Tomorrow begins Cincinnati's new weekday Metro Plus bus-route from downtown to Kenwood--and I must tell you that I'm kinda excited.  While I realize that "Metro Plus" is neither BRT nor rapid-transit by car-culture standards, it's still a welcome step forward.  (I remember only too well how, in 2002, the majority of voters shot off their own toes by downing "Metro Moves," which would have propelled Cincinnati into not only streetcars, but undoubtedly LRT and Portland-type status.)

 

If I've been correctly informed, this new route (served by distinctly different buses) will have only SEVENTEEN STOPS  between the CBD and Kenwood Town Center.  You may wonder why as many as 17, but please be aware that the regular #4 route has app. 150.  And so it will take all of 57-MINUTES--oh yeah, the horror of it all!  Metro's critics want people to believe that traveling by car to Kenwood takes no more than 15-20 minutes (which may be true in the extreme), but then again, so what?  So one shaves 30-MINUTES off their precious time so they can charge into Nordstrom,  credit-card in hand, when the doors open?  (Whoopdeedoo!)

 

What worries me the most this moment (in Metro's new one-week, free-ride promotional) is quite simple and fully justified.  And that is that certain riders will either be too naive or stupid to realize that this new route is a LIMITED-STOP ROUTE where "ringing the bell" is no longer necessary nor relevant--and will react accordingly.  Believe me, during this first free week,  there are going to be idiots who get on at one of the 17 stops, but discover that they cannot get off until the bus reaches the next designated stop; I only hope that the drivers are wearing body-armor and chomping on Ativan.

You mean potential stops right? I never seen a bus stop at a bus stop with no one to pick up or to let off.

When the bus gets ahead of schedule the driver will stop at a bus stop to let time catch up.

But, people get on the wrong bus, sleep through their stop & such all the time. No big deal.

^ As far as the driver's concerned, so much the better at a designated stop.  (right?)

I see the first few days will be free.

Andy Chirch and I were on the first MetroPlus bus out of 6th and Main this morning @ 5:31. Actually 5:34 - it was late. It's a terrific service. Only nine minutes from 6th & Main to Jefferson & University. Looks from the schedule it's more like 11 minutes at peak. It's car-competitive and probably faster door-to-door than driving unless you can find a meter.

 

Of course, it doesn't stop, and that's why it's so fast. But, still, it's great. I hope it catches on.

 

Another nice thing: It's 300 feet or so from TANK's #2 Airport Express, which similarly performs great. There's now a really good transit path from CVG to UC. Everyone should take it to the end of the line -- the Riverfront Transit Center -- and continue through RTC to complete the loop back into the CBD. Amazing what we have down there.

Does it actually stop in the transit center, or is that just a layover spot?

 

We still need to get Megabus down there...

^ Yes, it lays over there, and there's even a small dispatch and parts office. I got off there and walked up the Walnut/Vine steps, but there are elevators galore.

I don't see the transit center on the route map. Just 3rd & Main (outbound) / 3rd & Walnut (inbound). I hope they change that soon, and make Riverfront Transit Center an official end-of-the-line stop.

^I like this.  Actually, the RTC would be a great place to stitch together Metro and TANK routes for people bussing across the state line.  There are some places where you can pull this off currently, but it's not at all obvious to the casual rider.

 

We still need to get Megabus down there...

 

Love this idea as well.

I think the problem with bringing the Metro*Plus service into the transit center for an official stop is that it adds a lot of time to the route. Instead of just moving south along Walnut to 3rd/2nd Street, you would have to go down third to Plum and then cut back underneath 2nd.

 

Hopefully once one or two more Metro*Plus routes are added into service the Megabus stop can be moved and some of the east/west routes can be located in the transit center. It just doesn't make sense on the schedule right now to be the only route in the transit center.

I don't see the transit center on the route map. Just 3rd & Main (outbound) / 3rd & Walnut (inbound). I hope they change that soon, and make Riverfront Transit Center an official end-of-the-line stop.

For what it's worth, early this morning I rode Metro*Plus from Surrey Sq. to downtown...but only to Gov. Sq./Area D @ 5th & Walnut, where I was politely informed I must exit.  I mentioned to the driver that I wanted to make a return trip to Surrey Sq., but, nevertheless, she insisted that I catch her outbound bus at Gov. Sq./Area H.  Needless to say, not only was I mystified, but also a little irritated.  However, after examining the blue/gold brochure--as natininja pointed out, technically the route does NOT include anything below (ie., south of) Government Square.  Below that point, it's strictly layover and R&R for the drivers.

 

And may I "second" John Schneider in mentioning that Metro*Plus is a tremendously positive SORTA transportation step and a radical departure from the stop/go, stop/go, stop/go routine of the majority of Metro routes.  NOT that all the others are "bad," but Metro*Plus is DEFINITELY a "limited-stop" route-- and the people getting on this morning were all politely (but definitely) informed of the difference.  And for those seasoned Metro riders (myself included) who may  have thought this brand new bus-route would be little more than a revamped combo of a #4 mixed with a #51...WRONG!  It ain't nothing like that, but an entirely new direction within SORTA.  BRAVO!    :clap:

 

 

 

 

According to a post on the SORTA/METRO website posted June 27, 2012:

"Metro also plans to add real-time information to its website and offer smartphone apps within the next year."

 

Does anyone know the status of real-time tracking of the Metro buses?  Someone here at work had issues today because they thought they had missed a bus (he had to drive in), but in reality the bus was just running late.

They have installed real-time information signs at some of the bus stops (particularly government square), so I assume this would be based on the same system. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to tie smartphone apps and their website into this system.

The "Metro*Plus" ridership (yes, I realize it's free this workweek) has picked up three-fold since being introduced on Monday.  It's really an innovative new SORTA experiment which I'm hoping will become a part of the mix.  And, for anyone who's ever ridden the venerable # 51, you ain't gonna believe how that route's been revamped.  Enjoy.  :wink:

They have installed real-time information signs at some of the bus stops (particularly government square), so I assume this would be based on the same system. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to tie smartphone apps and their website into this system.

I use google maps app on my phone and it seams to have the real-time information. Maybe i have just been lucky though

They have installed real-time information signs at some of the bus stops (particularly government square), so I assume this would be based on the same system. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to tie smartphone apps and their website into this system.

 

I had noticed the signs that were put up in the last year and have been pretty impressed with them.  My hope then and now is that there would be some application or service that would allow people (that weren't lucky enough to be at one of the few locations with electronic signs) to be able to find out when/if a bus would be coming.

Apparently city council banned advertisements in public right of way in January as an effort to eliminate bus bench ads, but it also made bus shelter ads illegal (I have seen no bus bench ads removed, btw).

 

Does this mean that streetcar stops cannot be sponsored to offset operating costs?

The Real-time signs were out up at Government Square in Spring.  They will be at all 13 bus shelters in the Uptown Transit District. So far the data has been proprietary and has not been released to the public.  Google Transit does not use real time information.  It uses the bus schedule and calculates the travel time to the stops in between timed stops. 

 

I have no ideas why city council banned bus ads, but I have noticed them removing them from most of the bus shelters.

The Uptown Transit District is really starting to take shape at Vine and McMillan.  I'd really like to see plans for this because its going to have a transformative effect on the intersection. 

 

 

 

People are having a very positive reaction to Metro Plus. I overheard some people talking about it at the coffee shop and saying things to the effect of, "The city is finally doing something smart with transit." I decided not to give a lecture about how Metro is actually doing a lot of smart things, provided their tiny budget and the fact that they do not receive financial support from Hamilton County.

I really really hope they get the funding to add the Hamilton Ave Metro Plus soon.  With only one route on the West side of campus, rt 17 has become a nightmare during the morning commute. 

Since I was in town for MPMF, I decided to ride the Metro*Plus - Its wonderful, and I hope that there is much expansion of it in the near future.  In a way its better than what LA has because Cincinnati is physically a small city, I rode it out to Pleasant ridge and back and was very pleased with the frequency (every 15 mins during the day) and the speed.  Weekend service would make it wonderful as well as more routes.

 

Also this: http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20130929/NEWS010802/309290053/TANK-looking-increase-funding-upgrade-service?odyssey=mod|newswell|img|FRONTPAGE|p

It looks like they are installing bus shelters for Metro Plus, too. That's a huge change from when I moved to Cincinnati five+ years ago and they had painted poles and just numbers on sticks!

^-I also noticed that on lesser stops they even had signs for what number routes were on that stop, highly visible nice looking signs.  Even though they didn't have maps of the routes of them, it makes at least knowing what routes stop near you a lot easier to figure out.

So...what thoughts do we have for improving SORTA and TANK? I can think of several things.

 

1) More METRO-Plus routes

2) Turn the RTC into a METRO-Plus hub

3) Add more area transit centers (like Dayton's RTA)

4) Improved bus shelters

5) Provide map copies at bus stops

6) Don't cancel the streetcar project - this will destroy chances of getting any more federal transit funding for new ideas (BRT, LRT)

7) MOST IMPORTANTLY - fund Metro through a Hamilton county (sales) tax!! Now if only the "bus" advocates (Cranley/COAST/WLW) would actually support public transit (they won't)!

8 - (Not going to happen, but we all hope will happen) get an LRT line built from Mason to the airport

 

What are your thoughts?

I agree with all of these, except I'd rather have all of the Express buses moved to RTC with the Riverfront Parking Shuttle routed through it.  We already have a significant portion of the downtown office workers commuting in on the Express buses, and most of the other half parks in the garages on the river.  I could see a lot of people walking or tacking the Shuttle back to the RTC after work together and then hopping in the respective modes.  It would REALLY ease congestion on Walnut St during rush hour. 

yes absolutely to all of those.  very good point about cranley and coast wanting buses instead of street cars but will probably not support spending money on improving that alternative.  i seriously think that we should focus on the metro plus lines and trying to get lrt.  i have not yet ridden metro plus, mostly because it doesn't run on weekends.  if the service ran on the weekend, it would have alot more people using it.  i would definitely use it to go downtown or otr on friday or saturday nights.

This is the New Bus RT I would love to have in Cincinnati around uc & Burnet woods  then down to 2nd st

But the 17 and 19 already cover that exact area except they stop at Govt Square.

I just think having a smaller  loop would increase the frequency. I wounder how many bus's would it take to get a bus every 10 min on this rt

I am not sure the bus can navigate that corner of Ludlow and Clifton Ave.

I am not sure the bus can navigate that corner of Ludlow and Clifton Ave.

 

if memory serves the 51 used to make that turn.

Nobody would know where this goes.  I have lived near UC for the past 6 years and I have no idea where the UC shuttle buses go. 

I am not sure the bus can navigate that corner of Ludlow and Clifton Ave.

 

if memory serves the 51 used to make that turn.

Yes it could.  Before  the #51 route was radically-revamped in August, the bus headed down Jefferson and turned south onto Clifton @ the Ludlow firehouse.

yes absolutely to all of those.  very good point about cranley and coast wanting buses instead of street cars but will probably not support spending money on improving that alternative.  i seriously think that we should focus on the metro plus lines and trying to get lrt.  i have not yet ridden metro plus, mostly because it doesn't run on weekends.  if the service ran on the weekend, it would have alot more people using it.  i would definitely use it to go downtown or otr on friday or saturday nights.

 

They do run on Friday nights, but not past 10, hopefully with the route's success they will make it run later, for instance it would be nice if the last run were 10 mins later for when the last Megabus pulls into UC from Chicago.

I hope sorta an streamline with the streetcar. More funding from the feds may be available to expand both systems.

I noticed some nice new shelters put in along the Metro*Plus Route by XU and Avondale, the nicest thing I noticed was a little pole with Metro*Plus clearly marked making the stops very visible, on that pole was a map of the route with all of its stops (like they'd do on a subway or light rail line), a very good improvement towards making the system easier to use.

 

Sadly I didn't get a pic of the pole, but I did manage to get a few of the shelters which were pretty nice, very clearly marking the stops (looks like part of the Avondale one hasn't been installed or is missing right now, still unexpected and fantastic, hope to see this eventually cover the entire line.  Sorry about the quality of the pics, they are cellphone pics and I'm still kind of an amateurish photographer ;).

 

Pics Link (too big to attach):

https://plus.google.com/photos/101781427411731641409/albums/5963295431020922337?authkey=CLS3vKXHo4Bq

Last time I spoke to Kevin Mischler, he said that they're planning on installing those "blade" signs at all Metro*Plus stops but apparently they still need to go through an approval process for them. The Shelters are fantastic but those are then only two stops they plan to out them at at this point in time. However, four more stops will have Uptown Transit District shelters soon. They're scheduled to be completed by the end of February, but they are a little behind schedule.

 

One simple little improvement to Metro*Plus that I've been harassing them to implement is to change the on board announcements to act more similarly to a Rail route. For example, "Next Stop, Avondale".........."Now approaching Avondale. Connect to routes 43 and 46 here." 

They've got the technology already on board for this. Currently they just make announcements at major intersections like "Dana and Montgomery" which is meaningless when you can't deboard at that intersection.

The drivers don't always play the announcements anyway

Last time I spoke to Kevin Mischler, he said that they're planning on installing those "blade" signs at all Metro*Plus stops but apparently they still need to go through an approval process for them. The Shelters are fantastic but those are then only two stops they plan to out them at at this point in time. However, four more stops will have Uptown Transit District shelters soon. They're scheduled to be completed by the end of February, but they are a little behind schedule.

 

One simple little improvement to Metro*Plus that I've been harassing them to implement is to change the on board announcements to act more similarly to a Rail route. For example, "Next Stop, Avondale".........."Now approaching Avondale. Connect to routes 43 and 46 here." 

They've got the technology already on board for this. Currently they just make announcements at major intersections like "Dana and Montgomery" which is meaningless when you can't deboard at that intersection.

 

Keep pushing for that, though due to the constrained funding I have a feeling that it like everything else would take a while to get implemented.  Any rumors regarding expansion of the system?  Would love to see one that goes up Hamilton Ave by way of the University (17 route basically). Or at the very least weekend service...

^ Have you seen this?

http://www.urbancincy.com/2013/12/uc-planning-engineering-students-propose-hamilton-avenue-brt-corridor/

I did, which is cool, but it still doesn't = official word from SORTA regarding the project.  On the other hand that article does make it clear that it will at least be one of the top 3 places for a route.

^I think Gilbert to Madison would be a great BRT route. Stops in Walnut Hills, East Walnut Hills/Woodburn, Obrionville, Hyde Park (maybe Observatory or Erie), Rookwood, Oakley, Redbank, and Madisonville (maybe Whetsel as the final stop). It would connect so many neighborhood business districts, and would really tie together the east side neighborhoods. It would also probably be most important for the redevelopment of Madisonville.

Does anybody know if the streetcar will have signal prioritization at stoplights? This will make a huge difference on travel times. Also... is there any plan from SORTA to give signal prioritization for buses (especially MetroPLUS)? I know it takes $$ to implement, but I think it'd be the best use of limited investment dollars to improve service. Would make a huge difference for travel times on bus/streetcar.

 

Here's the FTA on Signal Priority: http://www.fta.dot.gov/12351_4359.html

Has Metro considered a "no pants" promotion?

 

http://laist.com/2014/01/08/the_no_pants_metro_ride_is_this_sunday.php

Does anybody know if the streetcar will have signal prioritization at stoplights? This will make a huge difference on travel times. Also... is there any plan from SORTA to give signal prioritization for buses (especially MetroPLUS)? I know it takes $$ to implement, but I think it'd be the best use of limited investment dollars to improve service. Would make a huge difference for travel times on bus/streetcar.

 

Here's the FTA on Signal Priority: http://www.fta.dot.gov/12351_4359.html

 

The streetcar will have signal priority, at least according to the feasibility studies I have seen.

 

I don't think I've ever seen anything about SORTA exploring signal priority for buses, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, someone else may know something?

The streetcar will have signal priority, at least according to the feasibility studies I have seen.

 

I don't think I've ever seen anything about SORTA exploring signal priority for buses, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, someone else may know something?

 

I'm not sure whether the streetcar will have signal priority at normal traffic signals. It will have signal priority at a few "special" interchanges, such as when it needs to make a left turn from the right lane, or right turn from a left lane.

^I think Gilbert to Madison would be a great BRT route. Stops in Walnut Hills, East Walnut Hills/Woodburn, Obrionville, Hyde Park (maybe Observatory or Erie), Rookwood, Oakley, Redbank, and Madisonville (maybe Whetsel as the final stop). It would connect so many neighborhood business districts, and would really tie together the east side neighborhoods. It would also

 

Coming in a bit late, but I've had similar thoughts, especially since much of that route doesn't have very great bus service currently.  I'd only make one change, make it end in Mariemont, as that would better tie that very walk able city to the rest  of these neighborhoods.

Maybe service is so bad because ridership is very poor?  I know there's a chicken and egg problem, but being the most affluent parts of the city (excepting Madisonville), there seems to be an even bigger aversion to bus riding than usual.  The retarded route numbering (11 Erie-Hyde Park vs. 11 Madison Road-Oakley) doesn't help either.