I just had the thought that because ridership has been sharply higher on weekends, that opponents might try to distort statistics by taking advantage of months that have fewer weekend days from year to year.  For example, October 2016 has four Fridays and five Saturdays whereas October 2017 has only four of each.  So In 2017, opponents might claim that ridership is "down sharply from 2016" simply because Oct 1, 2016 was a Saturday but will be a Sunday in 2017.  Conversely, proponents might get fooled by bolstered statistics on the two or three months in 2017 when more Fridays and Saturdays fall in a month than did in 2016. 

 

 

Metro does the exact opposite and adjusts for more or less work days in our projections

Don't give them any ideas!

 

Are the drivers paid biweekly?  If so brace for the I-Team investigation of why they were paid three times in December. 

 

Took some friends who hadn't ridden yet and some friends from Chicago yesterday. My friends from here were impressed with the changes downtown, said haven't been down there in like 10 yrs. Chicago friends said our streetcar is way nicer than the trains up there which they said they won't even ride anymore.

Is anyone else getting annoyed by the streetcar's bell?  At first it was cute but now it's turning into an annoying repeating sound, like when a smoke detector beeps when the batteries are running low. 

All of the streetcars are running the same sound effect at the same volume level and since it's from the same computer file, there is no individuality to it.  I imagine that in the old days, each driver had a particular way he rang a physical bell, and obviously with a large fleet of streetcars, there was some physical variation between the bells.  Since the streetcars use a computer file, it should be easy to assign a slightly different sound to each of the streetcars, or even allow drivers to select their own.  It would be like how each Reds player has his own batter's box music. 

 

 

If I have my windows open I can hear the streetcar bell in my bedroom. I so far haven't gotten sick of hearing it. I actually quite like hearing it even as I'm going to sleep.

I really though it was a real bell.  :-o Oh well better chance to use this then.

 

Here's the actual MP3 of the bell.

I thought it was a real bell, too.  Thanks for ruining it!  :-o  I like it, either way.  I think it's a pleasant tone that helps differentiate the streetcar from a bus.

I think it's way better than the prerecorded bells on Siemens light rail trains. Their bells stop mid recording. It so unnatural and obnoxious.

 

Travis' insightful comments on CityLab's "streetcars are evil" article from a few days ago sparked its own separate CityLab article:

 

http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/10/best-reader-comments-the-great-streetcar-showdown/503546/

Looks like the ostensibly progressive national blogs are stealing The Enquirer's streetcar clickbait business model.  Post a cheap non-article with no new visuals and watch the clicks roll in. 

It's a strange world we live in when people go and post comments on articles that are just a compilation of comments from another article.

It's a strange world we live in when people go and post comments on articles that are just a compilation of comments from another article.

 

Kind of like a discussion forum?  :)

It's a strange world we live in when people go and post comments on articles that are just a compilation of comments from another article.

 

Kind of like a discussion forum?  :)

 

Except most people who chat here live here, lived here, or have at least set foot in the city.  These national blogs aren't even bothering to send a reporter or photographer here or to these other places and are getting most of their reference for modern streetcars from Washington, DC.   

 

 

That's something I've wondered about. When these articles appear, I don't think that some/most of these reporters realize that Cincinnati's streetcar runs through a very different set of neighborhoods than, say, Atlanta's or KC's. OTR is historic and fundamentally walkable, and I can't really think of another city's streetcar that runs through even a remotely similar environment. Even in Seattle or Portland most of the growth has been in old warehouse districts that are now filled with a bunch of yuppie boxes, while Cincinnati's is rolling through an already-existing, highly dense Brooklyn-y neighborhood.

That's something I've wondered about. When these articles appear, I don't think that some/most of these reporters realize that Cincinnati's streetcar runs through a very different set of neighborhoods than, say, Atlanta's or KC's. OTR is historic and fundamentally walkable, and I can't really think of another city's streetcar that runs through even a remotely similar environment. Even in Seattle or Portland most of the growth has been in old warehouse districts that are now filled with a bunch of yuppie boxes, while Cincinnati's is rolling through an already-existing, highly dense Brooklyn-y neighborhood.

 

The apparent mediocrity (I haven't been there in ten years so I can't comment) of the lone-operating DC streetcar line (they actually partially built another line in Anacostia around 2004-05 but abandoned that for the H-street line that is now operating) is creating fodder for politicians like Rand Paul (https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/03/01/rand-paul-takes-on-the-dc-streetcar/) and for New York's plan to link the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/nyregion/washington-streetcar-stumbles-could-benefit-de-blasios-plan.html?_r=0). 

 

I think what is surprising people is that KC and Cincinnati's streetcars are functioning as true neighborhood circulators in the way that buses (like the Southbank Shuttle) never did in areas where there is a lot of non-peak trips.  Also, the free ride in KC can't be given sole credit for the high event ridership since people are paying $1 to ride in Cincinnati (and no doubt ridership would be a little higher if it were free).  The other cities where there isn't a lot of ridership (Salt Lake, Atlanta) are because the starter line wasn't built through an area with a wide array of uses.  A transit line through a new yuppie box neighborhood isn't going to attract the same variety of ridership that we are getting. 

 

My hunch is that the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront line could attract very high ridership for just the reasons I stated above, but it will be dismissed there because even if it gets 50,000 riders per day along a 10~ mile route, that's still less than more than a dozen subway stations get each day in Manhattan. 

 

 

 

 

I've mentioned this before here, but the DC streetcar goes from the middle of a highway overpass (that you can only access the stop if you walk on the bridge on the north side to a golf course. It would be like having a streetcar here start in Walnut Hills and run to Avon Fields, but without Xavier in the way

I spent last week in Salt Lake City. It had been probably eight years since my previous visit, and I was amazed at how the rail transit infrastructure has been built out over that time. In less than 20 years, an entire rail system has been put into place, with three light rail lines, a commuter rail line, and the S-Line streetcar. The streetcar, which runs on a single track with a passing track in the middle of the route, is not really a streetcar. I think the vehicle used is the same as the low-floor vehicles used on UTA's green and red lines, and it is routed along a former RR right-of-way, which it shares with a popular multi-use trail. As it is, the streetcar only connects the rail network to the outer edge of the burgeoning Sugar House commercial district, so it competes with bus service that has 15-minute headways during the day (the streetcar runs dependably every 20 minutes) but the planned phase 2 will take it down 11th East to 17th South, giving it much greater utility. The tap-to-ride UTA fare card is also a great innovation. What a difference from the Midwest, where getting starter streetcars into place requires years of struggle.

Some of the other modern streetcar lines don't make a lot of sense until they are extended. Both Dallas and DC's systems seem to fall into this category. This is why streetcars, in general, have gotten such a bad name with national urbanist publications.

 

Cincinnati's is different, as has been discussed in this thread many times. We're the only one connecting a CBD with 65,000 jobs, two stadiums, several museums, concert venues, restaurant districts, extremely popular parks and plazas, a farmer's market, existing residential areas, and underdeveloped areas that are likely to take off within the next 5 years. I can't think of any other American streetcar line that connects so many different destinations. The only disadvantage we have is that we don't connect to a university (yet), which some of the other systems do.

I've mentioned this before here, but the DC streetcar goes from the middle of a highway overpass (that you can only access the stop if you walk on the bridge on the north side to a golf course. It would be like having a streetcar here start in Walnut Hills and run to Avon Fields, but without Xavier in the way

 

Imagine that Cincinnati's first streetcar line went from Music Hall to Union Terminal through the West End. Then our second phase was a completely separate line that went from Jack Casino to Eden Park. Then in our third phase, we finally linked the two together through downtown, creating one big system where you can get from Union Terminal to Eden Park.

 

That is essentially what Seattle has done. They are about to start construction on their City Center Connector which connects the two completely separate existing streetcar lines that currently drop people off at the edge of downtown.

 

So there was accident at Main and Central Parkway involving the streetcar. It appears that a car was turning left from Central Parkway in an attempt to go south on Main while they had a red light and they got hit by the streetcar going through their green light. Perhaps they just ran a red light and got turned to look like they were trying to go South on Main. Either way, early eyewitness reports seem to suggest the streetcar had a green light.

 

Idiots. Turning the wrong way on a one way, AND turning in front of an oncoming vehicle.  It's like being loud and wrong.

^And running a red light!

Press release states that two cars were trying to go west on Central Parkway. One was hit by the streetcar as it went through the intersection. The car likely got turned around a little as it was hit, so I don't think she was trying to go the wrong way on Main, but was running a red light.

 

Running red lights is bad.. Is that the first streetcar involved accident with actual passengers?

Yes, as far as I know. The system was closed for 30 minutes. Unfortunately it was at lunch hour, the worst time for it to close. I think the drivers' insurance should be billed for lost revenue during the closure in addition to the damage to the streetcar itself.

Not sure if this has been posted yet?

 

https://twitter.com/ChrisSeelbach/status/785906684560609280/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

 

 

Also, not sure if this has been posted yet, but Transportation Committee passed a motion stating that the streetcar and Metro Plus should be given signal priority when the traffic lights are re-timed. I believe it passed full Council as well.

COAST's worst nightmare.

 

COAST's worst nightmare.

 

Yeah, they REALLY hate pumpkins. 

A co-worker of mine who is generally supportive of the streetcar had an awful experience this weekend.  Friday night a chartered streetcar party opened up at the the stop he was at and told everyone that it was a private party with another streetcar coming right behind it.  After it left he and his wife waited for a half hour before giving up and walking quite a distance back to their car.  I guess people at other stops were less than thrilled that the "party streetcar" went by, but no others appeared to be running.

 

When a streetcar is chartered do they add another car to the route to compensate?  Does anyone know what the deal was Friday night with the extended delays?

I do think that in the long run, the ability to charter a streetcar will cause more problems and it will eventually be discontinued. But yes, the chartered streetcar is an extra streetcar running in addition to the normal ones, they must've just been doing a really bad job with headways on Friday.

A co-worker of mine who is generally supportive of the streetcar had an awful experience this weekend.  Friday night a chartered streetcar party opened up at the the stop he was at and told everyone that it was a private party with another streetcar coming right behind it.  After it left he and his wife waited for a half hour before giving up and walking quite a distance back to their car.  I guess people at other stops were less than thrilled that the "party streetcar" went by, but no others appeared to be running.

 

When a streetcar is chartered do they add another car to the route to compensate?  Does anyone know what the deal was Friday night with the extended delays?

 

The chartered Streetcar needs to go. This system is a serious transportation mode and should be treated as such. Proper headways, reliable service. This isn't some party bus with stripper poles that you rent to take to Mainstrasse.

We tried to ride on Connector about 1:45 pm on Saturday from Washington Park heading to Findlay.  An empty car went by and said out of service.  A bunch of people were on platform waiting.  I tweeted to see if I could get a reason and never got a response.  We then walked to Findlay.  Not a problem but had friends visiting from out of town so a little disappointing. 

We then did ride from Rhinegeist back to Washington Park later that afternoon at around 3:00 and it was packed, shoulder to shoulder. The arrival times were posted when we started waiting at platform but then went blank and eventually a car came. Again, love seeing it used but I hope people's experiences with waits or packed cars isn't discouraging people.

 

When a streetcar is chartered do they add another car to the route to compensate?  Does anyone know what the deal was Friday night with the extended delays?

 

I drove by the car barn right around 7pm on Friday and saw Paul Grether and the other head honchos on radios generally looking pretty upset.  One streetcar was idling right there by the car barn and another one was idling at the Rhinegeist station.  Later I saw on Facebook or elsewhere that a streetcar had broken down and needed to be towed back to the car barn. 

^ I'm pretty sure that the one at Rhinegeist had just broken down and they back the other one out to tow it.

A co-worker of mine who is generally supportive of the streetcar had an awful experience this weekend.  Friday night a chartered streetcar party opened up at the the stop he was at and told everyone that it was a private party with another streetcar coming right behind it.  After it left he and his wife waited for a half hour before giving up and walking quite a distance back to their car.  I guess people at other stops were less than thrilled that the "party streetcar" went by, but no others appeared to be running.

 

When a streetcar is chartered do they add another car to the route to compensate?  Does anyone know what the deal was Friday night with the extended delays?

 

The chartered Streetcar needs to go. This system is a serious transportation mode and should be treated as such. Proper headways, reliable service. This isn't some party bus with stripper poles that you rent to take to Mainstrasse.

 

The problem isn't the chartered car, it's the currently variable state of headways and the lack of reliable arrival data. Having an extra car hurts no one, unless it's somehow impacting the other three cars. I do admit that I have no idea how a chartered car works since there aren't any pull offs for it to get out of the way of the "regular" line. Unless you literally just ride the loop and never leave the vehicle. Either way, it's another revenue stream and is a good sign that the streetcar is popular. As such, it only helps the argument for expansion.

In the coming weeks and months, we need to support Cincinnati bus riders. Signal priority at traffic signals for streetcars AND buses. Also needed are better bus benches (actually, all-around better Transit Waiting Environments). Cranley's next game plan will be to pit bus riders against the expensive streetcar.

 

Ironically, in the face of new, tougher emission standards, the electrically powered streetcar isn't the problem. It's exempt. Buses need to be made a cleaner mode of transportation so that they, like the streetcar, won't be a factor in Cincinnati's air pollution problem. You know, if we had more streetcars and routes, Metro will have less of a pollution emission problem....

 

Stricter emissions standards threaten financially-strapped public transit agencies

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/09/stricter_emissions_standards_t.html

I've seen a number of hybrid buses around, and even aside from that Cincinnati's buses have never been smoky.  I haven't seen any biodiesel stickers on them anymore though, did they phase those out?  Seems like both are opportunities for meeting or exceeding emissions standards.

The ticket vending machines are still a BIG PROBLEM.

 

I rode a couple of times today and noticed large groups of people being left behind on platforms because they couldn't buy tickets because they were stuck in line behind egg-heads who can't figure the things out.  In big groups it only take one person sitting there confused to cause a pile up.  I saw one person who couldn't figure out how to put his ticket in the validator- putting it in 1/2 way but refusing to let it be sucked inside. 

 

Ticket purchasing and validation needs to be simpler. 

1.  All streetcar pass options on the LEFT side of the screen.  Bus passes moved to the lower right corner or removed. 

2. Ticket validators on the cars.  It is still easily enforceable and we already know people aren't using the validators on the machines. 

 

I witnessed a lot of people have a bad experience today because SORTA can't get its act together and make this a simple process.  The fact that they need to make a video to explain the process is just proof its over complicated.  Is it hard to buy a ticket for me, No.  But the whole thing is overwhelming to too many and causing delays for everyone. 

 

Oh, and the Washington Park machine was out of service, as well.

 

 

 

 

I stumbled upon this streetcar remark by the deceased Barry Horstman today on this website: http://thanksgivingdayrace.com/our-history.html

Nine decades of running before feast

by Barry M. Horstman, Cincinnati Post,

originally published November 22, 2000

 

Any list of Thanksgiving traditions starts with turkey. Toss in football, the Macy's Parade and the official kickoff to Christmas shopping season.

 

And in Greater Cincinnati, add one unusual ingredient to the recipe: a Thanksgiving Day race that sends runners streaming through the streets of Northern Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati.

 

More than nine decades after 18 runners raced from the Fort Thomas Gym to the YMCA in downtown Cincinnati, the Thanksgiving Day race - the oldest road race of any kind in the Midwest - has become an integral part of the holiday for the thousands who run it annually and the thousands more who cheer them along the 10-kilometer (6.2 miles) course.

[...]

 

From the event's first step in 1908 with a few men in skippy shorts, to the misstep in 1924 when the whole race came to a complete halt for a passing streetcar, to the first women's step in 1970, to an Olympic step—four runners became Olympians, to a heroic step when a 16 year old saved a man's life at mile 5.

New daily streetcar ridership numbers are out: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/10/26/as-streetcar-ridership-hits-200-000-what-s-behind.html

 

Trendlines are not great, though I'd imagine we'll see a dropoff in the winter and it will pick back up in the summer:

Not many big events coming up other than a handful of Bengals games until the Reds start up again next April.  The Reds will not be at home next Memorial Day weekend or Labor Day weekend, so it seems unlikely that the opening weekend ridership will be challenged in 2017.  Aside from being free and the novelty of the event, the opening day ridership was bolstered by having all five streetcars running continuously, something that hasn't happened since. 

New daily streetcar ridership numbers are out: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/10/26/as-streetcar-ridership-hits-200-000-what-s-behind.html

 

Trendlines are not great, though I'd imagine we'll see a dropoff in the winter and it will pick back up in the summer:

 

This is precisely the thing that opponents (who still didn't get the memo that the thing is built and running) point to. They want to measure success by ridership on the first Monday in January.

^Yeah those are confusing and not very useful graphs.  Given the short time span, the trend line makes it look like ridership will be at zero in a month.  Since it's unlikely that a weekend will approach the ridership of the opening weekend more than 1-2 times per year, they really should take the opening weekend off of such a graph. 

 

Here's the same data in chronological order:

 

As predicted by CISCO

Here's the same data in chronological order:

 

 

I think your chart does a good job of illustrating that aside from the first two weekends (opening weekend with free rides and Oktoberfest - the biggest downtown event of the year) ridership has been pretty regular.

 

On a side note, there's a book called The Visual Display of Quantitative Information that anyone who ever looks at graphs and/or charts (everyone) should read. It's so easy to take the exact same data and display it in ways that make completely different points.

One thing that's important to remember when thinking about ridership is that Music Hall is out of commission for a year and a half or so, maybe more. Between the symphony, opera, pops, and other events and shows held at Music Hall, there are thousands of visitors who would likely use the streetcar who are not now. Between it reopening and the Shakespeare Theatre opening on 12th and Elm, I think we can expect a noticeable increase. Other than the stadiums, Music Hall is probably the biggest attraction/destination on the streetcar line. Of course, by then OTR's population will be higher, so it might be hard to isolate the effect of MH on ridership.

"As this shocking graph indicates, our water consumption has doubled in the last month."