Cincinnati City Councilman David Mann has introduced a motion asking the city to move toward making the streetcar free for riders.
The first step Mann would like the city to take: exempting developers in downtown and Over-the-Rhine from parking requirements stipulated in current zoning if they contribute 40 percent of the costs associated with developing those parking spaces to a “parking trust fund.” That fund could then be used to replace, at least partially, the $450,000 of the streetcar’s $1.5 million annual operating budget it receives from fares.
Mann’s motion points out that the city spends $125,000 on technology and enforcement efforts in collecting those fares, something he says is highly inefficient.
It costs Cincinnati riders $1 for a two-hour streetcar pass or $2 for an all-day pass. But a similar system in Kansas City is free and has much greater ridership numbers. That system, launched May 6, 2016, took about one year to reach 2 million rides. Ridership slowed somewhat after that, but the system was still close to 4 million rides at its two-year anniversary this month. Cincinnati’s system, by contrast, took 19 months from its Sept. 9, 2016 launch date to get to 1 million rides. Kansas City has more people — 480,000 to Cincinnati’s 300,000 — but with the ridership gap between the cities so wide, it’s likely the difference goes beyond population.
“Eliminating fares will dramatically increase streetcar ridership and expand options for non-automotive travel to the benefit of sensible OTR development,” Mann’s motion reads.
The idea comes as the streetcar in Cincinnati continues to struggle to attract riders. Ridership for March missed budgeted goals, according to a supplementary report submitted by acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney. It did improve over earlier in the year, when cold-weather performance issues often sidelined the streetcar. Cincinnatians and visitors took 37,471 rides on the streetcar in March, 8.3 percent below a budgeted 40,875-ride goal. That put the streetcar at 384,201 rides for the fiscal year to date — under the 447,690 rides the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority budgeted for and less than the 437,429 rides the transit project provided this time last fiscal year. There is some good news, however — the streetcar in March increased ridership by 8 percent over the same time last year. It’s the first time the transit project has increased ridership over the same month the previous year.
Mann hopes the move toward cost-free ridership will boost those numbers, however. How would it work?
Right now, zoning requires developers building residential units to provide one parking spot for each unit built. For office space, developers must build one spot for every 400 square feet of space. For retail, they must build one spot for every 250 square feet, and for restaurants, it’s one spot for every 150 square feet. The first 2,000 square feet are exempted from the requirements for non-residential developments. City administration estimates it costs between $15,000 to $40,000 to develop those spaces if developers opt for a parking garage. The cost is less for surface lots.
By exempting developers and asking them to pay part of their parking costs into a fund that could partially cover streetcar costs, Mann says the city could boost ridership numbers while also incentivizing less dependence on cars in downtown and OTR.
“This motion provides a way for developers to invest less money into parking required by the city’s zoning code and simultaneously invest in enhanced alternative transportation infrastructure to reduce parking demand,” the motion reads. “Additionally, relaxed parking requirements would be a means to preserve density and historic buildings, allow more infill projects and give developers the ability to use more investment capital for quality architecture and affordable housing.”
It’s unclear if Mann’s plan would generate enough money to cover the entire amount generated by streetcar fares. There are, of course, other problems beyond the fare that may be keeping riders from boarding the streetcar. The system saw the most blockages along its route ever in March, and continues to struggle to make consistent headway times of 12-15 minutes, the goal stipulated by the city.
Nearly 100 such blockages happened in March, and February saw almost as many. Since January, more than 50 blockages have come from cars, another 50 from delivery trucks, 45 from police or emergency vehicles and 80 from Metro buses. That has cut into on-time performance for the streetcar, which is the responsibility of Transdev, the private company the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has contracted to oversee day-to-day operations of the transit system. The city’s report shows a 38 percent on-time rate for the streetcar on Transdev’s performance evaluation, which stretches from July 2017 to February this year. Officials have in turn blamed the streetcar’s lagging ridership numbers at least in part on its inability to reach stops on time.
Mann’s motion could be considered by Cincinnati City Council Budget and Finance Committee as early as next week.
This article appears in May 16-23, 2018.