Headquarters 602 Main Street Founded 1973 Stops 4,465 | Locale Cincinnati, Ohio Fleet 353 | |
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Parent Hamilton County and Cincinnati City Council Routes 22 local
1 limited
20 express
162 tripper
1 streetcar Stations 17 streetcar station stops Daily ridership 48,000 unlinked passenger trips Operators MV Transportation, Transdev Service types Transit bus, Paratransit, Express bus service, Tram Similar American Public Transport, National Underground Railroad, Cincinnati Tennis Club, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Fire Museum of Greater C Profiles | ||
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, abbreviated SORTA, is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. The agency provides Metro transit bus service, Access paratransit service, and the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar system in downtown Cincinnati. SORTA replaced the Cincinnati Transit Commission, which operated buses from 1952 to 1973. As of 2015, the agency operates 50 bus routes and facilitates approximately 16 million passenger trips annually.
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SORTA is funded primarily by Cincinnati's city earnings tax, second by fares, and third by federal sources, with some other minor sources. This stands in contrast to other Ohio transit agencies, such as COTA and GCRTA which are primarily funded by sales tax. For a sense of perspective, the portion of Cincinnati's earnings tax going to Metro's budget is about 0.3%.
Downtown Cincinnati is also served by the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK), whose transit services extend over the Ohio River into Northern Kentucky.
Routes
SORTA operates about 40 major fixed bus routes, as well as a demand-responsive paratransit service. Of the major routes, roughly half run only at rush hours and are essentially commuter services, some of them serving the reverse commute. The other half operate throughout the day, and some offer better frequency at the rush hours. Approximately 90% of all trips are made on the all-day routes, 10% on the express commuter routes. In 2012 SORTA released its schedule information in the General Transit Feed Specification, making schedules more easily available to customers.
SORTA also provides school bus services to Cincinnati Public Schools with vehicles from their fleet of transit buses. School bus routes, called Metro XTRA, are technically open to any fare-paying customer. However, they are circuitous, not well advertised, and mostly used by CPS students. School bus routes are not listed in the table below.
SORTA operates the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar system between downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Cincinnati Bell owns the naming rights for the streetcar until 2026. Service began at noon on September 9, 2016. General fare is $1 for a 2 hour pass and $2 for an all day pass. Tickets can be purchased at ticket vending machines posted at each station.
Routes 28, 29X, and 82X extend into neighboring Clermont County under an arrangement with the Clermont Transportation Connection. Routes 71 and 71X extend into neighboring Warren County under an arrangement with Warren County Transit.
Ridership
Transit ridership in Greater Cincinnati has generally been on the decline for at least the last several decades. Of particular note, the 2008 recession significantly cut into SORTA's budget, resulting in service cuts and fare increases which seem to have had a very large impact on overall ridership. A few main lines, those running most frequently, account for a majority of all trips, while weekday rush-hour express services account for only about 10% of all trips.
Ridership also varies dramatically by time of day. Almost twice as many people board transit during the peak of either rush hour as do during midday. This phenomenon is also observed on the all-day lines, even if peak-hour-only services are disregarded.
Stops and stations
Most of SORTA's roughly 5,000 stops are simply marked with a sign on a pole listing routes the stop serves, and are fairly infrastructure-light. Several dozen stops include bus shelters and covered benches. Several suburban stops are park-and-rides. Government Square is the main transit station, located downtown near Fountain Square. SORTA owns and operates the Riverfront Transit Center though it's only used for a layover point for the Metro*Plus route. No passengers are allowed at this layover.
Fares
Currently, standard zone-1 fare is $1.75. Destinations outside the city of Cincinnati can cost between $2.65 and $4.25. Transfers are $0.50 extra, which can't be used for round-trips nor stopovers; no charge next two uses within 2 hours. Day Passes are $4.50 within Zone 1 or $6.30 within Zone 2. No fare to kids under 35 inches (89 cm); limit 2 per fare-paying passenger.
On April 30, 2007, SORTA began a partnership with the University of Cincinnati to provide free rides to its students, staff, and faculty. The partnership was scheduled to last for two years and the initial response to the offer had been positive. Current policy requires students and faculty to purchase a special UC*Metro card, costing $53 and $160 per semester, respectively. A similar offer is available to students at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and to Antonelli College students. Students can register for a free card which provide them with a $1 fare for any bus ride one direction. University of Cincinnati students and faculty are also eligible to choose this card instead of purchasing the other UC*METRO card.
Fleet
SORTA operates about 350 buses on fixed routes, and about 50 smaller vehicles as part of their demand responsive services. All vehicles in SORTA's fleet are ADA accessible. On average, vehicles in the fixed route fleet are 6.9 years old, and in the demand-responsive fleet 1.4 years. Vehicles in the fixed route fleet are rated, on average, for a capacity and 65 passengers, both sitting and standing.
All fixed-route buses have a bike rack mounted on the front with room for two bicycles.
Public relations
In 1993, SORTA began experimenting with the use of biodiesel. In 2001, SORTA operated about half of its bus fleet on a biodiesel blend. Since September 2005 (initially because of Hurricane Katrina), SORTA has continuously operated its buses with a biodiesel blend. In 2006, SORTA consumed almost 1.8 million gallons of biodiesel made from soybeans grown in Ohio.