CincyStreetcar Blog

The Enquirer had this article about a streetcar initially used in Cincinnati still being in service in Kenosha, Wisconsin:

There, visitors can climb aboard a green-striped, yellow Cincinnati electric streetcar with this destination designation on the front: 35: Price Hill – Warsaw. It is a PCC streetcar, an art deco-influenced vehicle developed in the 1930s.

This streetcar, with over 80 years of service (Toronto purchased Cincinnati’s streetcars when they were decommissioned), is still carrying passengers.

When properly maintained, streetcars can last nearly forever.  Unlike buses which need to be replaced every 12-15 years and automobiles which need to be replaced even more frequently, the investments that Cincinnati is making in our streetcar system will not only benefit present Cincinnatians but also future generations.

The Cincinnati Streetcars that will begin service in 2013 could still be carrying passengers during Cincinnati’s Tricentennial Anniversary celebration in 2088. The streetcar is an investment in our City and its future.  Support Cincinnati’s next century–Build the Streetcar.

Read the rest of the Enquirer article here.

From Fox 19:

“U Square is a unique hybrid that will attract great restaurants, bars, boutiques and one-of-a kind retailers to this market,” according to John Heekin, project sales lead and senior vice president with Cassidy Turley. It’s located at UC’s front door, with direct access to the planned Cincinnati Streetcar transit system, which is “hugely important to Cincinnati and our Young Professional population, who want to be linked to the city’s historic neighborhoods and downtown attractions.”

Read the rest here.

Some facts about the benefits of investing in the Cincinnati Streetcar:

• The Streetcar will create 1,800 construction jobs starting this year and 9,000 permanent jobs over the life of the project—putting Cincinnatians back to work.
• Building the Cincinnati Streetcar will result in more than 12,000 new residential units in the City.  These new residents will expand our tax base without increasing our tax rate, benefiting all of Cincinnati’s 52 neighborhoods.
• The Streetcar fills a transportation need. Almost half (48.2%) of the households along the streetcar line don’t own an automobile. The streetcar will connect these Cincinnatians with employment, medical services, groceries, and the City’s main transportation hub at Government Square.
• The Cincinnati Streetcar will initially cover a 4.9 mile route connecting Downtown, the Riverfront and the Clifton Area around the University of Cincinnati. Future extensions are planned to other neighborhoods and Northern Kentucky.
• The system will use seven, modern American-made trains; each streetcar can carry 170 passengers.  The streetcar will run 18 hours a day, seven days a week.
• New economic development and the addition of this transportation asset will increase property values along the route, resulting $80 million of new revenue for Cincinnati Public Schools.
• The benefit to cost ratio for the Cincinnati Streetcar is 2.7 to 1. For every dollar the City invests in the project it will receive almost three dollars benefits in the form of new tax revenues, reduced congestion, and improved air quality.
• 54% of the jobs in the entire City of Cincinnati are Downtown and Uptown—the neighborhoods served by the streetcar. These neighborhoods contain 62,163 residents, almost 20% of the City’s population, and attractions that bring 12 million+ visitors to the City each year. The Casino at Broadway Commons is projected to attract another 6 million visitors.
• The Streetcar represents an investment of $128 million into our city, predominately from State and Federal sources that can’t be used for any other purpose. None of the funding sources being used to build the streetcar could pay for fire or police salaries and most of these funds will be forfeited to another city if the streetcar isn’t built.
• The Streetcar’s operations will be funded by a combination of sources including fares, sponsorships, advertising and a portion of the new casino revenues. No existing general fund dollars will be used to operate the streetcar.
• The City will receive additional planning funds for future streetcar extensions and supportive zoning from the State of Ohio ($ 1.8 million) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ($2.4 million).
• Electric streetcars will result in almost 30,00 fewer tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of taking over 5,000 cars off the road each year.

Today, the City of Cincinnati announced the locations of 21 stops along the 4.9 mile streetcar route connecting the riverfront to the University of Cincinnati area. Over the next few weeks, Cincystreecar.com will be profiling the various attractions, amenities and employment centers at each stop.

The stops are:

• 275 Freedom Way*
• 491 Main Street
• 601 Main Street
• 801 Main Street
• 1001 Main Street
• 12th & Main*
• 12 E. 12th Street
• 1334 Elm Street
• 1534 Elm Street
• 1724 Elm Street
• 1916 Elm Street
• 1809 Race Street
• 1534 Race Street
• 1202 Race Street
• 65 E. Central Parkway
• 899 Walnut Street
• 701 Walnut Street
• 427 Walnut Street
• 251 Walnut Street
• Vine Street near the Old Rothenberg School*
• Vine street at University Plaza*

Click the map to see a panoramic view of the streetcar stops on the City of Cincinnati's Website.

*exact location address to be determined

From 700 WLW:

Dan Gilbert has been following Cincinnati’s streetcar project, but didn’t find out until today the route is still 2 blocks away from his casino.  The Rock Ventures CEO wouldn’t mind if it came closer.

The Horseshoe Casino is under construction at Broadway Commons.  The closest streetcar stop is at the Hamilton County Courthouse, on Main Street.

Gilbert says he wants to work with the City on the project.

Read the Rest Here.

From “Recent Lessons From the Stimulus: Transportation Funding and Job Creation“:

In 2009, the University of Utah’s Metropolitan Research Center reviewed a wide set of literature and data on the job and economic impacts of transportation spending, and reported five conclusions relevant to choosing transportation stimulus projects. The key findings included:

Public transportation, and road and bridge repairs, produce more jobs. Public transportation investments generate 31 percent more jobs per dollar than new construction of roads and bridges, and repair work on roads and bridges generates 16 percent more jobs per dollar than new bridge and road construction.

Building the Cincinnati Streetcar will create 1,800 new construction jobs that will put people back to work and produce an asset that will benefit generations of Cincinnatians. You can help support the streetcar by writing to the Transportation Review Advisory Council before February 11 and recommending the funding for the Cincinnati Streetcar in the draft-list.

Please be sure to mention the two streetcar allocations included in the draft-list:

• $35 million in Construction Funding for “Cincinnati Streetcar Phase 1″ (located on the middle of Page 1)
• $1.8 million in Preliminary Engineering funding for the “Cincinnati Uptown Streetcar”  (located on top of Page 4)

Comments can be submitted until February 11 in two ways:

By email to:
TRAC@dot.state.oh.us

By regular mail to:

Ohio Department of Transportation
attn: Ed Kagel, TRAC Coordinator
1980 W. Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43223

Jerry Wray, Director
Ohio Department of Transportation
1980 West Broad Street
Columbus Ohio, 43223

Create Jobs. Build the Streetcar. Get on Board.