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Lots Of Streetcar Riders On The Weekends, But Weekdays Lower

Jay Hanselman
/
WVXU

The Cincinnati streetcar is still busier on the weekends than during the weekdays.  

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority presented October ridership numbers to a city council committee Tuesday.

The details:

  • 43,615 weekday passenger trips (27,974 below initial estimates)
  • 36,032 Saturday passenger trips (27,512 above initial estimates)
  • 15,640 Sunday passenger trips (10,015 above initial estimates)

SORTA's rail director Paul Grether said streetcar ridership increases later in the week.

"Monday at least in October was our lower day and ridership gradually increases till Friday, which is a very high day," Grether said. "Friday we typically exceed the ridership forecast by a substantial amount.  So it's like a gradual building over the week and then the weekends, Saturday in particular, are very high ridership."

Assistant City Manager John Juech told the committee it is creating challenges for the original service plan.
 
"We're offering more cars on the weekdays and fewer cars on the weekends, that was the service plan that was agreed too," Juech said. "But we're seeing so far is that we have much greater ridership on the weekends, both Saturday and Sunday, but particularly on Saturday than we do during the week."

For last month, the streetcar provided 9,552 more rides than projected in the city's forecast, which was used to set the operating budget.
 

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.