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What’s the difference between Metro and SORTA?
Why doesn’t Metro have more service outside the City
of Cincinnati?
Does Metro make a profit?
How many buses does Metro have, how much does a bus cost,
and how does Metro pay for buses?
How do Metro’s fares compare to other transit systems’ fares?
Why do I sometimes see empty Metro buses?
Why doesn’t Metro use smaller buses during less busy
times?
Why do I sometimes see buses just sitting at the side of
the road?
Why do so many Metro routes go downtown?
Who decides where bus stops should be?
Have a question you’d like to see answered in our
Frequently Asked Questions?
What’s the difference
between Metro and SORTA?
The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) operates
Metro buses and smaller Access buses for people whose disabilities
prevent their use of Metro.
SORTA is a political subdivision
of the State of Ohio and is governed by a nine-member
volunteer board of trustees
appointed by the Hamilton County Commissioners. Four of
the nine trustees are recommended
by Cincinnati City Council.
Why
doesn’t Metro
have more service outside the City of Cincinnati?
Metro has a contract with the City of Cincinnati under which
the city collects and passes through 3/10th of 1% of the
earnings tax paid by everyone who works or lives in the city,
as voted by city residents
in the early 1970s.
Metro does not receive other local taxes,
although funding partners in adjacent counties do pay for
Metro routes in
their respective counties. More service outside the city
would require more funding from
some other source.
Metro does not operate in Northern Kentucky,
where transit services are provided by the Transit Authority
of Northern Kentucky (TANK). Metro and TANK work cooperatively
to provide regional transportation
and transfers between the two systems occur in downtown Cincinnati.
Does
Metro make a profit?
Metro is a non-profit public service, not a for-profit company. About 2/3 of the money to operate Metro comes from local, state and federal tax revenue and about 1/3 comes from fares paid by our customers.
How many buses does Metro have, how
much does a bus cost, and how does Metro pay for buses?
Metro’s fleet includes 390, 40-ft. buses. All buses have bike racks on the front and almost all have wheelchair lifts or ramps and security camera systems.
A new bus costs about $300,000. Most of the funding (80-100%)
comes from federal grant dollars, supplemented by state and
local capital funds. The federal government requires Metro
to keep its buses a minimum
of 12 years or about 500,000 miles if federal funds are used.
How
do Metro’s fares compare to other transit systems’ fares?
Metro’s $1.75 base fare is one of the lowest in the
country. Take a look at how Metro’s base fare compares with other
Ohio transit systems:
| Cincinnati |
$1.75 |
| Cleveland |
$2.00 |
| Columbus |
$1.50; $2.00 express |
| Dayton |
$1.50 |
Why do I sometimes see empty Metro buses?
Metro’s system is designed to meet peak demand, just like other
transportation systems including highways and roads. For
example, the vehicle traffic on I-75 during rush hour is much heavier
than it is at
2 a.m.
Yet, the highway has to be built to accommodate the
rush-hour requirement. It’s the same for Metro. Metro adjusts the
number of buses on the road depending on capacity needed.
This means that there
are a lot more buses operating during weekday rush hours
than in the evenings or on weekends. In fact, on Sundays
Metro operates less than
25% of the buses used during rush hour on a weekday.
Sometimes
buses are empty because they are coming from the garage to
begin their work. Other times buses may be empty
after passengers have exited at the primary destination such
as downtown and the bus is
just beginning the other leg of its trip.
Why
doesn’t Metro
use smaller buses during less busy times?
Metro is considering smaller buses for some service needs,
but substituting a smaller bus would not always save money.
A bus that begins work for the afternoon rush hour, for example,
may stay out on
the road long into the evening. It would not be practical
to bring the large bus back to the garage after rush hour
and then send out a smaller
bus. This would mean lost schedule time, wasted manpower,
and increased operating expense. Smaller vehicles work most
efficiently on designated
services that never require a bigger bus even during rush
hour.
Why do I sometimes see buses just sitting at the side
of the road?
There can be several reasons why a bus may be stopped. The
bus may be at the layover at the end of the route, which
is considered a break for the driver, or the driver may be
using the restroom at a
convenience store or other designated comfort stop location.
Another
reason might be that the bus is running earlier than scheduled.
When we plan a schedule, we put in a few extra
minutes because things happen (traffic, weather, accidents,
etc.) and we want to get
back on schedule immediately if these delays occur.
But if
everything goes well, this could leave too much time and
we have to hold the bus back for a few minutes so we
don't run early and miss passengers.
Why do so many Metro
routes go downtown?
Downtown Cincinnati is a vital employment center and about 20% of downtown workers ride Metro, easing parking and traffic concerns. Metro does provide three cross-town routes that intersect major arterial routes, so that customers don’t have to go all the way downtown to transfer.
Who decides where bus stops should be?
There are about 6,000-7,000 Metro bus stops. Metro looks
for locations that offer safety and customer convenience.
However, within the City of Cincinnati, the city’s traffic engineers
make the final decision about bus stop location, in consultation
with Metro. The bus
stop shelters are owned and maintained by a private company
that works with Metro. Metro is not affiliated with companies
that install benches
or newspaper boxes at bus stops.
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