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MetroMoves was a 2002 proposal by the
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. SORTA operates Metro fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services. SORTA's headquarters ...
(SORTA) to expand and improve public transportation in the greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. The 30-year vision included the addition of
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
lines, commuter rail lines,
streetcars A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
in the downtown area, and expanded
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
routes. When put to a vote the citizens of Hamilton County rejected the proposal by a 2-to-1 ratio, 68.4% to 31.6%.


History

Cincinnati transit planners began advocating light rail in 1993 when the
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) is a council of governments in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. It also serves as the region's federally mandated metropolitan planning organization A metropolitan planning organiza ...
(OKI) recommended a light rail feasibility study for the area along
Interstate 71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...
. In 1998 a solution was adopted to build a 19-mile rail line that stretched from Cooper Road in
Blue Ash ''Fraxinus quadrangulata'', the blue ash, is a species of ash native primarily to the Midwestern United States from Oklahoma to Michigan, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populati ...
to 12th Street in Covington. The line would then form a backbone for subsequent rail lines to connect communities in the region. MetroMoves began in 2000 as a plan to improve the city's bus system, but it was expanded to include the rail lines from the 1998 solution. The complete plan was estimated to cost $4.2 billion, with the Hamilton County portion costing $2.6 billion for the rail lines and another $100 million for the expanded bus lines. Of
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 ...
's $2.7 billion, half was to be paid by the federal government, a quarter by the state of Ohio, and the last quarter by a one-half cent Hamilton County sales tax levy. In other words, about $39.50 per year per Hamilton County resident. Commuter rails to Lawrenceburg, Middletown,
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, and
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would only be built if the surrounding counties could raise $1.02 billion to help pay for the lines. The light rail portion was estimated to take 30 years to complete, with the Covington-Blue Ash line scheduled to open in 2008. Several public figures opposed the plan, including Mayor
Charlie Luken Charles John Luken (born July 18, 1951) is an American politician of the Democratic party who was mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, and served in the Ohio's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. Luken, who is divorced ...
and Congressman
Steve Chabot Steven Joseph Chabot ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), R ...
—the latter of whom referred to the plan as a "
boondoggle A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations. Etymology "Boondoggle" was the name of the newspaper of the Roosevelt Troop of the Boy Sco ...
." Mayor Luken accused SORTA of using tax payer money to illegally promote a ballot issue, but SORTA argued that they were obligated to promote public transit and educate its citizens about possible options. Additionally, there were concerns that citizens would be "double taxed" because SORTA already had an earnings tax, and that federal funding would be low due to the highly competitive "New Start" program. Opposition to MetroMoves was led by a group called Alternatives to Light Rail Transit (ALERT). They argued that light rail is not workable over the long run, that highway systems are the lifeline of most businesses in the region and in the country, and that a study showed MetroMoves would have an insignificant effect on traffic congestion.Springdale City Council
Springdale Council Minutes 10-16-02
Retrieved on 2008-07-12.
Others opposed MetroMoves because they didn't like the price tag, thought construction would disrupt neighborhoods, or they simply favored other transit options. Proponents of MetroMoves argued that the new system would create 36,000 new jobs, spark new development, connect 300,000 existing jobs that do not have transit, save the TriState $85.1 million in gas and other auto-related costs, and eliminate much of the need for bus passengers to go into downtown to transfer lines. The new transit plan was backed by
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,
Fifth Third Bank Fifth Third Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the parent company of Fifth Third Bank (5/3 Bank), which operates 1,100 branches and 2,400 automated teller machines, which are located in 11 states: Oh ...
, the
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, and the
League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...
. A few weeks before Election Day $331,000 was raised to help promote MetroMoves, while ALERT raised less than $6,000. During this time both sides participated in numerous public debates, where both reiterated the same arguments and accused each other of distorting the same set of facts to their advantage. Additionally, citizens were reminded that
Paul Brown Stadium Paycor Stadium, previously known as Paul Brown Stadium, is an outdoor football stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the home venue of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) and opened on August 19, 2000. Originally named aft ...
opened $52 million over budget in 2000, which was also funded by a half-cent tax levy. On November 5, 2002 the tax levy, known as "Issue 7," was rejected by 68.4 percent of Hamilton County residents. MetroMoves received the most support in Clifton and Avondale, but received the strongest opposition in suburbs such as Indian Hill,
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, and
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. Because of the way federal funding for public transit works this meant the plan could not be reconsidered for at least another five years. There was a chance the project could bypass this by putting MetroMoves back on the ballot in the spring, but the
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Metro said, "there is nothing that leads me to believe today that things will change significantly in the public's mind over the next four to five months." In 2003 the Ohio Elections Commission found ALERT guilty of using a false statement in an anti-MetroMoves television ad that ran during the 2002 fall campaign. The ad stated that 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 ...
(FTA) rated the MetroMoves plan as one of the worst in the country, but the FTA said it does not rate transit plans against one another. Regardless, later that year Stephan Louis, the leader of ALERT, was chosen as a member of SORTA's board.SORTA
SORTA BOARD MEMBERS
. Retrieved on 2008-07-12.
In 2008 interest was renewed in MetroMoves due to a 4% system-wide increase in Cincinnati bus ridership when compared to 2007. The bus ridership increased as high as 24% and 17% on some routes from April 2007 to April 2008. As of July 2008 there were no plans to put either MetroMoves or a new transit plan on the ballot, though support is reportedly growing. When SORTA's light rail plan failed in 2002, gas prices were at $1.42 a gallon and support from public leaders was expected to be much better.


Plan


Light rail

The regional rail plan was developed by SORTA, OKI, the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK), and Hamilton County.The Eastern Corridor
Eastern Corridor and MetroMoves
. Retrieved on 2008-07-11
Liberty, Brighton, and Hopple stations were originally built in the 1920s as part of the unfinished Cincinnati subway.


See also

*
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 ...
(previously known as the Cincinnati Streetcar) * Cincinnati Subway


References

{{Greater Cincinnati Transportation Bus transportation in Cincinnati Light rail in Ohio Passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati