It will literally do laps around your walking speed. Go ahead and get out and walk, but you're going to move much slower than it does and probably regret it the moment it leaves the station and accelerates away from you.

 

The only portion that is truly slow is south on Walnut since it's just such a busy street. All the portions in OTR it moves at the speed limit without problem and much of the Downtown portion it runs fine. You can't walk as fast as it.

 

People also need to realize the huge crowds on opening day not only mean it takes longer to move through a stop, but is also the first time a true random crowd is utilizing the system. Nothing will run perfect at first.

 

 

Just my observation. I feel in general most people are supportive who rode. But I did notice quite a few people and families complain about how it was a waste of tax dollars and how this is there first and last ride.

 

I enjoyed the street car personally. It really made downtown more compact and accessible. It was fun being to hop on Washington Park, go to Findley market and ride to the CAC with ease.

 

That said, I do think there is a demand for something with more speed and less stop and go.

 

I guess that's my only complaint as well. Yes it's faster than walking, but I just wish I could get to my destination in more of an instant. Maybe that's just my impatience rubbing out though.

 

 

 

I'm a little surprised families would turn out today to ride and criticize. But if you say so.

 

There were large crowds at every stop I saw as I headed back across the river at around 1p.

 

Passing any judgement about speed today is premature for sure.

 

 

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It's also a perception issue. Today, people are doing laps around the city.  That's not going to be the case when the newness where's off in a few days. when someone uses the Washington park garage, eats nearby, then hops on the streetcar to rhinegeist, it's not going to feel slow at all.

It's a surface running rail line without a dedicated right of way in the middle of the city. It takes less than 15 minutes max to get from one end to the other. How much less time does one need to move around the city? Most people, like in other cities, will only ride it one or two stops to their destination. The average rider will spend all of 2-4 minutes on the thing at a time.

 

I feel like I'm going to get annoyed with people commenting on "how long it takes" when it actually operates under normal conditions and the average person's entire trip, including waiting, will average around 8-10 minutes from stop to stop. Are we that impatient as a society?

 

Edit: Fixed stupid math.

Reminds me of when Jake walked the loop in an hour over claims that Horstman could do it in 30 minutes and some change.

I love how when given actual data from a perfectly able-bodied person walking the route and the comparison to Olympic speed-walkers they were still "confident" that Hortsman walked it in that time. Must've gotten all crossing signals timed perfectly and took a light jog in portions to keep up the pace.

I'm just afraid of how truly of a success this will be. The 1st day was packed obviously, but I'm sure that had more to do with curiosity + excitement.

 

I imagine alot of the workers in the CBD will use the street car for lunch hour to get to OTR/Findley Market. I imagine on the weekends it will be packed, especially for reds/bengals game, and OTR beer hopping.

 

I'm just concerned on the weekdays. The population who live downtown and OTR is really tiny. Can the street car really support the needed numbers to be a success?

 

I even noticed as it got later in the afternoon today, the street cars became less and less packed. I'm just afraid that the ridership will be strong on Friday's and Saturdays, but during the weekdays will be barren. An I guess I'm ultimately afraid they will use that as a target point on why the street car isn't a success.

I'm just afraid of how truly of a success this will be. The 1st day was packed obviously, but I'm sure that had more to do with curiosity + excitement.

 

I imagine alot of the workers in the CBD will use the street car for lunch hour to get to OTR/Findley Market. I imagine on the weekends it will be packed, especially for reds/bengals game, and OTR beer hopping.

 

I'm just concerned on the weekdays. The population who live downtown and OTR is really tiny. Can the street car really support the needed numbers to be a success?

 

I even noticed as it got later in the afternoon today, the street cars became less and less packed. I'm just afraid that the ridership will be strong on Friday's and Saturdays, but during the weekdays will be barren. An I guess I'm ultimately afraid they will use that as a target point on why the street car isn't a success.

 

But....

The opposite will be true. It's the people going about their daily routine and normal everyday lives that will make up the largest portion of riders. And that means more weekday riders since more people are here on weekdays than weekends.

 

If just 1/50 people who works or lives Downtown/OTR utilized the streetcar on any given day and made a roundtrip out of whatever they were doing that would be enough to hit 3,000 daily riders. That doesn't even take into account any visitors, people who come into the neighborhood after work for dinner or a drink, tourists, events, etc.

Congrats to Cincinnati and all those who worked so hard to make this project a reality!

 

I can't wait to try it out next time I visit. Also am really hoping that Columbus will look to your streetcar as a model to replicate up north ASAP.

Streetcar’s opening day becomes part celebration, part group therapy session: PHOTOS

Sep 9, 2016, 3:02pm EDT Updated Sep 9, 2016, 4:06pm EDT

Chris Wetterich

Staff reporter and columnist

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

The scars from the 2013 battle between Cranley and streetcar supporters both on the City Council and in the general public over whether the project should be cancelled were there in subtle ways. Former mayors Mark Mallory and Roxanne Qualls got uproarious rounds of applause when they were introduced while Cranley, who tried to cancel the project, received tepid clapping.

 

 

Judging from the speeches given on stage, the opening of the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar on Friday seemed for many of the city’s elected leaders to be as much a cathartic event aimed at casting off Cincinnati’s inferiority complex as a celebratory one.

 

Speaker after speaker said the opening of the $148 million streetcar wasn’t just about a vehicle or a new form of transportation but proof that this city can build big, important things on time and on budget that will be there for future generations.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2016/09/on-the-streetcar-s-opening-day-part-celebration.html

OMG, I can't believe it - i.e., seeing John Cranley helping open the streetcar ceremony...sort of like allowing Joseph Goebbels to deliver the commencement speech at Brandeis University.  :-o

^This is really over the top. Come on.

I did a full loop from the Race Street Findlay Market stop during the height of rush hour and it took 50 minutes (5:05 to 5:55).  Standing room only, so boarding and people figuring out if they wanted to try to get on or wait certainly added time.  It's some of the traffic signals that seem to be the real issue, having to wait through a full cycle for the streetcar signal to give the go-ahead at Central/Walnut and Walnut/2nd especially.  Crossing Liberty both times and also Main/Central involved a lot of sitting, as is the case with all traffic.  With some timing tweaks and getting out of rush hour I bet that can easily shave off 10-15 minutes, and then you're at just 15-20 minutes to go from Findlay to the Banks which is plenty reasonable.  That's 1.5 miles which at a brisk walking pace takes 30 minutes easily, more if you can't time the street crossings right.   

Anyone see this yet...

 

"​EXCLUSIVE: On streetcar’s first day, Flynn floats a way to get to Uptown"

 

"It would use a dedicated lane on streets leading to Uptown and temporarily use a rubber-tire trolley. The route eventually would be converted to rail if and when the city gathers enough funding and technological challenges are overcome, Flynn said."

 

From: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/09/09/exclusive-on-streetcar-s-first-day-flynn-floats-a.html?ana=fbk

 

No, thanks. Build it right from the start, no more of these "compromises." Whatever happened to that rubber tired trolley nonsense system that mysteriously showed up when Cranley announced he was running, the quietly disappeared when the streetcar prevailed?

Hey sorry if this has been covered, but what transit apps have real time arrival for streetcar? I've tried ezride, transit app, and Google ... [emoji848]

I know it is a proven thing, but while waiting for the streetcar today I experienced it for real myself. I just hoped that i didnt get one of the metro moves overflow busses because even though it followed the same route as the streetcar the fact that it had tires vs rails made me much more wary of where it would end up. I put little thought or worry into the streetcar itself. just hopped right on and had a vague notion of where i was heading and hopped right off a station early when i saw someone i knew there. I realize it is just a irrational fear but when i get on a buss it requires more planning and thought and awareness lest you end up in far off kenwood somewhere when you just meant to go across the basin.

 

Random person while i was waiting for the streetcar: "so does this go to Clifton?".

Me: "no, it would've but Kasich took away the money"

Random person: "ha, we should get trump to negotiate with them, he would've gotten it built".

Me: "we should get the Mexicans to pay for an Uptown tunnel"

She walked away.

 

Mostly I found positive thoughts and reactions, with a few complainers. I literally heard one guy who must've been a lawyer say "I still hate it, but it does go right from my office to the courthouse so I'll end up using it when the weather is bad". Overall I had a great evening with beer fest, live music in a few spots, big crowds all around town. Guys if I wasn't from Cincinnati and was just visiting I would've been extremely impressed. I'm so proud of this project and all the other supposed boondoggles it connects from the banks, to fountain square to Washington park and otr. Good job everybody.

That's the main reason why I enjoyed the street car. I never felt lost about where I was, and was mostly think less. It did its job,  it transported me.

 

That said if there was high speed rail already in Cincinnati I would probably never use the street car. The wait intervals suck, especially if the weather outside isn't favorable for waiting.

 

Plus, I do think it's slow to get from stop to stop, especially in heavy traffic. But it's the best we can do for now and I appreciate it for what it is. But I do wish we can get a form of high speed rail in the near future.

Hey sorry if this has been covered, but what transit apps have real time arrival for streetcar? I've tried ezride, transit app, and Google ... [emoji848]

http://www.go-metro.com/uploads/Mobile%20ticketing%20FAQs.pdf

 

 

Saw this one the CincyEZRIDE notes (dont know why it pastes all squirrely.)  it is at the bottom of page 8 here too. http://www.go-metro.com/uploads/Mobile%20ticketing%20FAQs.pdf

 

 

Planning your trip

Does Cincy EZRide provide real

-

time arrival information?

T

he real

-

time tracking feature of Cincy EZRide is coming soon

. In the meantime,

customers

may

continue to use Transit App a

nd

Bus Detective for real

-

time information

^hmm. Thanks. I have no idea how to enable RT in transit app for example.

So for example here's transit app and you can see the streetcar is just scheduled time not real time info.

They did have all five streetcars running by the evening. It was pretty awesome to be sitting outside Pi Pizzeria and seeing them go by every 8 to 10 minutes. Every one that went by was packed. In some cases the people waiting at the stops couldn't get on because the car was already full.

For some reason the city feels more alive with these street cars. I even feel there were more pedestrians in the cbd than normal. I feel like the street car is ultimately connecting the attraction nodes of our city and our encouraging to people to explore a little bit more, rather than stay isolated to one area like say the banks or otr.

 

I know in general that it will be a great tool for tourism, since alot of our attractions are hit along the route stops. I guess a union terminal extension, and a new port ky extension would be nice down the line as well.

Rode it last night between 8 pm and 10 pm.

 

Pros: Extremely popular. Nice ride. Decals not as fugly in person. The riding experience shows the true human-scaled size and complexity of the central city, and all the opportunity still there for further revitalization. Each abandoned building becomes a thing to behold and catalog, even for the layman, rather than going by in a car and combining a whole block of OTR into "ghetto."

 

Cons: Slow. Too many stops on Main.

The streetcars themselves are great.  Much nicer than the Skoda vehicles.  Quieter inside and out except for a strange creaking sometimes heard in the articulations.  Perhaps they'll be able to get that sound to go away eventually.  The streetcars did get pretty bunched up at one point on Friday night, with 3 coming by one after another, then a 20+ minute gap.  That shouldn't happen too often after they start running on a schedule.

 

The streetcars are great. More than that, though, people were having a great time, being smashed together with other strangers in ways I'm sure that many of them have never experienced. It was exhilarating, and a uniquely mass transit experience. Someone said before that this would help unite Cincinnati, and I can see that's true. In retrospect I can see that most of the benefits that we talk about will come from the social interaction that the streetcar provides, that we can't get anywhere else except for a crowded bar, which is very different and very much more homogeneous.

 

We live at Liberty and Elm and today my wife wants to take the streetcar to Findlay market. Bizarre and... fun!

 

The streetcars are great. More than that, though, people were having a great time, being smashed together with other strangers in ways I'm sure that many of them have never experienced. It was exhilarating, and a uniquely mass transit experience. Someone said before that this would help unite Cincinnati, and I can see that's true. In retrospect I can see that most of the benefits that we talk about will come from the social interaction that the streetcar provides, that we can't get anywhere else except for a crowded bar, which is very different and very much more homogeneous.

 

We live at Liberty and Elm and today my wife wants to take the streetcar to Findlay market. Bizarre and... fun!

 

 

In planner speak that's called "unplanned exchange."

 

It's kind of one of the pillars of civilization. Always amazes me that America gets by with so little of it.

I'm glad Cincinnati can now experience more of the sense of a "high-intensity social interaction" that rail transit provides. Having lived in a rail city all my life, I take it for granted that every city of at least moderate size experiences this. Sadly, they do not. Glad that Cincinnati is in The Club. The biggest victory will be when Columbus joins it.

For some reason the city feels more alive with these street cars. I even feel there were more pedestrians in the cbd than normal. I feel like the street car is ultimately connecting the attraction nodes of our city and our encouraging to people to explore a little bit more, rather than stay isolated to one area like say the banks or otr.

 

I know in general that it will be a great tool for tourism, since alot of our attractions are hit along the route stops. I guess a union terminal extension, and a new port ky extension would be nice down the line as well.

 

Yep, that's what rail transit tends to do.  Downtown Cincy and OTR already have a lot going for them.  The streetcars will only enhance this.  I'm hoping yesterday was only a start and that this new loop will be the start of a much larger rapid transit network for the Queen City.

High ridership and required de-boarding is in effect this afternoon. The cars have been pretty much packed since before 10a.

 

 

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It was a great morning to ride the streetcar, big lines still waiting to ride and all kinds of people downtown and throughout OTR. There are a lot of first timers down there which is awesome. Some of my favorite overheard quotes of the day are as follows:

 

Old Guy:"Well it was hard, that's the first time I've parallel parked in at least 20 years!"

Old Lady:"Excuse me, is this the OTR?"

And finally my favorite, a little 8ish year old kid:"When I live downtown I'm going to ride this all the time". I shed a tear.

High ridership and required de-boarding is in effect this afternoon. The cars have been pretty much packed since before 10a.

 

Why doesn't someone tell those people that this thing doesn't go anywhere???  :evil:

Streetcar service was stopped maybe 45 minutes ago due to a "police matter" and we're hearing it might be a bomb threat. I was on a streetcar that pulled up to the Findlay Market stop on Race and a police officer pulled up in front of us, came to the door, and told everyone to get off. I don't want to speculate too much but you have to wonder if it was a streetcar opponent who wanted to stop the system by any means necessary, even if that meant calling in a bomb threat. Of course it could just be some dumb kid too.

I saw on Reddit someone reporting a "medical emergency" around 4:15. I took the bus circulator back from Findlay around 4:45. Not sure if that is related or not.

 

 

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Unrelated.... Our streetcar was held up for 2 minutes at Rhinegeist while they got someone who fainted on the tracks downtown moved off. But then 10 minutes later we were evacuated at Findlay for the bomb threat.

It was a great morning to ride the streetcar, big lines still waiting to ride and all kinds of people downtown and throughout OTR. There are a lot of first timers down there which is awesome. Some of my favorite overheard quotes of the day are as follows:

 

Old Guy:"Well it was hard, that's the first time I've parallel parked in at least 20 years!"

Old Lady:"Excuse me, is this the OTR?"

And finally my favorite, a little 8ish year old kid:"When I live downtown I'm going to ride this all the time". I shed a tear.

 

One guy who got on the streetcar on Elm and went around the car barn -- when the streetcar stopped at Race and Elder, said to his wife, "C'mon, this is Fountain Square, it's where we get off

^it was hilarious listening to the suburbanites arguing with each other where they were in the city.

 

On another note, Derek Bauman has a FB Live video talking about the bomb threat. They have cleared 4/5 vehicles so far.

 

This is why we can't have nice things

 

 

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Sunday afternoon at 2 PM - cars are so packed that you can barely find a spot to stand. People seem to be very positive and I'm hearing a lot of chatter on rides about where it'll go next.

I'm definitely on board with John Schneider's idea about the tunnel now. If I lived in OTR and worked at uc or one of the hospitals, I'd like to get there as fast as possible. If we created a simple street car extension to UC, I imagine the ridership will still be there, but not as high as it could be due to the sheer slow speed of these vehicles. Also I'm not sure how much traffic would play a factor either. If it's anything like how it currently is on walnut St then no thank you.

I'm definitely on board with John Schneider's idea about the tunnel now. If I lived in OTR and worked at uc or one of the hospitals, I'd like to get there as fast as possible. If we created a simple street car extension to UC, I imagine the ridership will still be there, but not as high as it could be due to the sheer slow speed of these vehicles. Also I'm not sure how much traffic would play a factor either. If it's anything like how it currently is on walnut St then no thank you.

 

Is there a point to your constant commenting? You seem to keep hearing these mysterious people on the Streetcar who are complaining about what a waste of money it is, then you keep complaining about how slow it is. I call BS on pretty much most of your posts regarding this. You seem to be having a different experience than any of the UO forumers in regards to what others are saying, so I'm guessing it's made up to stir drama. So, in other words, pretty much par for the course.

I'm definitely on board with John Schneider's idea about the tunnel now. If I lived in OTR and worked at uc or one of the hospitals, I'd like to get there as fast as possible. If we created a simple street car extension to UC, I imagine the ridership will still be there, but not as high as it could be due to the sheer slow speed of these vehicles. Also I'm not sure how much traffic would play a factor either. If it's anything like how it currently is on walnut St then no thank you.

 

Is there a point to your constant commenting? You seem to keep hearing these mysterious people on the Streetcar who are complaining about what a waste of money it is, then you keep complaining about how slow it is. I call BS on pretty much most of your posts regarding this. You seem to be having a different experience than any of the UO forumers in regards to what others are saying, so I'm guessing it's made up to stir drama. So, in other words, pretty much par for the course.

 

Well that was constructive.

I love how if there is an unpopular opinion or comment about the streetcar it becomes automatically shunned as idiotic or not real.

 

I am supportive if the streetcar and enjoy that we have this in our city. But if we are being real, this is a bus on an electric wire with a more comprehensive and simplified route. I really enjoy that aspect, since buses feel like mazes sometimes to navigate your destination.

 

But the stops, the general allowed speed and the high peak traffic makes the street car an annoyance. It's the best option we have, and I'm glad that it exists. But if I was in a rush and had to get to OTR to say the GE building down by the banks, I don't really think using the streetcar is the most quickest option, and would probably simply drive and park in the parking garage by the banks.

Not to get into what was said above because I don't believe you to be making anything up and have no interest in getting into that conversation

 

BUT, based on this comment...

 

I don't really think using the streetcar is the most quickest option, and would probably simply drive and park in the parking garage by the banks.

 

...you're not their clientele. If you'd rather save 3 minutes by getting in your car and paying for parking again then you aren't the type of person the streetcar was designed for. A lot of people, myself included, would much rather give up that few extra minutes (which is actually arguable to even be a time savings, but that's another conversation) for the sake of ease. You don't have to do anything with the streetcar other than hop on. It's far more convenient than trying to go back to your car, driving (at more or less an identical speed to the streetcar), parking, paying again, then walking to your destination from some parking garage. One of those requires less effort which is why rail transit is seen as a desirable urban asset.

Parking takes up a lot of time.

Rode it today with my wife. Really enjoyed the ride from 6th and main up to Findlay market. Decal ads don't look as terrible as I expected, it was easy to get on and off and figure out which stop you wanted to get off at. Thought it was a good call by metro having employees at stops to answer questions and loved the brochure they gave out that explained destinations at each stop. I'm definitely happy it's finally here, and can't wait till we have light rail going out to suburbs.

Photo spread of my trip from Cleveland to Cincinnati to enjoy opening day of The Bell...

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,30874.0.html

I agree with TroyEros[/member] here, it can't be so slow as to be totally inconvenient. Just from riding this weekend, who much I acknowledge is totally unrepresentative, it seems to run really well in the morning and at night, but I think it was having issues during rush hour on Friday navigating the traffic and busses (I'm sure the "crush loads" of riders had something to do with that too.) As Jarrett Walker says transit must value people's time. I think what we have right now works but I think what I've seen so far does make a case for the tunnel.

 

Lots of riders even on Sunday night tonight. If that's what free fares would do I wish we had free fares. It would be awesome if they could make it free someday and repurpose the fare machines to be general Metro vending machines which they could install at important bus stops around the city (since they have the ability to dispense  monthly passes, stored value cards etc.)

 

Should be interesting next weekend what happens with Oktoberfest. Even charging fares they may have jam packed streetcars all weekend long and may make a lot of $ next weekend.

Exactly. I'm really happy with what the street car provides. I love how it takes the CBD and essentially breathes new life into it. Just simply seeing the street cars passing by, full of people is really a sight to behold in it's own right. An I feel ultimately you are taking parts of Cincinnati like the CBD, and North of Liberty OTR, and exposing these areas to people who may have never thought about exploring these areas before.

 

I also agree with how it's convenient. Especially for events, or if I want to go to the Cincinnati Library, and grab a meal in OTR, I don't have to worry about walking all of those blocks. I just hop on and go.

 

That said, and this is my main point, and my main grievance. The street car isn't about getting me from point A to point B in the fastest manner possible. Which is fine, I understand that's not the purpose for which it was built. That said, I think that factor will turn SOME people off. An that's why I wish, one day, we can perhaps revisit the old subway tunnels and allow for rapid transit to key attraction nodes in our city, and beyond.

 

Again, the street car is awesome for various reasons. But the detraction of speed, traffic, and constant stops can be a major detractor for some riders. Hopefully we can have a type of rapid transit transportation that can have us hop onto an OTR station, and have us arrive to the Banks, or UC in less than 2-3 minutes flat. That's my big, "pie in the sky" dream at least.