5 reasons why the Cincinnati streetcar's numbers are crashing, with no fixes in sight - Ohio (OH) - Page 7 - City-Data Forum

WILWRadio · 05-31-2018, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovekcmo

I stayed downtown from Sun May 20-26 and rode the streetcar three times, in the evenings. Very similar to the streetcar system we have in KC. Cincinnati's Bell Connector was nice and easy to use and not a problem paying the $1.00 for a two hour on/off ride. Cincinnati and KC, identical in population and downtown's. I was kind of surprised that there wasn't the number of people on the Bell Connector as there is on KC's streetcar. Our's is free, but a $1.00 a ride isn't too shabby. Plus Cincinnati has the good fortune and foresight to have your baseball/football stadiums downtown which KC doesn't have downtown. I would have thought your streetcar system would be packed with people. KC's streetcar system is two years old and we're having two million people a year ride it, although free. We also have people commuting into work that park and ride the streetcar downtown. I would think Cincinnati would have the same situation. KC's streetcar is a little over two miles only in downtown, but there's extensions of it to happen in a few year years that will extend it another 5-6 miles. One thing different I noticed was, I rode the Bell Connector to Washington Park to see your Music Hall (Beautiful) and your tracks seem to go through some seedy neighborhoods where KC's streetcar avoids bad 'hoods. Our system is paid by property tax I believe. I hope your streetcar does well and expands, you have a beautiful, well laid out city.

Having lived in both KC for years and now Cincy, I can say that these cities are not all that similar except in the size of the metro population. The Street Car was doomed from the start here due to the route they used and also due to the fact people in the Cincinnati area prefer auto's for transportation over mass transit. Any city that has a high rate of bus usage is likely to have a better chance at sustaining a choo choo of this type over one that has lower ridership. Also, KC is developing as a regional tourist destination and that is likely to insure there are riders for the Street Car. Cincinnati just doesn't bring in a lot of outsiders and doesn't have a tourist trade like KC.

WILWRadio · 05-31-2018, 06:29 AM

BTW. Stop blaming the Mayor for this fiasco. It was planned and construction started before he took office. Cincinnati has a weak Mayor form of government which means he has limited power that is checked by the Charter , the City Manager and the City Clowncil. Thus, the blame should be placed on all that voted in favor of building it and the people that "thought" the route they chose would work. Didn't do their homework. Cramley cannot be faulted for this crap. I'm not a Democrat. I didn't vote for him. I'm not a Republican either. Just a impartial observer trying to enlighten the ignorant.

unusualfire · 05-31-2018, 06:32 AM

Yeah you can. Operating funds was already in place from the casino, but he used it for other things.

WILWRadio · 05-31-2018, 07:16 AM

Were those funds specifically designated to cover the cost of the Choo Choo?

unusualfire · 05-31-2018, 08:35 AM

https://cincystreetcar.wordpress.com...the-streetcar/

WILWRadio · 05-31-2018, 07:44 PM

If those funds are not being directed towards the Choo Choo, where then are they being spent? And why has not anyone made an issue out of this at City Hall?

mike1003 · 05-31-2018, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

If those funds are not being directed towards the Choo Choo, where then are they being spent? And why has not anyone made an issue out of this at City Hall?

To line someone's pocket?

_Buster · 06-03-2018, 03:20 PM

That is too bad it's struggling, I guess it just doesn't go anywhere that commuters can really use it for it seems. The link someone posted said it had only 17K riders in January, that's roughly 550 per day - probably less than a single bus would service. I don't understand the purpose of it without daily commuters, were they really relying on just the downtown visitors and occasional event crowds to support it?

lovekcmo · 06-03-2018, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by _Buster

That is too bad it's struggling, I guess it just doesn't go anywhere that commuters can really use it for it seems. The link someone posted said it had only 17K riders in January, that's roughly 550 per day - probably less than a single bus would service. I don't understand the purpose of it without daily commuters, were they really relying on just the downtown visitors and occasional event crowds to support it?

There has to be something wrong with Cincinnati and it's streetcar implementation, etc. KC's streetcar (similar size city/metro population, route length, etc) has been averaging I think about 6,000 people a day. KC's is free but the $1.00 for 2 hours on Cincinnati's isn't a bad price and shouldn't keep anyone from riding it. Has Cincinnati promoted it to it's metro for people to use? Whenever I'm on KC's or see it moving, it's packed with people. Cincinnati's didn't have hardly anyone on it the several times I used it a few weeks ago. KC's has two more stages of extension planned, is Cincinnati planning on extending it's Bell Connector?

cincydave8 · 06-04-2018, 05:07 AM

The streetcar is not meeting original ridership goals but it's creating development including GE and the new Kroger tower. Honestly, the only negative place I read about it on here. A lot of former negative people at my office love it now. The plan was originally have it go uptown and that's still the future goal. It's had issues because Mayor Cranley has done everything to make it look it bad. Traffic studies for signal priority have been delayed by his office, only charging $50 for blocking the streetcar and telling police it's a low priority, only running 3 cars during major events to slow down headways along other things. These are things that shouldn't be happening but are because of Cranley and his fragile ego. Frankly, this is a dead horse that has been talked about for too long and despite a handful of posters who like to troll and use 5 year old words like "choo-choo" the problems and easy fixes have been explained by myself and several other posters for the past few years. It's not complicated. The streetcar has still been successful despite everything and the evidence proves this, just read WVXU or Biz Courier for unbiased reporting on it and it will be more successful as time goes on. Landsman appears to have the votes to make the easy fixes people have been asking for.