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Cincinnati Streetcar: 50,000 Rides in First Weekend; City's First Streetcar Since 1951
The Cincinnati Bell Connector, the city’s first streetcar in 65 years, provided more than 50,000 passenger trips during its grand opening weekend, Sept. 9-11, followed by 12,740 rides for the following three days—the first in revenue service.
“The Cincinnati Bell Connector grand opening weekend was a tremendous success,” said Cincinnati Metro Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Dwight A. Ferrell. “The new streetcar service has made Cincinnati a true multimodal city and is living up to its promise of connecting people and places, improving quality of life and spurring economic development.”
The streetcar, which operates on a 3.6-mile loop in the downtown, riverfront and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods, entered service Sept. 9 and operated free throughout the weekend, underwritten by sponsors. Special events at the 18 stations included free carousel rides, discounts and specials at local restaurants and businesses, musical entertainment and pop-up performances.
In advance of the opening, SORTA Board Chair Jason Dunn said, “This is the biggest transit weekend ever in Cincinnati, and we want to use this as an opportunity to introduce the public to Metro too. It’s good marketing to encourage potential customers to sample our service and learn how to make Metro and the Cincinnati Bell Connector work for their transportation needs. We want people to see all that we’re doing to reinvent transit in greater Cincinnati.”
Cincinnati Bell will pay $340,000 per year for 10 years under the agreement, with revenue from the naming rights helping to fund the streetcar operations. The city owns the vehicles and the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), which operates Metro, manages the system under contract with the city. Transdev operates and maintains the Cincinnati Bell Connector under contract with SORTA.
Cincinnati began operating horse-drawn streetcars in 1859, replaced them with cable cars that provided better service on the city’s hills and switched to electric vehicles in 1889. The last streetcar left service in 1951.
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Crowds wait to board the Cincinnati Bell Connector during its opening weekend.
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