Cincinnati Streetcar Sets Monthly Ridership Record

The Cincinnati Streetcar, now known as the Cincinnati Connector, has come so far.

1 minute read

November 13, 2022, 7:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Cincinnati Multi-Modalism

The Cincinnati Connector, née Cincinnati Bell Connector, has set ridership records on multiple occasions in 2022. | Rosamar / Shutterstock

The Cincinnati Connector streetcar, which has attracted controversies and challenges since long before it opened in 2016, set a new ridership record in the month of October.

According to an article by Sharon Coolidge for the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Cincinnati Connector, née Cincinnati Bell Connector, served more than 100,000 monthly riders in October, thanks in part to a special four-day light festival called Blink that attracted 2 million people to the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

The Cincinnati Connector is on a little bit of a roll this year. “The ridership total for October was 103,700, eclipsing the streetcar’s previous all-time monthly high of 89,074 passengers set in July of this year, according to a city of Cincinnati press release.”

Prior to the pandemic, the news for the streetcar was mostly dire, with reports of service and fiscal failures dominating the news in 2018. Things started to turn around when the system was made free forever in 2020—a celebrity endorsement from Emilio Estevez didn’t hurt either.

Monday, November 7, 2022 in Cincinnati Enquirer

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