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More people took streetcar, Metro to BLINK this year

The streetcar during a night of BLINK 2024.
Bill Rinehart
/
WVXU
The streetcar during a night of BLINK 2024.

Public transit ridership ballooned during BLINK. More people took both the streetcar and Metro buses during this year’s light festival than in 2022.

Deputy Director of Streetcar Services Lori Burchett says 38,252 people rode the train from Thursday to Sunday, an increase of about 1,650 people from the previous festival weekend.

“I think that more people are getting comfortable with using the service,” Burchett said. “I think that it's a really easy service to use. Obviously, [being] fare free plays a role in that.”

Higher use of public transit meant less car traffic Downtown.

“Each of those trips would likely be a car if it wasn't on the streetcar, or on a bus, or some other mode that is not your single-occupancy vehicle,” Burchett said.

Burchett says the people who opted not to drive Downtown also cut down on tailpipe emissions that hurt human health and release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

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On the final day of BLINK, the streetcar surpassed the one-million rider mark this year.

“We did that on Sunday, we passed our million ridership for the year,” Burchett said. “I think on Black Friday last year, we passed a million riders. We are about a month ahead of schedule this year.”

The streetcar operated at peak service, running all four trains during the festival. A police escort drove in front of all the trains.

Metro numbers

Metro saw a similar increase from 2022. People took 185,000 rides on the bus during BLINK, about 30,000 more than the previous festival, according to a Metro news release.

“We saw a tremendous showing out from our community at our Park & Ride locations and on our fixed-route buses,” Metro Director of Communications Brad Mason said. “Everybody took note of the message of 'Don't BLINK and drive.' ”

The bus system offered free fixed-route and Park & Ride options Thursday through Sunday nights.

Initial data show a 50% nightly increase of people using the Park & Ride service, compared to 2022.

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Mason says many riders were taking the bus for the first time.

“Through some of the survey data that we took during the event, we noticed that almost 50% of people that took the survey, this was their first time riding Metro,” Mason said. “It was a great opportunity for us to get exposure to our service. And, we heard back from a lot of the people that were saying, ‘Oh, man, I need to ride the bus more.’ ”

Butler County Regional Transit Authority numbers

CincyLink offered free transportation from Butler County to BLINK for the first time this year. There were two park and ride locations, one in Middletown and one in West Chester.

CincyLink provided more than 4,800 rides, says Shawn Cowan, Director of Customer Care and Public Engagement.

Cowan says Butler County Regional Transit Authority is planning to increase the number of park and ride locations available for the next BLINK festival in 2026.

BLINK-goers also traveled across the Ohio River on TANK buses for free. General Manager Gina Douthat says TANK’s ridership reporting for BLINK is not in yet.

Updated: October 23, 2024 at 11:23 AM EDT
The article has been updated to include ridership numbers from Metro and Butler County Regional Transit Authority.
Isabel joined WVXU in 2024 to cover the environment.