CINCINNATI – Ridership on the Connector hit an all-time monthly record in October, surpassing 100,000 passengers for the first time in the streetcar’s six-year history.

The tally for October was 103,700, eclipsing the streetcar’s previous all-time monthly high of 89,074 passengers set in July of this year.

“This is such an exciting milestone to exceed 100,000 passengers in one month,” said Lori Burchett, deputy director of streetcar services for the City of Cincinnati Department of Transportation & Engineering.

The streetcar’s upward ridership trend started a year ago in November 2021. By comparison, the streetcar’s previous best months occurred mostly during its first full year of passenger service starting in fall 2016. Please see the chart below for more details.

“The momentum in 2022 has been amazing,” Burchett added.

The only month ridership hasn’t notched a record compared to the same month was in June. That was due to the partial collapse of a building adjacent to the station stop at 12th and Main which necessitated a temporary closure of streetcar service to the Central Business District for nearly three weeks beginning June 12.

The streetcar, which travels 3.6 miles between OTR and The Banks via the Central Business District, is especially popular during big events such as last month’s BLINK, Taste of Cincinnati and Oktoberfest because it is a convenient way to travel from one end of the city’s urban core to the other, Burchett explained.

Burchett credits the consistently increasing ridership with streetcar crews and city departments doing an effective job maintaining daily operations, passenger safety and reliable customer service, as well as the easing of pandemic restrictions and the streetcar being free to ride.

The city took over day-to-day management of the streetcar in January 2019 from SORTA and it has been fare-free since September 2020, when it returned to service after a five-month hiatus due to Covid pandemic restrictions.

Monthly Streetcar Ridership Records

New Record	Passenger Count	Previous Record	Passenger Count
October 2022	103,700	October 2016	82, 934
September 2022	88,992	September 2016	75,485
August 2022	83,078	August 2019	56,402
July 2022	89,074	July 2017	61,404
May 2022	81,724	May 2017	53,116
April 2022	66,391	April 2017	49,966
March 2022	58,882	March 2017	37,471
February 2022	49,641	February 2017	36,681
January 2022	43,131	January 2017	35,334
December 2021	55,105	December 2016	52,209
November 2021	52,440	November 2016	49,920

Read more about the streetcar.