The Eco Issue: How a Century of Transit Advocacy Continues to Push the City Forward

The next time you’re on Central Parkway between Walnut Street and the Western Hills Viaduct, go ahead and imagine the rumble of a train beneath your feet. This stretch of 2.2 miles is what remains of Cincinnati’s abandoned subway tunnels, a legendary piece of the region’s history and, some hope, a fragment of our future.

These tunnels are unique. There is no other known city in the world with subway tunnels that were constructed but never used. Empty tunnels are common enough, says Jake Berman, author of The Lost Subways of North America. There are partially abandoned tunnels, like that beneath Second Avenue in East Harlem, part of a plan for expansion that never came to pass. And there are subway systems that became abandoned after years of operation, like that of Rochester, New York, whose subway ran for nearly 30 years before it shut down. But Cincinnati’s tunnels have remained perpetually vacant. 

“Cincinnati really is unique in that they built most of a subway system and just never used it for anything,” Berman says. 

Although they are home to a 4-foot wide water main, some fiber optic cables and plenty of graffiti, whether or not these tunnels will ever be used as intended remains to be seen. Some public transit advocates say we’re sitting (or driving) on gold. Others think it’s unrealistic.

“I think a bike path would be the best, most possible [use],” says Nolen Wright, a local railway enthusiast who runs the Instagram account @cincinnati_railways.

Last fall, the city of Cincinnati put out an RFI — Request for Information — inviting folks to submit ideas for repurposing the tunnels. Responses included everything from a bathhouse to a speakeasy. 

To be clear, there are no plans to move forward with any of these.

“The future of the subway has not been determined,” a spokesperson from the City Manager’s office told CityBeat over email. “The Request for Information (RFI) was just that, an opportunity to seek input and ideas from the public.”

Meanwhile, Cincinnatians took to Reddit, weighing in on what they felt would be the best use for the tunnels. The top answer at 689 upvotes? “A subway.”

Can it happen? Will it happen? And subway pipedreams aside, what other public transit goals is our city aiming for? Following the latest wave of public discourse about our legendary abandoned subway, we’re taking a deep dive into Cincinnati’s public transit.

Why build a subway

In the early 1900s, Cincinnati was one of the largest cities in the country. It bustled with industry. People traveled to and from the city on one of nine interurbans, or railways that ran from Cincinnati to towns like Dayton and Aurora, Indiana. Travelers could make their way from the interurban stations to the city’s downtown by streetcar, but traffic was often congested. A subway, it was decided, was the right solution.

In 1916, the city allocated $6 million (close to $174 million in today’s money) to build a 16-mile loop around the city, according to the City of Cincinnati website. A portion of the loop would be a true subway built underground using the old Miami and Erie Canal. But before they could begin building, the U.S. entered WWI on April 6, 1917. It wasn’t until January 1920 that construction finally began, and by then wartime economic conditions had doubled the cost. Still, they pushed forward, accomplishing what they could — half the loop and a handful of stations — until the money ran out in 1928. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, it ended all hope of financing and completing the subway project.

It’s hard not to wonder how Cincinnati might be different had the project turned out as planned.  

“The subway, had it been finished, could very much have replaced a lot of the downtown traffic congestion,” Berman says. 

Of course, less traffic means better air quality. According to the EPA, transportation (including cars, trucks, planes and trains) is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the U.S., accounting for 28% in 2022. GHG emissions, such as carbon dioxide and methane, trap heat in the Earth’s environment and contribute to climate change. Air pollution from cars also has harmful effects on human health, potentially causing respiratory issues, cardiovascular disease and other concerns. These risks are even higher for people who live near highways or heavy traffic areas, and traffic congestion worsens health risks even more, according to a 2013 study published by Science of the Total Environment.

While public transit can contribute to GHG emissions too, the use of public transit meaningfully reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air. A 2010 report published by the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that, on average, transit emits less than half the amount of carbon dioxide per passenger mile compared to a single occupancy vehicle, which creates .96 pounds per mile. In comparison, light rail emits .36 pounds, subways emit .33, and bus transit emits .64. 

But cleaner air isn’t the only potential benefit of a rail transit system. As Berman studied transit systems across America for his book, he saw how effective public transit could make or break a city’s downtown. Chicago’s rapid transit system, the “L,” connects the suburbs to the downtown, offering useful routes with stops that are actually convenient. In contrast, Cleveland’s three lines of light rail and one line of subway don’t take people where they need to go. They have just one station in the downtown area, and it’s not centrally located, so it doesn’t make practical sense for most commutes. Berman says this is likely why Cleveland’s rail transit couldn’t safeguard its downtown against suburbanization. 

“For transit to work and to work well, you really need to have it be fast, frequent, reliable and go the places that you want to go,” Berman says.

Because they don’t fight traffic in the way that buses must, rail transit can be all of these things. Advocates also point out that rail travel can be a gateway to public transit, since it’s more tangible than a bus route. On a light rail or a streetcar, you can see the tracks or wires and know exactly where you’re heading. 

“There’s people that just feel a lot more comfortable with rail,” says Matt Butler, President of the Devou Good Foundation and local public transit advocate. “It’s a fixed route, it’s not complicated to use.”

Wright says this tangibility is one of the benefits of rail transit, along with less urban sprawl, cleaner air and easier commuting. “The cons?” he asks. “I don’t know. I can’t think of any.”

MetroMoves

Over the last century, transit advocates have made attempts to put the tunnels to use. Most recently, the subway tunnels were on the Hamilton County ballot in 2002. Issue 7 — titled MetroMoves — proposed expanding Cincinnati’s public transit by building a network of streetcars, commuter trains and five light rail lines (rail transportation is generally slower than subways but faster than streetcars).

“Part of that MetroMoves plan included using the subway tunnels for a line that would serve the West Side of downtown along I-74,” says John Schneider, who chaired the MetroMoves campaign.

Obviously, the plan didn’t pass, which is a hard-to-swallow truth for anyone who’s enjoyed the convenience of light rail in cities like Portland, Oregon or San Francisco. Without them, transit is stuck at the mercy of traffic and potholes — a fate even the most well-thought-out bus systems can’t escape entirely. At just a half-cent sales tax increase, MetroMoves in hindsight seems like a worthy investment.

But things were different then.

“The day of the election in 2002, gas was $1.51 a gallon,” Schneider says.

More than that, the political climate was one of distrust and uncertainty. The nation was ready to go to war, and it had barely been over a year since the riots of 2001 in Cincinnati. Schneider says these circumstances, as well as significant budget overruns on Paul Brown Stadium, made taxpayers closed-off to the idea of another big project. 

“At the time, there was a lot of ill, and I think probably a lot of the electorate in Hamilton County has gotten over that,” Schneider says.

According to Schneider, MetroMoves aimed to get public transit within a mile of 95% of Hamilton County’s population. This idealist plan was too ambitious, Schneider says, and too rushed. MetroMoves lost 2:1. “We were sort of losing going in,” he says without a hint of defeat in his voice. In fact, Schneider remains tremendously optimistic that light rail is in Cincinnati’s future. Not only has the Hamilton County electorate changed since 2002, but voters who opposed MetroMoves may have come around to rail transit after seeing the streetcar in action. Traffic congestion is going nowhere. With a more reasonable plan for light rail, it could be much easier to sway voters towards a transit plan like MetroMoves. Plus, Schneider says, losing once or twice is normal.

“Across the country, the first elections for a light rail system almost always lose,” he says.

For instance, Seattle voted against rapid transit three times — once in 1968, once in 1970 and again in 1995 — before voters agreed to a sales tax increase to support a light rail system, according to a 1996 article in the Seattle Times. Now Seattle’s Link light rail system has the fourth-highest ridership in the country.

Riding the momentum

MetroMoves may have lost, but those ambitious ideas planted the seeds for public transit wins down the line. The portion of MetroMoves that sought to expand and improve Metro bus services resurfaced on the 2020 ballot in Issue 7. The proposed tax levy would increase sales tax by 0.8% to provide additional funding for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). A quarter of the money would be for improved roads and bridges, and the rest would fund improvements to the region’s bus services — just like MetroMoves had intended. The SORTA levy passed, making it the first time in history that the Hamilton County electorate voted for a transit-related, county-wide tax levy. 

Since then, Metro has added seven 24/7 routes, built a new transit center and updated existing bus stops, and introduced seven new crosstown routes, among other improvements. 

“Metro is one of the only transit systems in the country that has surpassed its pre-pandemic ridership levels,” says Cincinnati City Councilmember Evan Nolan.

The Metro website confirms that ridership is up by 117% from where it was before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while most transit agencies in the country are hovering around 70-80% ridership.

Those numbers may continue to increase as Metro introduces its new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, MetroRapid. BRT offers some of the benefits of rail services — speed, reliability, efficiency — through high-quality bus transit. According to Sharyn LaCombe, Senior Director of Bus Rapid Transit Planning & Design, MetroRapid will use “several key technology and service improvements” to achieve this. 

“BRT stations will be placed further apart than existing bus stops, so there will be fewer stops between destinations,” she says. “And passengers will pay for fares before boarding the BRT to speed up the time it takes to stop and board passengers, reducing delays.”

Stations will also have level boarding platforms to expedite the boarding process. In order to reduce traffic-related delays, MetroRapid buses will have traffic signal priority and their own designated bus lanes where road width allows, LaCombe says. 

Metro selected two corridors for MetroRapid, using Metro’s four most popular routes as a guide, then following up with research and public engagement to determine which corridors had the most potential to support BRT services. 

“As a result, Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue were selected for initial BRT service,” LaCombe says.

Construction on both corridors will begin in 2026. LaCombe says the Reading Road corridor will run 9.2 miles from the Riverfront to Roselawn and open in late 2027 or early 2028. The Hamilton Avenue corridor will be an 11.8-mile route that runs from the Riverfront to Mt. Healthy and will open in late 2028.

“By integrating with existing Metro routes and services, MetroRapid will continue to promote economic growth by increasing access to jobs, healthcare, education and essential services,” LaCombe says. 

MetroMoves also built momentum for the streetcar, which was its own uphill battle. As part of his advocacy work, Schneider led regular trips to Portland, Oregon, to educate people on the logistics and value of a successful streetcar system. In the span of 15 years, he took roughly 35 trips with over 500 people. These trips helped him develop a community of rail supporters, who “defended the streetcar when it came under attack from opponents and by former Mayor Cranley,” Schneider says.

Despite recurring anti-rail initiatives, the streetcar prevailed. The Connector opened in 2016 as a 3.6-mile loop that runs between The Banks and Over-the-Rhine, providing easy access to places like Findlay Market, Washington Park and the downtown library. Since its opening, it has worked out many of its kinks, Butler says, leading to faster service and more convenience for riders. Since 2020, the streetcar has been fare-free. In 2024, it carried 1,198,859 passengers, the fourth consecutive record-breaking year, according to a statement from the Office of the City Manager.

“The Cincinnati streetcar is one of the more successful in the country, even though it’s a relatively short loop,” Butler says, referencing an online survey by the Devou Good Foundation. “We know that people are using it for shopping. We know that they’re using it to get to work. They’re using it to get groceries, to get to the doctor.”

Now that the streetcar is up and running — and proving to be a success — Schneider’s activism work has slowed down a little. Although he and his fellow advocates are still hoping to see the streetcar expanded.

“I think that the streetcar ridership would be increased if it went further, which is always a possibility to expand it,” Butler says.

Schneider is hopeful.

“City Hall has shown very little interest in expanding the streetcar,” he says. “But soon, later, some leader will emerge there to say that he or she will get this done. It’ll happen.”

What comes next

There are good things happening in Cincinnati’s public transit, largely thanks to determined advocates like Schneider and Butler who keep pushing for more growth. So what’s next? In his work with the Devou Good Foundation, Butler says combining Metro with the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) is at the top of the list.

“Other cities have transit that crosses state lines,” Butler says. “It’s all one urban core. To have a system that is not compatible is holding us back.”

According to the Devou Good website, 21% of homes in Cincinnati do not have access to a car. Depending on public transit, to get to and from work can mean changing buses and walking long distances to and from bus stops. For some, a commute via public transit can take more than two hours one way. Butler says building more bus routes could help reduce this travel time, and in turn give people back hours of time each week.

“Through suburbanization, a lot of people live far away from jobs,” he says. “It’s a big challenge. Elected leaders know it’s a challenge.”

Also on the list is increasing the number of protected bike lanes throughout the city and expanding the streetcar. 

What’s not on the current to-do list? Building rail transit in the abandoned subway tunnels. But that’s not because Butler and others don’t believe it has value.

“A subway, if it went to the right places, I think would be hugely popular,” Butler says. “I think that it would be a massive investment, but I believe that based on what we’ve seen in other cities, people would definitely use it.”

If you’re wondering just how massive the investment would be, look no further than a 2007 study in which city engineers estimated converting the 2.2 miles of existing tunnels for light rail would cost $100.5 million — and that was 18 years ago. It would cost another $14 million in 2007 money to relocate the massive water main that has run through the tunnels since the 1950s. 

Despite the high costs, Schneider believes rail transit is worth the investment, pointing to cities like New York and New Orleans that are still operating systems built over 100 years ago.

“Those lines have continued to serve many generations of the people in those cities and have promoted investment around them,” Schneider says. 

Like Schneider, Butler looks to Portland, Oregon as an example of a comparable city with excellent public transit, and points to Minneapolis and Seattle as cities that have implemented light rail in the last 20 or so years and are seeing the benefits. 

“They have changed modal share about 10% over the last five or six years, meaning about 10% of the people have given up their automobiles because the transit systems are good enough that they can get to where they need to go,” Butler says.

According to a AAA study report from last year, it costs an average of $12,297 a year to own and operate a new vehicle. Spending $2,000 or so on an annual transit pass in lieu of owning a car could mean saving thousands of dollars a year.

“You could elevate your quality of life,” Butler says. 

It wouldn’t be impossible to use the subway tunnels for light rail. Schneider says the idea that modern trains couldn’t fit in the tunnels is just a myth. And some city leaders are not directly against the idea.

“Light rail is a goal for many cities and I wouldn’t be opposed to using the tunnels for light rail if it’s the highest and best use and makes financial and logistical sense for the city,” Councilmember Seth Walsh told CityBeat over email. 

Hamilton County seems more on board with investing in public transit than ever before. Whether or not that means we see the subway tunnels become part of it is impossible to say. And while at first glance these empty tunnels seem to tell a story of defeat, the persistent advocacy that unfolded in the century that followed their creation shows this city values public transit enough to put up a fight.

This story is featured in CityBeat’s April 2 print edition.

[PHOTOS] Inside Cincinnati’s Long-Abandoned Underground Subway

This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2025.