^ Whether the use it or not, they will be exposed to the streetcar. Dunno about you, but the reactions I see and what I hear is almost universally positive. People are really gonna like this streetcar.

Also, there was a particular way the sound of the music bounced off the buildings, and now that's going to be washed out by the highway noise.  Although I think a lot of the noise heard in that area is actually traffic on 2nd and 3rd. 

 

So, a corny, oom-pah-pah version of "Band on the Run" (no lie, I heard it myself last year) will sound different in the new location.  Maybe that's a good thing...

IMO this just cemented (and accelerated) the success of the Cincinnati Streetcar. The amount of people riding it during Oktoberfest is going to be insane.

 

1) It's the second weekend of operation—which if memory serves me right was even bigger than the launch weekend for Kansas City.

2) Oktoberfest. All the people from the suburbs who haven't actually had a chance to see the Streetcar are going to see it shine first hand. You couldn't ask for a better post-launch promotion of a transit system than Oktoberfest.

 

I'm elated! :clap:

This is the best news we could get. Somebody somewhere deserves a big hug for this. Who is it?

 

 

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Cranley, Smitherman, etc. are going to be eating dirt when ridership far exceeds estimates.  In fact, if we end up averaging 6,000 rides per day, that would be 2X the 2007 estimate.  So Cranley would be 2X wrong on his #1 campaign issue.

 

Here is a link to recent Kansas City ridership:

http://kcstreetcar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/June-2016-Ridership.jpg

 

^ Huh, I wonder why the overall slump on Tuesdays and bump on Wednesdays (for the most part). 

Taco Tuesday? 

Cranley, Smitherman, etc. are going to be eating dirt when ridership far exceeds estimates.  In fact, if we end up averaging 6,000 rides per day, that would be 2X the 2007 estimate.  So Cranley would be 2X wrong on his #1 campaign issue.

 

Here is a link to recent Kansas City ridership:

http://kcstreetcar.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/June-2016-Ridership.jpg

 

I've always felt streetcars were very price sensitive, not just the money cost but the hassle to buy a fare although apps may overcome that. Fareless is the way to go if you want to drive ridership. Kansas City went that way, Cincinnati didn't.

 

Coins are a scourge in the U.S. since most of them are worthless yet people hand you tons of them anytime you pay cash for anything. Then people and especially machines ask for very specific amounts of them often in a certain denomination anytime they are involved.

^Not to go off topic, but I agree about the coins. It would be nice if they were all eliminated except for quarters and final prices were rounded up to the nearest $0.25 accordingly. I'm sure there would be a lot of negative impact that I'm not accounting for, but it would be great from a usability perspective.

The mobile ticketing app is going to be very important for streetcar ridership. Also if you have the parking app, your information will automatically be transferred over (same company); but the convenience of just pulling out your phone and tapping a few buttons will be great for people who live or work downtown and often take the streetcar.

 

Agree with John about price sensitivity

Young people love apps and hate cash, partially because coins are so awful.

I think I saw that the ticket kiosks accept PayPass (RFID). Which means that you can use Apple Pay/Android Pay to purchase a ticket if you don't want to download the app. Not 100% sure about this but will verify once the machines are turned on.

Do we know yet what the ticketing policy will be as far as time frame?  Like in some cities a ticket is good for unlimited rides for 1-2.5 hours.  I can see the benefit of being able to pay a single fare to run up to Findlay Market or wherever and back over lunch without having to buy two separate tickets. 

$1 for unlimited rides within a 2 hour period. $2 for unlimited rides all day.

Is there a bottom age? For instance: Kids under 4 are free.

 

 

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Is there a bottom age? For instance: Kids under 4 are free.

 

 

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Probably will be the same as Metro's standard fare policy:

 

Children under 35 inches ride free

Children 35-45 inches pay half fare

WCPO[/member]  12:18 PM - 20 Jul 2016

 

#BREAKING: @Cincy_Streetcar and vehicle get into wreck near 7th and Walnut in Downtown Cincinnati, police say. More details soon.

 

 

 

WCPO[/member]  12:30 PM - 20 Jul 2016

 

UPDATE: @cincinnatimetro spokeswoman says @Cincy_Streetcar hit van's driver-side door that was open. Streetcar was scraped, no one injured.

^ The irony is that the truck was delivering the ticket machine to the streetcar stop there. So i guess the driver should have known, right?

Probably will be the same as Metro's standard fare policy:

 

Children under 35 inches ride free

Children 35-45 inches pay half fare

Metro released informational and safety videos about the streetcar today. The informational one is great:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ajth8RXqcg

 

Check out the rest on Metro's YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Certainly better than DC's

 

Certainly better than DC's

 

 

Oh wow!

Sorry if this has been covered before but does anyone know what will happen when a streetcar reaches the north end of the line? Does everyone have to get out at Rhinegeist? Can southbound travelers coming out of Rhinegeist board the streetcar right out in front of Rhinegeist and take a ride past the MOF, or do they have to walk to the Race Street Findlay Market stop? Where does the dwell time (the "break time" transit vehicles take to ensure that they're evenly spaced out and on schedule) take place- at Rhinegeist with the doors open, in front of the MOF with the doors closed, or at Findlay Market Race Street stop with the doors open?

The DC Streetcar video, and the DC Streetcar Program, is a complete and utter joke. Thank heavens that SORTA and Cincinnati did not make a fool out of their city with the program thus far!

Sorry if this has been covered before but does anyone know what will happen when a streetcar reaches the north end of the line? Does everyone have to get out at Rhinegeist? Can southbound travelers coming out of Rhinegeist board the streetcar right out in front of Rhinegeist and take a ride past the MOF, or do they have to walk to the Race Street Findlay Market stop? Where does the dwell time (the "break time" transit vehicles take to ensure that they're evenly spaced out and on schedule) take place- at Rhinegeist with the doors open, in front of the MOF with the doors closed, or at Findlay Market Race Street stop with the doors open?

 

I don't know the answer, but it should dwell at the Findlay Market Race Street stop since that's a transit-only lane.

I witnessed a streetcar "dwelling" with its hazards on for a bit on Central Parkway at the turn onto Walnut Street the other day. The dwell times do not appear to be very long if they occur.

Sorry if this has been covered before but does anyone know what will happen when a streetcar reaches the north end of the line? Does everyone have to get out at Rhinegeist? Can southbound travelers coming out of Rhinegeist board the streetcar right out in front of Rhinegeist and take a ride past the MOF, or do they have to walk to the Race Street Findlay Market stop? Where does the dwell time (the "break time" transit vehicles take to ensure that they're evenly spaced out and on schedule) take place- at Rhinegeist with the doors open, in front of the MOF with the doors closed, or at Findlay Market Race Street stop with the doors open?

 

I don't know the answer, but it should dwell at the Findlay Market Race Street stop since that's a transit-only lane.

 

I hope Rhinegeist customers traveling south are able to board at Rhinegeist. People will be judging the streetcar on all kinds of trivial things to start off with and that could be one of them.

I don't see why this streetcar would have an "end of the line, everyone get off" point. It's a loop, so I suspect if you've paid you can ride it as long as you'd like. Does anyone know any examples of an urban circulator where passengers are required to get off at some point? I just figured the whole thing is fair game for the whole loop.

Night testing!

 

Sorry if this has been covered before but does anyone know what will happen when a streetcar reaches the north end of the line? Does everyone have to get out at Rhinegeist? Can southbound travelers coming out of Rhinegeist board the streetcar right out in front of Rhinegeist and take a ride past the MOF, or do they have to walk to the Race Street Findlay Market stop? Where does the dwell time (the "break time" transit vehicles take to ensure that they're evenly spaced out and on schedule) take place- at Rhinegeist with the doors open, in front of the MOF with the doors closed, or at Findlay Market Race Street stop with the doors open?

 

I don't know the answer, but it should dwell at the Findlay Market Race Street stop since that's a transit-only lane.

 

I hope Rhinegeist customers traveling south are able to board at Rhinegeist. People will be judging the streetcar on all kinds of trivial things to start off with and that could be one of them.

 

Yes, riders will be able to ride around the loop.  (Except for maybe on opening day.  There's still some logistics planning to do for that day.)  On normal operations, the streetcar will dwell at the MOF for 1-3 minutes to allow for potential operator reliefs, but riders will be able to remain on board. 

I witnessed a streetcar "dwelling" with its hazards on for a bit on Central Parkway at the turn onto Walnut Street the other day. The dwell times do not appear to be very long if they occur.

 

Right now, they're testing the signal priority system and just burning in hours.  They're not actually following any schedules.  Block schedules were finished and imported last week and they'll begin testing the schedules next Monday.  The schedules are pretty tight, so there shouldn't be much if any kill time other than the scheduled dwell time at the MOF.

How much signal prioritization is there?  I thought that wasn't part of the project scope, other than leading greens at intersections where the streetcar needs to turn left from the right lane (or vice versa) such as at Central Parwkway and Walnut or at 2nd and Main. 

I have noticed that the streetcar always gets priority at the 12th & Race intersection as well. Even though it will only "need" priority if it's turning (which won't happen during normal operations - only when one half of the system is closed). But it's nice that the streetcar will get a head start there anyway.

Signal "prioritization" means a few different things... currently the streetcar just gets a "head start" over the green light for cars. But I'd like to see signal coordination where the signal turns green *in anticipation* of an approaching streetcar so that the streetcar doesn't have to stop. That has the biggest impact on reducing travel times.

 

I'm not sure how the term "signal prioritization" is used in the industry, so forgive me if I'm mis-using the term.

Signal "prioritization" means a few different things... currently the streetcar just gets a "head start" over the green light for cars. But I'd like to see signal coordination where the signal turns green *in anticipation* of an approaching streetcar so that the streetcar doesn't have to stop. That has the biggest impact on reducing travel times.

 

I'm not sure how the term "signal prioritization" is used in the industry, so forgive me if I'm mis-using the term.

 

^ I have heard that the new traffic signals that were installed as part of the streetcar construction have this capability. So the biggest obstacle to making this happen is convincing the DOTE as well at the Mayor and City Council that streetcars should have priority and be given the green light over other traffic. You could install the same equipment on buses as well, so this could be a huge benefit for transit riders.

Signal "prioritization" means a few different things... currently the streetcar just gets a "head start" over the green light for cars. But I'd like to see signal coordination where the signal turns green *in anticipation* of an approaching streetcar so that the streetcar doesn't have to stop. That has the biggest impact on reducing travel times.

 

I'm not sure how the term "signal prioritization" is used in the industry, so forgive me if I'm mis-using the term.

 

^ I have heard that the new traffic signals that were installed as part of the streetcar construction have this capability. So the biggest obstacle to making this happen is convincing the DOTE as well at the Mayor and City Council that streetcars should have priority and be given the green light over other traffic. You could install the same equipment on buses as well, so this could be a huge benefit for transit riders.

 

Would speed up bus service through downtown!

I assume that preemption capabilities are standard on most signal controllers nowadays because so many jurisdictions use them for ambulances, fire trucks, etc.  So depending on the programming, all that's really needed to activate preemption would be a transmitter in the vehicle.  For all I know the signals already have receivers installed, though downtown has its own weird emergency vehicle warning/preemption system that never seemed to work right in the first place, so maybe that's not the case here.  Here's what the receivers look like.  They're usually mounted on mast arms, but maybe there's some hiding on the support poles? 

 

^ Do those "watch for emergency vehicles" lights still exist downtown? I can't remember seeing them in awhile.

Is Monday the day they start simulated service testing based on the actual schedule?

More shots of the streetcars in action!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic shots! Thanks for sharing!

Love that you can see all the way down to PBS in the one shot.

How much signal prioritization is there?  I thought that wasn't part of the project scope, other than leading greens at intersections where the streetcar needs to turn left from the right lane (or vice versa) such as at Central Parwkway and Walnut or at 2nd and Main. 

 

There are 8 signals in the system with signal priority.  Race at Elder, Race at 12th, Central at Walnut, Walnut between 4th & 5th, Walnut at 2nd, 2nd at Main, Main at Government Place, and 12th at Race.  We have a laser based signal priority system.  When the streetcar (or really any large vehicle) nears an intersection, the laser will spot the vehicle and add a special streetcar signal into the next phase.  This only allows the streetcar to move while other traffic is stopped.  The streetcar is testing another system that will use GPS to obtain signal preemption, where the signal phase will speed up, slow down, or even jump into the middle of a cycle when the streetcar nears.  This was not in the original scope, so we're just kind of testing to see if it's a possibility.  Fingers crossed that it happens though.  That would speed up the running time by a good couple of minutes. 

Is Monday the day they start simulated service testing based on the actual schedule?

 

It was pushed back one week to the 8th.  Block schedules are cut, and the times listed on the station stops are reflecting the actual schedule.  (I don't know if anybody noticed the typo, but I fixed it yesterday.  LOL, my bad.)  The runs haven't been assigned yet though.  I'm finishing a new roster this weekend to pick next week.  Everything is still looking great for Sept. 9th though.  I'm excited!

^Thanks, I assume that means simulated service weekends too, starting Aug 13&14, since the intent is to replicate the actual schedules and run assignments?

Sounds like the streetcar construction officially came under budget. Now with a $2.5M contingency instead of $500K.

Sounds like the streetcar construction officially came under budget. Now with a $2.5M contingency instead of $500K.

 

Or $3.5 million if not for the Cranley fiasco. 

Imagine if we had a pro-streetcar mayor and council majority in office right now. We could roll all of that remaining contingency money, plus the money that was saved earlier this year from refinancing the streetcar bonds, into planning for Phase 2.

Imagine if we had a pro-streetcar mayor and council majority in office right now. We could roll all of that remaining contingency money, plus the money that was saved earlier this year from refinancing the streetcar bonds, into planning for Phase 2.

 

The streetcar + the UC connector could have opened by 2012.  Four years ago.  And we'd be applying for more grants to expand somewhere else.