Any official word on how late the streetcar will operate till?

 

You would hope at the very till 2am on say Friday and Saturday, and till 12am on Weekdays.

 

I could see many people taking advantage of the streetcar on bar hop adventures down in OTR on the weekends

on bar hop adventures

 

Speaking of hopping, Cranley's "Hop on Cincinnati" trackless trolley website is dead:

http://wvxu.org/term/hop-cincinnati#stream/0

Any official word on how late the streetcar will operate till?

 

You would hope at the very till 2am on say Friday and Saturday, and till 12am on Weekdays.

 

I could see many people taking advantage of the streetcar on bar hop adventures down in OTR on the weekends

 

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/streetcar/faqs/

 

The system is generally envisioned to run Monday through Thursday and on Sunday from about 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, it will operate from about 6 a.m. to midnight.

 

I think 7 a.m - 11 p.m. would be better on weekdays, how many OTR residents are going to work at 6 a.m? 1 or 2 a.m. on weekends would also probably be a good idea.

^I think that it will probably be adjusted to be more in line with what you say, there was an input gathering session this summer at the library where they collected similar comments. 

We just need to make sure that we do not decrease the frequency in order to make it run longer hours. The streetcar should run 12 minute headways at peak and no more than 15 minutes off-peak.

It would definitely be an outlier if it ran until 2:00a.

Does anyone know at what time exactly the street car is intended to start the test phase on the OTR loop? I know it's going to be at night, but I'm normally there on the weekend for drinking with friends. Will it be possible to see it go around the loop then?

It would definitely be an outlier if it ran until 2:00a.

 

Though isn't the streetcar in Cincy already kind of an outlier considering the density of destinations it goes to?

Does anyone know at what time exactly the street car is intended to start the test phase on the OTR loop? I know it's going to be at night, but I'm normally there on the weekend for drinking with friends. Will it be possible to see it go around the loop then?

 

There's no date set yet. The first dead pull will probably be late December or early January. Powered testing will depend a lot of that. There's still quite a bit of testing that has to go into the streetcars in the MOF before they're placed on the streets.

^I thought they mentioned late November for a dead pull. Or am I misremembering that?

Did the streetcar progress updates officially change to biweekly? I have heard the first streetcar is arriving this Friday, and the first dead pull would happen in November, but there hasn't been an official progress update with this info.

Yeah I thought the official date was November 16th for the Dead Pull.

I haven't seen or heard that date from anyone. It could be that early, but I know there's no official date yet because we need to have the vehicles here and tested before things like that can start.

One of the articles from around the time it was revealed the trains would be delayed stated a mid-to-late November dead pull with testing beginning in the weeks after that.

I just had lunch with some streetcar team members last week and there was no clear schedule. There are way to many moving parts to be sure when that will happen. Our streetcar project is going through all of the property safety precautions and not rushing to get things done. We have the most thorough construction team I've ever seen on a rail project. We're still on schedule for a September opening, but the exact timing of certain tests is undetermined.

There's a lot of padding built into the schedule for these types of things so I'm not worried. I am just happy we'll have a streetcar sitting at the MOF by the end of the week!

3.5 days!!!

First Streetcar Vehicle to Arrive Friday Morning

 

October 28, 2015

First Streetcar Vehicle Set to Arrive in Cincinnati on Friday

 

CINCINNATI —The first streetcar vehicle will be delivered by flatbed tractor-trailer to the Maintenance and Operations Facility (MOF) at the corner of Race and Henry streets in Over-the-Rhine on Friday, Oct. 30.

 

The vehicle will be hauled northbound on Race Street via Liberty Street after morning rush hour. At about 9:30 a.m. the vehicle will pause on Race next to the MOF for approximately 90 minutes to unload onto tracks, followed by an additional 30 minutes to tow, along the tracks, to the inside of the MOF.

 

See A Map Below

 

For safety reasons, designated viewing areas are available for the general public and media. Media may stage cameras on the sidewalk along Race Street across from the MOF and inside the MOF yard. No members of the media will be permitted inside the MOF building.

 

City and SORTA officials will be on hand for interviews and to answer questions.

 

Tours of the car will not be available at this time because the streetcar needs to be “unpacked” and undergo a series of tests.

 

While the arrival of this vehicle is a major milestone, the streetcar is still 10 months away from being operational. After Friday’s delivery, the City will still be waiting on four other vehicles that will arrive in Cincinnati over the next few months for testing and street readiness preparations.

 

Passenger service is scheduled to begin in September 2016.

 

The streetcar project remains on budget.

 

ABOUT THE STREETCAR

 

The Cincinnati Streetcar is a modern rail-transit system intended to stimulate development, expand transportation options, and enhance livability by connecting key communities in and around the center city. The system, which is scheduled to begin passenger service in September 2016, consists of a 3.6-mile loop extending from The Banks, through Downtown and north to Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine.

 

Click for a downloadable version of this map

They should take one of the streetcars around to various neighborhoods and have meet & greets with the public similar to the one on Fountain Square back in 2010. 

I actually don't think that seeing a streetcar sitting on the back of a flatbed truck does much to changes the minds of people who are already convinced it's a bad idea. I remember when the Portland streetcar was on Fountain Square, there was a police office inside the streetcar monitoring as people walked around. I overheard her saying, "I don't see how it's different than a bus."

 

But seeing the streetcar move around on tracks and pull right up to the station, seeing how easy it is to enter/exit with level boarding, and experiencing the smoothness of the ride...not to mention, seeing how big our streetcars are...will really start to change opponents' minds. People are not familiar with the concept of light rail or modern streetcars are going to be like, "So, it's basically like the New York City subway but above ground?"

First tapping is 6pm on 10/30/15 at Taft's Ale House.

 

I'm bothered by the proportions of Carew in that graphic.

I'm bothered by the proportions of Carew in that graphic.

 

And they snuck in Nashville's Batman building on the far left.

why is it that people, when they do those skyline logos, always seem to put the buildings out of order? Like, seriously?

Balance. There aren't many angles/orders in which the skyline would look balanced and fit nicely and feel properly composed when turned into silhouettes.

 

As for the incorrectly shaped buildings, I know a lot of times they do that to avoid conflict. Conflict is rare, but some owners of skyscrapers don't like their image being used without their consent and it has caused problems for people in the past in various cities.

 

But more likely, artistic liberty.

Only on UO do the forumers debate a meaningless skyline silhouette more than the beer....

I'm bothered by the proportions of Carew in that graphic.

 

And they snuck in Nashville's Batman building on the far left.

 

On the left is Christ Church not the Batman Building I'm guessing. They do look the same in profile view now that you point it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church_Cathedral_%28Cincinnati%29#/media/File:Cincinnati-christ-church-cathedral.jpg

 

Streetcar delivery delayed

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/10/29/streetcar-delivery-delayed.html

 

Disaster!!!

 

The arrival of Cincinnati’s streetcar will be delayed at least a few hours on Friday ...

 

Crisis averted.

Media reporting that the first car has made it to Ohio and should be in OTR by 4 PM tomorrow!

Media reporting that the first car has made it to Ohio and should be in OTR by 4 PM tomorrow!

 

We should find out which truck stop the streetcar will be hanging out at overnight.

Media reporting that the first car has made it to Ohio and should be in OTR by 4 PM tomorrow!

 

We should find out which truck stop the streetcar will be hanging out at overnight.

 

Ha! Well it's got to be on this path: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Elmira,+NY/Cincinnati,+OH/@41.7845356,-81.2753189,10.28z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x89d0153b3d17f2e3:0x48fc6630263a3abf!2m2!1d-76.8077338!2d42.0897965!1m5!1m1!1s0x884051b1de3821f9:0x69fb7e8be4c09317!2m2!1d-84.5120196!2d39.1031182

The day has come!

My ability to think about work today is minimal at best. I'm leaving at 2:30 to get home and get ready for its arrival. I can't wait to see it in person.

Streetcar 1175 is back on the road. Can't wait to see you all at 4pm (assuming there are no delays driving an 80 foot long train on the back of a truck several hundred miles) then at Taft's immediately after to celebrate. Urban Ohio's own John Schneider will be tapping the ceremonial keg at 6pm (if you get there early they'll still let you get the streetcar beer).

I'll be on Bill Cunningham's show @ 12:05 today, where I will negotiate the terms of his surrender to the streetcar mafia.

Streetcar 1175 is back on the road. Can't wait to see you all at 4pm (assuming there are no delays driving an 80 foot long train on the back of a truck several hundred miles) then at Taft's immediately after to celebrate. Urban Ohio's own John Schneider will be tapping the ceremonial keg at 6pm (if you get there early they'll still let you get the streetcar beer).

 

Well correct me if I'm wrong but per the Tiger grant these streetcars must run for the next 30 years (starting in 2016 I assume?) meaning these things will still be scooting around when I'm...68.  I won't be there this afternoon but it looks like I'll have plenty of time to check them out. 

 

I'm seeing a ton of comments on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram from people saying, "I thought these were going to look like the Rice-a-Roni ones in San Francisco! Ugh, so disappointed!"

 

I suspect that most of these people were opponents all along and suddenly they want to give their input on how the streetcar looks. Maybe if they were actually looking at this information over the past five years instead of just blindly opposing it...

 

But I do think that the overall reaction will be much more positive than negative and people will realize, "oh, this is a real transit system."

I really like that they are calling this vehicle #1175 (the last streetcar made before this one 60 some years ago was #1174).

I saw this on the Street Car facebook page

 

 

We used to have some of the greatest architecture assets in all of America, and we used to have 300 miles of streetcar rails, plus a subway tunnel waiting to be built.

 

I need to know guys, what the hell happened? I know this isn't the place for it, but if someone can give me a short and simple answer that would be appreciated. It blows my mind. How did our economy decline so badly while other cities (like say chicago) managed to flourish?

I need to know guys, what the hell happened? I know this isn't the place for it, but if someone can give me a short and simple answer that would be appreciated. It blows my mind. How did our economy decline so badly while other cities (like say chicago) managed to flourish?

 

I wouldn't say our economy declined badly since 1950's (when the streetcar network was dismantled.)  The streetcar network being dismantled and the "doughnut hole" suburbanization that occurred was typical of cities across the country.  Meanwhile our metro economy grew steadily but didn't experience explosive growth like cities in the south and west.  There are answers to explaining those things but they are not short and simple.

I saw this on the Street Car facebook page

 

 

We used to have some of the greatest architecture assets in all of America, and we used to have 300 miles of streetcar rails, plus a subway tunnel waiting to be built.

 

I need to know guys, what the hell happened? I know this isn't the place for it, but if someone can give me a short and simple answer that would be appreciated. It blows my mind. How did our economy decline so badly while other cities (like say chicago) managed to flourish?

 

Find the documentary, "Taken for a Ride".  It's eye opening.

We used to have some of the greatest architecture assets in all of America, and we used to have 300 miles of streetcar rails, plus a subway tunnel waiting to be built.

 

I need to know guys, what the hell happened?

 

Cincinnati still has some of the greatest architectural assets in the country; sure I wish that more of the West End were standing and a number of landmarks were still around, but am impressive architectural legacy remains.

 

Through conspiracy and modernization, Cincinnati and nearly every city lost their streetcars. Generally, only the largest cities with subway and heavy or light rail systems were able to hang on to their transit. There are exceptions, but it would have been pretty unique if the streetcars had survived in Cincinnati, especially 300 miles worth.

 

Chicago grew bigger before Cincinnati started to tear out its transit or architecture. There is a connection, but the larger question about Cincinnati's economy is much broader than a discussion of preservation of urban fabric.

 

Taken for a Ride is a bit heavy-handed and sappy in its presentation, and could use some fleshing out in its history and analysis, but it's still worth a watch.  Of course, there's also my website too :) http://jjakucyk.com/transit/

 

Just watched that documentary. I guess the general gist of it is that it's all GM's fault. They wanted to capitalize on there on the automobile, and developed metro buses as a main weapon to get rid of them. Then world war 2 was over, subsidized federal loans were handed out to built suburban homes, then all of a sudden almost everyone had a car.

 

So basically screw GM?

Arrival now expected around 5 p.m. due to traffic on the interstates.

Taken for a Ride is a bit heavy-handed and sappy in its presentation, and could use some fleshing out in its history and analysis, but it's still worth a watch.  Of course, there's also my website too :) http://jjakucyk.com/transit/

 

 

Don't think I've ever mentioned it to you but I love your site. I've spent an enormous amount of time on there looking at the looming history of the streetcar system that still exists. Thanks for putting that together and keeping it updated.

Arrival now expected around 5 p.m. due to traffic on the interstates.

 

^

Almost here.

 

Ironically CincyStreetcar[/member] delayed by highway traffic thru CLE & COL. Now about those 3C passenger trains... ;-)

 

Channel 12 News (www.local12.com) has had some great TV coverage of the streetcar arrival.