The streetcar has a new boss. But does he have any transit experience? (Cincinnati: sales, city hall)

[mike1003]

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...eo/3065847002/

How can this loser ever turn around? It never will with this city clowncil, or any.

The folly is a dead horse, why beat it?

[Cyclingwriter]

What, you mean the same Clowncil that a judge is now telling five members of which to resign because they violated open meetings laws and stuck the taxpayers for a $100,000 bill?

Why is it every time I pass through Cincinnati at rush hour-or any hour-and see that thing crossing over Fort Washington Way, it's empty?

Do I hear The Who singing, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?"

[Nomomo07]

Originally Posted by mike1003

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/new...eo/3065847002/

How can this loser ever turn around? It never will with this city clowncil, or any.

The folly is a dead horse, why beat it?

Well this demonstrates a decided lack of understanding of the facts in play. This appointment was made by the City Manager, and is being publicly questioned by a number of city council members, including Greg Landsmann and Chris Seelbach.



This system can indeed be successful, as evidenced by the Kansas City streetcar system. It is roughly the same length as ours and uses the exact same streetcar vehicles. The big difference between these systems, is that the Mayor of Kansas City is a wholehearted supporter. They've prioritized the streetcar at all traffic signals and strictly enforce no parking on the tracks. They have also made the system free. As a result of these simple fixes, they are seeing annual ridership figures of over 2 million passengers. Even without these simple changes, the Cincinnati Streetcar increased ridership in February to 18% higher than the previous February. That is a significant increase by any estimation.



Now I'm sure no one here will claim that Cincinnati simply can't recreate what Kansas City is doing. I understand folks saying we are not Portland, but if we can't even be bothered to compete with a city that is our peer in numerous ways, what does that say about us as a people. I'm happy to note that the vast majority of streetcar and city naysayers have already migrated to the periphery of the metropolitan area. They seem so inclined to disavow the will of the citizens of Cincinnati, who voted in favor of the streetcar not once but twice.



I tend to think that if we stopped arguing about whether or not we should have a piece of infrastructure that has already been in place for two and a half years, we might be able to better use our time to make the streetcar the best it can be. But what do I know, I'm just a well-informed citizen.

[OyCrumbler]

Kansas City may simply be a more competently run city, so it's debatable that Cincinnatians can get this to work.

[mike1003]

The folly was a loser, is a loser and always will be a loser


Cincinnati clowncil can't get it done tomorrow, today and yesterday

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by mike1003

The folly was a loser, is a loser and always will be a loser


Cincinnati clowncil can't get it done tomorrow, today and yesterday

Exactly! Cincinnati can’t figure out something as simple as a streetcar, Cincinnati isn’t yet in Kansas City’s league unfortunately

[Kamms]

At this point it is beyond politics and the other drama excuses being served up as the Connector is in year 3 of operations and its still high drama.

It runs right thru the CBD into OTR and loops back, all of 3 or so miles on one-way tracks. Still no one is using it.

Since the plans for a larger system were cancelled, not sure why this loop went forward; otherwise, what were the expectations for it given its reduced effectiveness. Of course ridership is going to be low. February ridership was about 850/day, far from the expected 3,000/day estimate. So now the excuse is traffic signals not accommodating the Streetcar. Meaning upwards of 2,150 or so people a day are opting not to use the streetcar because of traffic signals. Not buying this.

That the Connector was supposed to be a ''feeder'' from buses and some kind of long range plans for a light-rail network is delusional.

Or as stated above, it's an issue that Cincinnati just can't seem to figure out something so simple as this Connector; an expensive Connector at that.

I get that downtowns like Cincy want a ''circulator'' in downtown. Try Trolley Buses etc instead of expensive rail, but that's the point: a sleek yet expensive Streetcar looks and sounds like Cincy is cutting edge hip as it tries to shake-off its conservative reputation.

I'm sure the folks in Cincy are sick of this streetcar drama as it is about 15 years now since this issue come to front and now almost 3 years of dismal results and even more drama and finger pointing.

Cities considering a streetcar such as KC and Cincy's will obviously be looking at the extreme end results of these 2 systems to see what tto do and not to do.

[Kamms]

Actually, the ridership estimate was 6,400/day which makes this even worse. This estimate excludes the cancelled Uptown line so this Connector was a real sales job.

So now about 4,600 people everyday are opting not to ride the Connector due to signal delays and city hall politics? Really not by that at all now. It’s a lack of demand, need, and usefulness.

Bottom-line: new boss best know what he’s doing cuz he has a lot to do.

[Kamms]

I’m almost as good at math as the streetcar ridership experts, it’s a whopping 5,600/ people per day opting not to ride the streetcar allegedly because of signals and city hall nonsense...how could KCs streetcar be such a big success at least ridership wise if it wasn’t for demand and usefulness?

[DaveGl]

I've never used the streetcar and probably never will. However, I do use the TANK Southbank Shuttle trolley. It usually has other riders on it when I've used it. I wouldn't be surprised if it's more popular that the streetcar and no doubt a lot less expensive.

Another problem I have with the downtown streetcar is when it was apparently used as a reason to move Oktoberfest from Fifth Street and Fountain Square to the setting over the I-71/ Fort Washington Way, I guess over a concern of the streetcar passing through the middle of the old location. Sitting right next to a major freeway, away from the heart of Cincinnati, destroyed a lot the old ambience for me. At least The Taste of Cincinnati was kept on Fifth and just moved further east.

Without any further expansion, the streetcar looks like an abandoned urban mass transit orphan to me. For the short distance it covers, I usually just prefer to walk.