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• What is it?
• What Will It Do?
• How much will it cost?
• Where will it go?
• Project Management Partners
• Construction Schedule
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Cincinnati Streetcars

The City of Cincinnati has identified a streetcar system as an essential tool for the City’s growth because it:

1. Creates jobs
2. Leverages and attracts private investment
3. Spurs redevelopment
4. Improves accessibility and intermodal connectivity
5. Forges a new, sustainable path for community growth

The Cincinnati Streetcar Project will help transform the City’s urban core by connecting the Central Business District to two redeveloping neighborhoods just north of Downtown: historic Over-the-Rhine (OTR) and Uptown, the region’s second largest employment center and home of the University of Cincinnati (see map).

A Streetcar system in Cincinnati, as in other cities, will spur investment and job development along the route because of the populated employment centers it connects. This, in turn, will provide revenue for other city services in all neighborhoods.

Latest News

1. 90% of Phase I Funding is identified.
2. The City has been awarded $25 million from the competitive Urban Circulator Grant Program.
3. The Streetcar Environmental Document is under review by the Federal Transit Authority.
4. City Council has established a Transit-Oriented Develop Zoning Process.
5. The City is partnering with SORTA to advance operations planning.

90% of Phase I Funding is Identified

The total project cost for the Cincinnati Streetcar is $128 million. To date, approximately 90% of the capital funds, or $114.5 million, in federal, state, and local funding has been identified for the Streetcar Project. This project, like all capital projects, requires a network of local, state, and federal support to be successfully implemented.

In July, the Cincinnati Streetcar Project was awarded $25 million from the Urban Circulator Grant Program. This program is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Joint Livability Initiative in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Urban Circulator Grant Program funds fixed guideway projects on a competitive basis. The Cincinnati Streetcar was one of only five projects funded and received the maximum amount possible.

The City continues to pursue several state and federal funding opportunities for the Streetcar Project, including:

1. TIGER II: Funded through the FY 2010 Transportation/HUD Appropriations Bill, this program makes approximately $600 million available for the National Infrastructure Investments. The minimum grant award is $10 million. Awards will not be made sooner than September 15 and will likely be made in late 2010.
2. TRAC Funding: The City’s application for construction for Phase I and planning money for extensions into Uptown and the new SORTA Uptown Transit Hub were submitted to the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Transportation Review Advisory Committee. A draft list of awards is expected in December 2010.

Learn more about funding the Cincinnati Streetcar by choosing the How much will it cost?

Environmental Document

The Cincinnati Streetcar will be funded, in part, with federal funds, requiring compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Approval of an Environmental Assessment (EA) document is a critical next step in utilizing the TRAC, CMAQ, and Urban Circulator funds that have been awarded, as well as remaining eligible for current and future federal funding opportunities.

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is serving as the lead federal agency for the project and is currently reviewing the EA that the City completed.

As part of the NEPA process, the project must also comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

A Section 106 review to determine the project’s impact on historic properties, conducted by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office (OHPO), must be initiated by the lead federal agency. FTA has authorized the City to begin this process on its behalf, and the City has transmitted a Phase I History/Architectural survey for the project conducted by Gray & Pape, Inc. to OHPO. As the project is contained entirely within existing right-of-way, it is expected that the streetcar will have little to no impact on historic resources in the project area.

New Zoning

Cincinnati City Council recently passed legislation calling for the establishment of a transit-oriented development zoning classification that will promote density around transit developments like the streetcar. This is a critical step in reducing parking demands that will maximize the streetcar's ability to catalyze development within the service area. City Planning staff are working on draft amendments to the City zoning code, which the Administration anticipates bringing back to City Council for approval in the fall.

SORTA Partnership

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) Board of Trustees voted to authorize the transit authority to serve as a partner in developing an operating plan for the streetcar system and, ultimately, to serve as the operator of the Cincinnati Streetcar, if an agreement between SORTA and the City for operating the system can be reached.

This partnership’s benefits include:

1. SORTA operations staff has joined the City’s project team and are participating in coordination meetings. As the region’s FTA-eligible recipient, SORTA brings its extensive transit expertise to the project to help create an operations plan for the Cincinnati Streetcar that ensures the system’s long-term sustainability.
   
   Work to date has been focused primarily on refining estimates on the operating costs, first identified in the feasibility study. The most recent estimates reflect an annual operating and maintenance cost of approximately $3 million, a decrease from the $3.5 million annual operating cost projected in 2007.
2. SORTA and the City can better coordinate streetcar service with existing Metro bus service to maximize the benefit of each. Also, SORTA and the City can coordinate the co-location of stops for each mode of transportation, where appropriate.

SORTA has secured more than $1 million towards the development of an intermodal transit facility in the Uptown area (the northern terminus of Phase 1 of the streetcar) through the FY10 Transportation Housing and Urban Development Appropriations process that will be incorporated into the planning of the next phase of the streetcar system.

Uptown Extension

The initial Uptown Connector will link the downtown circulator route with the communities around the University of Cincinnati and the City’s world-class hospitals. Future phases will allow the streetcar to extend further into Uptown to circulate between the area’s vibrant neighborhood centers and attractions. The City is currently collaborating with stakeholders from numerous Uptown neighborhoods and organizations on this planned Uptown Connector, which would mean accessibility to more places of work and attractions. Based on the evaluation of several possible routes and public input, this alignment is focused on either Vine Street or West Clifton Avenue. The project team has sent technical specifications on Vine and West Clifton to several vehicle manufacturers for review and response to ultimately determine which route into Uptown is most efficient and beneficial.

Learn more about the streetcar alignments and destinations by choosing the Where will it go?