Photo By Cincinnati Streetcar Feasibility Study

The feasibility study shows the proposed streetcar route.

A recent trip to Washington, D.C., gave Heather Sturgill a first-hand perspective on how an integrated public transit system can help revitalize cities. While there, she made frequent use of the district's subway system and other transportation options for quickly moving around town, leaving her own vehicle in a parking garage.

"I didn't realize how wonderful it was until I was there and used it daily," she says. "I didn't have to use my car at all."

A student at the University of Cincinnati School of Urban Planning, Sturgill last week shared her experience with Cincinnati City Council's Economic Development Committee. The committee received the results of a study examining the feasibility of building a streetcar system in downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Sturgill was one of more than two dozen residents who spoke, most urging the committee to move forward with the proposal.

The study indicated that a fixed-track system likely would spark significant redevelopment of aging housing stock around the route and attract an influx of residents into the urban core.

Reviving OTR
Under the proposal, the single-track route would begin along the riverfront and travel north through downtown and Over-the-Rhine, past Findlay Market, before looping back to the riverfront. It would include 18 stops, or about one stop for every two city blocks. The initial 3.9-mile stretch would cost $102 million and could be operational by late 2010.

"It's not a commuter line, it's a circulator," says City Architect Michael Moore, who helped oversee the study. "It's the urban version of a moving sidewalk."

Planners say the average daily ridership on weekdays during the system's opening year could range from 3,700 to 5,600 riders, depending on the fare. The lower amount is estimated if the fare is $1, while the higher amount is estimated if there isn't a fare and it's free to ride like the system in Portland, Ore., and a few other cities.

The most likely option locally, if the system were built, would be a 50-cent fare, which would generate 4,600 riders, planners say. Within five years that amount is estimated to increase to 6,400 riders.

The system's operating costs would be about $2.8 million annually, excluding fare revenues. Planners say the amount would be a good investment because the study indicates the system would spark the development of 1,200 to 3,400 new housing units near the route in the first decade, generating $34 million in additional property taxes. Based on projections of new residents spending $10 each day at local businesses, it would add $17 million in new retail activity each year.

Overall, the study estimates the system would cause $1.48 billion in redevelopment during the first decade under the most conservative scenario and increase property values by $379 million. That would produce a benefits-to-cost ratio of more than 15-to-1, planners say.

City council has instructed City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. and his administration to prepare a report within the next month about options for funding the system, before council begins its summer break. The group hopes to "proceed aggressively," says Councilman Chris Bortz, and complete a more detailed analysis and other preliminary work by year's end.

Funding options include trying to win federal transportation grants set aside for new projects; tax increment financing, which involves diverting expected property tax revenues along the route to help pay for the system; and issuing debt using bonds.

Streetcar supporters include Bortz, Mayor Mark Mallory, Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell and Councilman Jeff Berding.

"This is a great investment opportunity for the city," says Bortz, who heads the Economic Development Committee. "There is a pretty broad base of support for this idea."

"We need to get the funding mechanism in place by fall," Tarbell says. "If we can do that, we can start construction by springtime. If that happens, we can be sitting on it taking a ride in two years."

A lifestyle, not a ride
Cincinnati officials became interested in the project after viewing the impact such a system had on development patterns in Portland (see "Streetcar Named Development," issue of Feb. 28). Within a two-block radius of Portland's streetcar system, $2.28 billion in new development has occurred since the system opened in 2001. The investment includes more than 7,200 new housing units and 4.6 million square feet of new business space -- accounting for about 55 percent of all new development in Portland's downtown during the past decade.

"Streetcars could provide the same kind of catalyst here and is just the type of investment needed that will make developers feel more comfortable about coming in and doing projects," Tarbell says. "It shows a commitment by the city."

Berding agrees that mass transit systems such as streetcars and subways dramatically change the urban experience for the better. As Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials begin constructing The Banks housing and shopping district along the riverfront during the next few years, having more transportation options is crucial to the project being a success, he adds.

Several years ago Berding briefly lived in D.C.

"I didn't own a car in D.C. either. ... It's really a totally different lifestyle," he says.

Cincinnati's feasibility study used conservative estimates for its results, but the engineering consultants that performed the work believe local results actually could be more positive because of the large inventory of vacant buildings in Over-the-Rhine, which could produce up to 1,574 new housing units.

"None of these cities (that have new streetcar systems) have anything like Over-the-Rhine," says Charles A. Hales, senior vice president for HDR Engineering Inc. "You have a treasure here that can really make this project come alive."

A conservative development scenario used in the study estimates that 89 housing units would be developed annually in the vacant buildings, meaning it would take 15 years for the area to fully develop. It would add $32 million in property value every year.

Also, there is 4.2 million square feet -- totaling 97 acres -- of parking space along the projected streetcar route. If just two-thirds of the space were developed, it would yield about 3,400 housing units.

"Parking lots are not the highest and best use of that property," Hales says.

Generally, design and construction of a new system each takes about 18 months, meaning it could be open in about three years, Hales adds. It takes roughly nine weeks to install each three-block section of the tracks; sidewalks remain open during construction and storefronts are accessible. ©