Metro: MetroRapid construction on track for spring 2027, service in 2028 and 2029

Metro's MetroRapid bus rapid transit project is on schedule to start construction in spring 2027, with service opening in 2028 on Reading Road and in 2029 on Hamilton Avenue, Sharyn LaCombe, Metro's senior director of bus rapid transit and design, told a Cincinnati City Council committee on Tuesday.

LaCombe said the agency is within about six months of breaking ground. Plans call for 9.2 miles and 13 stations on Reading Road and 8.8 miles and 11 stations on Hamilton Avenue, with buses running every five minutes between the University of Cincinnati and the Banks once both lines operate.

Metro says the project is one of 11 nationwide awaiting Federal Transit Administration approval. It traces to Issue 7, the 0.08% sales tax levy Hamilton County voters passed in 2020. MetroRapid would charge regular fares, with tap-to-pay boarding using credit cards or Metro cards. Sixty-foot buses have been ordered alongside the standard 40-foot coaches.

Planned work includes repaving 5.82 miles of streets, upgrading 62 pedestrian crossings within two miles of stations and adding audio features for riders with hearing loss. Stations come in three sizes, some with canopies and wind screens.

A center-running lane planned for the Vine Street hill between Findlay Market and the University of Cincinnati was dropped, LaCombe said, because the social impact cost was too high; buses will use the hill like other routes, and center stations were replaced with side stations.

As of Oct. 13, Metro counted 296 events and 11,020 participants along the corridors. The Route 43 carries 4,000 to 5,000 riders daily, with projections of 6,000 to 7,000 once the new route runs.

Council Member Mark Jeffreys asked whether a 25% travel-time reduction target would be better than 20%, citing Hartford at 50% and Cleveland at 26%. Khaled Shammout said the lower figure keeps early goals conservative. The committee filed the presentation. Earlier, four speakers backed a proposed ordinance to benchmark energy use in large buildings; chair Meeka Owens said it remains in committee.