It’s tournament time. But the best March Madness bracket doesn’t involve your favorite team getting on buses to face off with other collegiate athletes. The bracket you really need to watch is for buses themselves.
Metro wants to know your favorite bus route, and it has put together a “Metro Madness” bracket to determine the best of the best.
First off, much respect to those in Cincinnati who have a favorite (or at least, a most-relied-upon) bus route. That’s dedication. My money is on the 43, my most-used route that holds down Reading Road as it covers the backbone of the city. But maybe you like the ever-popular 17, which takes you through Uptown into Northside and beyond. Or maybe your jam is the cross-town 51 — the Price Hill to Hyde Park route that is one of the few things east siders and west siders have in common. That’s a lot of reach.
Don’t discount the speed and endurance of the express routes, either. They’re likely to have a dedicated fan base.
Whichever you prefer, the social media bracket is a great way to represent your route. Facebook voting launched this morning for the first round of matchups: Route 43 vs. Route 1, Route 20 vs. Route 1x and Route 41 vs. Route 90. Vote now or catch the next round of matchups soon.
For those of you keeping score, the 43 is currently ahead of Route 1 (the “one for fun,” which takes folks up from downtown to the Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park and other attractions before heading for Walnut Hills) 62 percent to 38 percent.
That’s a pretty dominant showing by my home route so far. But as Metro noted on Facebook, “the Rt.1 has a small but dedicated ridership, could be an upset.”
This article appears in Mar 20-27, 2019.
