. 

On 4/7/2025 at 10:32 AM, thomasbw said:

If you only show the exclusive bus-only lanes, the map is much less impressive and the longest continuous section (going down the hill from Clifton Gaslight to Cincinnati State) is an area where they will make zero impact. 

 

 

Dang. At least the station spacing is pretty good. 

On 10/1/2019 at 5:21 PM, taestell said:

 

 

You could have the best people in the world working at the lower levels of SORTA (I know several of them as well), but if you don't have leadership at both SORTA and the City who believe in that vision and are willing to fight the political fights to make it a reality, it's not going to happen. I have brought this example up multiple times in this thread, so I apologize for repeating myself, but buses were supposed to get signal priority at the intersection of Taft and Vine, and the extra lane was even built as part of the Uptown Transit District project. However, the staff at our City's DOTE is so car-focused that they removed signal priority from the plan, after the infrastructure was already built. We also hired a company to do a traffic study of the downtown street grid which made several recommendations for how to speed up buses and streetcars; and City Council voted in favor of giving Metro*Plus and the streetcar signal priority at several intersections downtown. However the city administration refuses to implement these very simple changes. On a daily basis, I walk past the "bus only" lane on Main and see cars parked in the lane (or stopped with their flashers on) and buses having to get out of the lane to go around them. It's only in effect 2 hours per day and the city refuses to dedicate any resources to enforcing it. So, I have no reason to believe it is "very likely" things will change until there is a complete turnover in the leadership and transformation of the culture at DOTE and SORTA.

Does anyone know if it's possible to turn on signal priority here, or did they build the lanes, but not build the priority capability into the signals?

12 hours ago, thomasbw said:

Does anyone know if it's possible to turn on signal priority here, or did they build the lanes, but not build the priority capability into the signals?

 

I'm wondering if they turned down the intensity of the Metro Plus BRT LED lights or not, or if their performance has simply dulled.  I remember when those things were built that the vertical LED lights were incredibly bright.  Now many of them have been hit by cars. 

 

 

On 4/9/2025 at 12:07 PM, GCrites said:

 

Dang. At least the station spacing is pretty good. 

The biennial capital budget released today from the city manager included work for RTC:

Description

This project will provide resources for rehabilitation and replacement of components of the Riverfront Transit Center (RTC), which is owned by the City of Cincinnati and operated by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). There are needs for architectural, electrical, and mechanical maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement. The RTC is located in downtown Cincinnati (CBD), but the transit center serves as a transit hub for the region and is used by SORTA (Metro), TANK (Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky) and other bus services during special events.

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to maintain the state of good repair of the Riverfront Transit Center and ensure its longevity as a transit asset in the region.

It's just $265k for FY26, but then there's further projected costs in FY29, FY30, and FY31, for a grand total of $5.9 million, which is for both construction and engineering.

In the Community Budget Requests, CUF, Hartwell, North Avondale, Paddock Hills, and South Cumminsville made references to bus stops or transit access for part of their descriptions.

Cincinnati Metro names CEO to replace retiring Darryl Haley

Cincinnati Metro – Ohio's second-largest public transit system – has named a CEO to step in for outgoing chief executive Darryl Haley.

Metro announced May 27 that its board of trustees has voted to appoint Andy Aiello as its next CEO, effective June 1, when Haley retires. Haley has served as the head of the region's largest public transit network since Feb. 1, 2019.

Aiello currently serves as Metro's deputy general manager. He joined the transit authority as chief of staff in 2022. Prior to joining Metro, he served 12 years as the general manager of the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK), where he was in charge of daily operations and strategic direction. He has also served with the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Department of Transportation before relocating to the Cincinnati area.

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/05/27/metro-new-ceo-haley-retirement.html

Two Cincinnati transit systems increase fares, add tech advancements

Citing inflation, Cincinnati Metro, the region’s largest transit system, will increase its fares July 16, along with capping the overall amount riders pay, a feature more common in bus and rail systems across the United States.

Metro’s fares will increase about 10%, rising from $2 per ride to $2.20 for its local buses, which account for the vast majority of users.

The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) increased its fares March 22 to $2 per ride, up from $1.50.

The Metro fare increase is the first since prices went up after Hamilton County voters approved a transportation levy in 2020 that also included increasing base fares from $1.75 to $2. It’s the second increase in 20 years, according to Metro. The higher fares are estimated to bring in an additional $1.3 million annually for Metro but could reduce ridership by up to 2%.

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/06/03/metro-tank-increase-fares-cost-transit-riders.html

Increasing costs by increments of .10 seems like a hassle for people who pay with cash.

I wish Metro would do two things:

1. Target choice riders

2. Remove barriers for captive riders

I do think the automatic fare capping does both. But being able to use contactless credit cards like this instead of a pre-paid metro card or an app would be great - especially for visitors.

It's very frustrating that university students went from free fares with a special card they can request, to paying every single time. That should be negotiated to avoid any payment. One of the biggest ways nonriders become choice riders is by offering them free rides when they are in school and first interacting with cities. That's how I got introduced to riding the bus. If it wasn't free, I might not have started riding the bus.

On 6/5/2025 at 10:09 AM, JaceTheAce41 said:

Increasing costs by increments of .10 seems like a hassle for people who pay with cash.

So now you're back to handling coins. Great.

1 hour ago, ryanlammi said:

I do think the automatic fare capping does both. But being able to use contactless credit cards like this instead of a pre-paid metro card or an app would be great - especially for visitors.

It's very frustrating that university students went from free fares with a special card they can request, to paying every single time. That should be negotiated to avoid any payment. One of the biggest ways nonriders become choice riders is by offering them free rides when they are in school and first interacting with cities. That's how I got introduced to riding the bus. If it wasn't free, I might not have started riding the bus.

When I worked at the University of Utah, your employee/student ID was also a transit tap card. I never had to pay for transit. I wish UC had something like that for students and with BRT running right by campus, maybe that's something to explore

5 minutes ago, JaceTheAce41 said:

When I worked at the University of Utah, your employee/student ID was also a transit tap card. I never had to pay for transit. I wish UC had something like that for students and with BRT running right by campus, maybe that's something to explore

You used to just have to show the driver your student ID and they would let you on. I understand how that can be abused (I used my brother's friend's ID back in the day to take the bus for free before I was a student).

Requesting a special card every semester or enabling free rides through the Transit app via an application process verifying you are a current student would be enough. Last semester rides were free for UC and Cincinnati State students. I think some of it comes from student fees, but it's a very good use of funds IMO that helps those who need it the most, and also helps introduce a lot of suburban students to public transit.

Half the battle of getting choice riders on the bus is getting them comfortable with figuring out the routes and mechanisms of riding. The other half is the fare. If you eliminate the fare, you're way more likely to get new riders to try to figure out the other half. For people who have never ridden transit before (or only with a turnstile in NYC or something and a local person guiding them), getting on the bus can feel intimidating.

1 hour ago, GCrites said:

So now you're back to handling coins. Great.

It wasn't a big deal when it was the only choice. People kept a reservation of coins at their house in the correct increments, be it tolls or bus/subway fare. The old fare collectors used to be able to take tokens or quarters interchangeably. And in cities with large subway systems, the tokens themselves were traded as currency for unrelated things.

Coins have gotten very expensive to manage for organizations relative to their value.

21 hours ago, GCrites said:

Coins have gotten very expensive to manage for organizations relative to their value.

Right, the less people use coins, the more expensive each coin costs to process.

3 hours ago, Lazarus said:

Right, the less people use coins, the more expensive each coin costs to process.

Coins would also be getting more expensive if more people used them. Economies of scale are not the only thing increasing the cost of minting coins. It’s an outdated form of payment that should be obsolesced.

So when will the BRT start construction/roll out?

23 hours ago, JaceTheAce41 said:

So when will the BRT start construction/roll out?

The project timeline is on their website.

More specific dates for Reading, from a recent board meeting:

• The RFQ is closed and SORTA is reviewing the bids. It looks like they got 9 responses.

• RFP scheduled for September

• NEPA completion anticipated for September

• Construction Manager At Risk (CMAR) contractor selection in December

• Execution of CMAR contract in January

Metro expands on-demand transit service to more Greater Cincinnati locations

Forest Park and Pleasant Run residents now have a new transportation option for traveling around Greater Cincinnati.

MetroNow is now servicing the two additional communities. The on-demand transit service first launched in May 2023 in Springdale/Sharonville and Northgate/Mount Healthy.

The transportation offering includes shuttle-style vehicles aimed to deliver on-demand services to destinations within each zone and connections to Metro’s larger fixed-route network.

“This service is more than just transit – it’s about connecting people to opportunity,” Hamilton County Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas said in a news release. “Whether it’s jobs, health care or education, MetroNow is making it easier for residents to move forward.”

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/06/11/metro-now-bus-expands-forest-park-pleasant-run.html