The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

agency serving

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

and its

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

suburbs. SORTA operates Metro fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services. SORTA's headquarters are located at the Huntington Building in Cincinnati’s

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. The agency is managed by CEO and General Manager Darryl Haley along with a 13-member board of trustees. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Downtown Cincinnati is also served by the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK), whose transit services extend over the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

into

Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is an urban area in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky consisting of the southern part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The three main counties of the area are Boone County, Kentucky, Boone, Kent ...

History

SORTA replaced the

Cincinnati Transit Commission The Cincinnati Transit Company (or Cincinnati Transit, Inc., abbreviated CT) was the public transit operator in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1952 to 1973. It began operation on December 30, 1952, and replaced the Cincinnati Street Railway ...

, which operated buses from 1952 to 1973. SORTA took over bus service in 1973 under the name Queen City Metro, which was later shortened to Metro to reflect increased regional service. In 2012 SORTA Metro released its schedule information in the

General Transit Feed Specification GTFS, or the General Transit Feed Specification, defines a common data format for Public transport timetable, public transportation schedules and associated geographic information. GTFS contains only static or scheduled information about public ...

, making schedules more easily available to customers. The

Cincinnati Bell Connector The Connector is a tram, streetcar system in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The system opened to passengers on September 9, 2016. The streetcar operates on a loop from The Banks, Cincinnati, The Banks, Great American Ball Park, Paycor Stadiu ...

was operated by SORTA until 2019; the City of Cincinnati has since owned and operated the streetcar. Until 2021, SORTA Metro was funded primarily by Cincinnati's city earnings tax, second by fares, and third by federal sources, with some other minor sources. This stood in contrast to other Ohio transit agencies, such as

COTA Cota or COTA may refer to: People Surname * Ava Michelle Cota (born 2002), American actress * Chad Cota (born 1971), American football player * Chase Cota (born 1999), American football player *Ed Cota (born 1976), American basketball player * H ...

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 was about 0.3%.

Reinventing Metro

On May 14, 2020, Hamilton County voters passed Issue 7, which switches the source of SORTA funding to a sales tax levy of 0.8 percent. The sales tax in Hamilton County raised to 7.8% and the Cincinnati earnings tax was eliminated. The levy is projected to generate $130 million a year, which will be split 100/30 between Metro and road infrastructure respectively. The new sales tax rate went into effect on October 1, 2020. The new funding will be used to implement Reinventing Metro, which is a transit network redesign of its fixed-route services, but also introduces Mobility on Demand and bus rapid transit (BRT) to the region. An example related project is the Northside Transit Center, which is located in

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, EngIand * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vince ...

and replaced a basic bus stop. The new transit center, which opened in 2020, features eight boarding bays, each with an architecturally designed shelter and enhanced streetscaping, lighting and amenities. In addition, the transit center features artwork designed by winners of the transit agency's art contest for Northside residents. The contest asked residents to submit designs following the theme, "What does Northside mean to me?”. The artwork is displayed prominently on installations at the transit center's entrance and exit. The Northside project was a partnership with the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

, the

Ohio Department of Transportation The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT; ) is the administrative department of the government of Ohio, Ohio state government responsible for developing and maintaining all state and U.S. roadways outside of municipalities and all List of In ...

, and other local stakeholders.

Services

Metro Bus routes

SORTA Metro operates about 40 major fixed bus routes, as well as a demand-responsive

paratransit Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...

service. Of the major routes, roughly half run only at rush hours and are essentially commuter services, some of them serving the

reverse commute A reverse commute is a round trip, regularly taken, from an urban area to a suburban one in the morning, and returning in the evening. It is almost universally applied to trips to work in the suburbs from homes in the city. This is in opposition ...

. The other half operate throughout the day, and some offer increased frequency during rush hours. Approximately 90% of all trips are made on the all-day routes, and 10% on the express commuter routes. Routes 4, 11, 17, 33, 43, 51, and 78 run at all times. Routes 29X and 82X extend into neighboring Clermont County under an arrangement with the

Clermont Transportation Connection Clermont Transportation Connection (CTC) is a public transportation agency serving Clermont County, Ohio, United States. It operates two fixed transit bus routes, the Dial-A-Ride demand responsive transport service, and paratransit service. The tw ...

. Routes 71X & 72X extend into neighboring Warren County under an arrangement with

Warren County Transit Warren most commonly refers to: * Warren (burrow), a network dug by rabbits * Warren (name), a given name and a surname, including lists of persons so named Warren may also refer to: Places Australia * Warren (biogeographic region) * Warr ...

. Route 42X was a route that extended into neighboring Butler County under an agreement with Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA). The route was discontinued at the end of 2023. On January 1, 2024, BCRTA started their own route and brand it as CincyLink that will run from Middletown to Downtown Cincinnati. More information about bus routes and individual route schedules can be found on Metro'
Fixed Route Schedules
page.

MetroNow!

Throughout 2021 and early 2022, Metro worked on developing an accessible, on-demand and localized mobility service, including connections to Metro's network of more than 40 fixed bus routes. Previously referred to as "Mobility On-Demand," this service is now called ''MetroNow!'', with two zones that launched pilot service in Spring of 2023. Metro plans to roll out several additional service zones in the future. More information about the MetroNow service can be found on thei
MetroNow!
page.

Stops and stations

Most of SORTA's roughly 3,600 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 ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

near

Fountain Square A fountain square is a park or plaza in a city that features a fountain. It may stand alone or as part of a larger public park. United States In the United States, there are numerous fountain squares, many of which are actually called "fountain ...

. SORTA owns and operates several transit centers across the region including the recently constructed Northside Transit Center, Oakley Transit Center, and Glenway Transit Center. SORTA operates the Riverfront Transit Center though it's only used for a layover point for the Metro*Plus route and a stop for route 85.

Fares

On April 4, 2021, Metro introduced a simpler fare structure. With this new fare model, base fare increased 25 cents to $2 per ride on all local routes. Express buses are $2.65 within Hamilton County. Certain express routes turned into commuter routes and have a $2 fare. Express routes that go into Butler, Clermont, and Warren County have a fare of $3.75. Zone fares and paper transfers were eliminated. Transfers are only available to those using the Transit app and to 5-ride ticket users. There are several day pass options available to purchase. Mobile fares must be purchased through the Transit app. Refer to the charts for more information. Transfers to higher-cost service require payment of the fare difference. Children under 36 inches ride for free with a fare-paying rider; a limit of 2 children applies. Effective July 16, 2025, local and commuter routes will see an increase fare of 20 cents to $2.20 and Hamilton County express routes will see an increase fare of 35 cents to $3.00. Commuter routes will now be known as local routes. Warren County and Clermont County express fares will decrease to $3.00. Children under 55 inches will ride free with an accompanying adult. Metro will also introduce thei
''Tap&Save'' program
which is their version of fare capping. Users of the

Transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...

can preload money onto their accounts to pay for their fares. For those not using the app, they can get a smart card they can load money on. The system will track their spending and once they reach the equivalent price of day pass or 30 day pass, they will not have to pay any additional fares until the cycle resets. Metro fares are available for mobile payment via

, an app that has been adopted for such purposes across several cities.

Garages and current fleet

SORTA operates about 300 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. Garages *Queensgate Garage 1401 Bank Street, Cincinnati, OH 45214 *Bond Hill Garage 4700 Paddock Road, Cincinnati, OH 45229 For more information about the history of Metro's fleet, including current and retired buses, go t
CPTDB: Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1973 establishments in Ohio Bus transportation in Cincinnati Bus transportation in Ohio Government agencies established in 1973 Intermodal transportation authorities in Ohio Passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Transit agencies in Ohio Transportation in Cincinnati Transportation in Hamilton County, Ohio