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Streetcar Arrival Signs Should Be Working Now

streetcar
Jay Hanselman
/
WVXU

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) says arrival signs at the city's 18 streetcar stations should now be operating correctly.  

The agency, in an email shared with city council members, says the signs were all returned to service Monday. They were turned off for weeks because of incorrect information.  

Council Member Chris Seelbach had threatened, two weeks ago, to present a motion to fire the company if the problems were not fixed by Tuesday. He rode the streetcar before a committee meeting.

"The real-time (signs announcing) when the streetcar was going to arrive were working at all the three stops that I saw," Seelbach said. "So that is good news and that means that I'm not going to, today, presentation a motion to fire the contractor who should have had this working months ago."

Seelbach said he will be monitoring the signs, and reserves the right to present his motion if problems continue.

"If we see any blips in the radar, if there's any kind of setbacks on the real-time system, it's going to cause me some concern, regardless if it's today, tomorrow or a week from now," Seelbach said.

The company responsible for the system blamed a mix of hardware and software issues.  

A company representative, during a council committee meeting two weeks ago, said there were configuration problems between the data provided by the streetcars and the arrival signs at the stations.

The company said the issues could be resolved, but wasn't sure it could be done within two weeks.  

SORTA said in the email it will be monitoring the signs and some further "tweaks" may be needed.

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.