Tag: public policy

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Business News Transportation

Metro to implement new flexible payment options March 1

Beginning March 1, Metro buses in Cincinnati will implement a new monthly pass system. The new system will allow riders to purchase rolling 30-day passes at any time, replacing the month-by-month system currently in place.

The new system was introduced last November after the city received $3.6 million federal grant to match their $900,000 local commitment. The total investment allowed for Metro to upgrade the fareboxes and monthly passes for all 342 buses in their fleet.

After only two months of the month-by-month passes, Metro decided to provide riders with the option to purchase passes on a rolling 30-day basis. The new rolling passes are part of an effort to increase public transit across the city.

An articulated bus picks up passengers at Government Square in downtown Cincinnati. Photograph by Randy A. Simes for UrbanCincy.

“We are striving to make public transit more convenient,” Metro public relations manager Jill Dunne told UrbanCincy. “Our goal is to increase public transit and to encourage people to take advantage of Metro.”

Metro also has plans to implement smart passes with a tap-and-go capability this summer. The idea is that the technological improvements will make using public transit easier, and offer riders greater flexibility with the cash value they store on their cards.

Over the course of 2011, UrbanCincy challenged its readers about Metro’s functionality and how to improve the system. The responses overwhelmingly said that the lack of GoogleTransit interface and the outdated payment system used were the two things in most need of improvement. In spring 2011, Metro finalized their interface with GoogleTransit, and now it appears as though the new payment options are a strong step in the right direction.

“Kudos to Metro. I still remember the time I saw the bus driver take a large utility knife to the coin collector, while driving because change was stuck and no one was able to pay,” Zachary Schunn commented. “I hope to never see that again.”

Dunne says that Metro is always open to new ideas, regarding both passes and the bus system in general, and that Metro has recently updated its website in an effort to make its information more accessible. Watch a YouTube video on how to use the new payment options.

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Business Development News Politics Transportation

Cincinnati to break ground on streetcar project next week with Ray LaHood

Councilmembers Christopher Smitherman (I) and Charlie Winburn (R) called a special city council hearing today to discuss the finances of the $110 million Cincinnati Streetcar project. The hearing had a specific focus on utility relocation agreements due to the current impasse between the City and Duke Energy.

City officials stated unequivocally that the project will move forward, and that it is common for projects of this scale to have ongoing issues needing to be resolved even once ground has been broken. Both Mayor Mark Mallory and City Manager Milton Dohoney stated that an agreement will eventually be made with Duke Energy, but that the engineering disagreements between the two parties needs to be resolved first.


Rendering of the streetcar along Walnut Street in downtown Cincinnati.

The biggest question at hand, with Duke Energy, is that the City has looked at existing streetcar projects around the United States and come up with a standoff they believe is workable. Duke Energy, meanwhile, has disagreed with those statements and believes that a much greater standoff is needed.

Duke Energy estimates that the relocation work, based on their engineering, would cost approximately $18 million. The City, on the other hand, believes it should only cost $6 million based on the work of their engineers.

“Utilities are issues in every transportation project, not just rail but roadway projects as well,” a representative from Parsons Brinckerhoff told UrbanCincy immediately following the meeting. “This is true for every single project, and they get worked out, and moved forward.”

At a press conference held earlier this week, City Manager Dohoney stated that City of Cincinnati should not be responsible for subsidizing the modernization of Duke Energy’s utility assets, and that the two parties will remain at an impasse until the engineering is validated.

The big news came in the final statement of the meeting when Mayor Mallory announced the groundbreaking for the Cincinnati Streetcar will take place at 1pm on Friday, February 17 outside of Memorial Hall (map). Mayor Mallory also stated that city and project officials will be joined by the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood at the groundbreaking.

Jenny Kessler and John Yung contributed to this story.

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Business News Politics Transportation

Duke Energy announces they will leave streetcar negotiations, city fires back

Yesterday was a tumultuous day for Cincinnati’s modern streetcar project. With virtually all other issues resolved, and construction forthcoming, Duke Energy made the announcement that they would walk away from negotiations with the City of Cincinnati about the relocation of their utilities.

The impasse comes over cost. Based on other similar projects, the City believes the utilities only need to be relocated three feet, but Duke Energy has stated an eight-food clearance is needed. That five-foot difference roughly equates to an $11 million funding gap.

The Duke Energy announcement seemed to take project and city officials by surprise. But the strong stance by Duke Energy does come at the same time as the City of Cincinnati is aggressively pursuing a new energy aggregation agreement that has the potential to cost Duke Energy significant business.


Future Cincinnati Streetcar stop at Sixth and Walnut Street. Photograph by Randy A. Simes for UrbanCincy.

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is currently in Washington D.C. at the Community Streetcar Coalition’s annual Streetcar Summit representing the City and discussing best practices with other cities that are building, or have built, streetcar systems.

“I am calling on Duke Energy to be reasonable and work with the City on a plan that will be best for both citizens and their customers. These issues will be resolved one way or another, just as we have resolved previous issues facing the project,” Mayor Mallory stated in a prepared release. “The best thing for everyone involved is if Duke is a part of that resolution. Walking away does not help to move our community forward.”

The mayor’s comments were then followed by an official press conference called by City Manager Milton Dohoney who elaborated on the mayor’s statements and went on to say that Duke Energy has yet to provide engineering documents to support their claims.

City Manager Dohoney began the press conference by stating that the Cincinnati Streetcar project will unequivocally be moving forward. He also stated that the City of Cincinnati should not be responsible for subsidizing the modernization of Duke Energy’s aging utility assets.

In the end, it appears as though the city has the leverage in the matter. A view expressed by city spokeswoman Meg Olberding who stated, “They’re our streets. This project is moving forward, and we intend to use our streets.”

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Business Development News Opinion

Downtown Cincinnati to get another new office tower, but is it an opportunity missed?

On Monday dunnhumbyUSA announced that they had found a location for their new expanded headquarters. The consumer analytics company will build a new office tower at Fifth and Race in downtown Cincinnati.

The embattled property had long been seen as a site for a tower by city leaders. Development plans, at some point or another, had called for a department store, theater, condo tower, office tower, or some combination thereof. Both Eagle Realty and Towne Properties had failed at developing the site beyond the surface parking lot currently located there.

As one of the most ardent supporters of Cincinnati’s urban core, I am here to say that I am disappointed by this news. Yes, it is exciting that Cincinnati will be getting yet another tower built in its urban core as so much other investment takes place. And yes, it is terrific that a young company is flourishing in Cincinnati. The problem, however, is more complex.


A new office tower will soon rise from the center-left of this vantage point as dunnhumbyUSA builds its new headquarters in downtown Cincinnati. Photograph by Randy A. Simes for UrbanCincy.

As the renaissance continues to progress in Cincinnati’s urban core, the city must seize every opportunity to inject life where life has long since been vacant. The activity that follows should be thought about in a logical manner. What kinds of activities are found in what parts of the center city, and what is needed?

In the case of the notorious Fifth and Race location, what is needed is after-hours street life. It is currently an area vibrant during the business day, but struggles to support businesses and street activity into the evenings and weekends. The development of a new office tower there does not address either of those issues.

Yes, the new dunnhumbyUSA tower will be a boon for city coffers and develop a long underutilized piece of property just a block from Fountain Square. But the central business district needs more residents if it ever wants to support the likes of a grocery store, theater or other service retail. And there are very few sites well-suited for a high-rise residential tower beyond the Fifth and Race location that will now be occupied by a shiny new office tower.

The alternate location for dunnhumbyUSA’s new tower would have been at The Banks where an office tower has been proposed at the corner of Second and Walnut streets. This is an area that is, infact, in need of daytime activity. Unlike the rest of the central business district, The Banks is primarily made up of high density residential and other entertainment that fills the streets into the evenings. What The Banks does not have is daytime business activity, and dunnhumbyUSA would have provided just that.

Furthermore, a location at The Banks would guarantee increased parking revenues at the county-owned garages sitting beneath the development. This, in turn, would help to pay off the stadium debt that is crippling Hamilton County.

If you are to look at things in order of sparking additional development, The Banks location also comes out on top. As most industry insiders are aware, it is difficult to make money on residential development, but office development makes money hand over fist if you can lease it. Such a tower at The Banks would have almost assuredly helped either pay off debts on the first phase, or finance the second phase of development there.

Unless the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) uses the profits to leverage additional development in Over-the-Rhine or in the central business district, the Fifth and Race location will not have the same ripple effect that would have been seen at The Banks.

In my opinion, city officials should have been patient and sat on the Fifth and Race site until a deal came to pass that would have developed the site into a 20 to 30-story residential tower. Cincinnati may only have one or two sites well-suited to accommodate such a tower in its central business district now, but it could probably use three times that many to achieve the vibrancy that is needed.

Let’s hope that the development plan for the Fifth and Race site includes some residential component to help offset this situation. Until then, chalk this one up as good news, but an opportunity missed.

Categories
Business News Politics

Cincinnati may soon be powered by 100% renewable energy

Cincinnati is working on a new power aggregation deal right now that could lead to the entire city being powered from 100 percent renewable energy sources. The deal, city officials say, could be finalized within the coming months and be in place for consumers by summer 2012.

Such a move would make Cincinnati the largest city in the United States to have its energy supply come from 100 percent renewable sources, and it might be accomplished without any significant cost difference for ratepayers.

The way it would work, city officials tell UrbanCincy, is by requiring power providers to include quotes for both the cheapest electricity available and 100 percent renewable electricity. In Oak Park, IL, for example, the bids came back so competitive that city officials decided to go with the 100 percent renewable solution.


Cincinnati businesses and homeowners may be supplied by 100% renewable energy as soon as this summer.

“There is no guarantee that our bids will come in the same as Oak Park’s, but the question may be whether we are willing to pay an additional one percent to pay for renewable energy,” explained Office of Environment Quality (OEQ) director Larry Falkin.

The movement towards sustainability has evidently picked up steam in Cincinnati as of late. At the first of two required public hearings, approximately 70 people came out to speak in favor of using completely renewable energy sources, and the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace flew a hot air ship over Cincinnati last week advocating for such change.

“The biggest thing impacting our carbon footprint is how we get our electricity,” said Falkin who explained that Cincinnati currently gets approximately 85 percent of its energy from coal. “This is probably the biggest opportunity we’ll have over the next several years to dramatically reduce Cincinnati’s carbon footprint.”

After a positive first hearing at City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee, officials expect that the effort will move forward and receive approval from the full council on Wednesday. Should that take place, the request for proposals (RFP) would then go out within the next two to three weeks.

Even if the response to the city’s RFP does not come back as favorable as Oak Park’s, city officials may be able to structure the deal to offer consumers a choice between the cheapest electricity option and a 100 percent renewable electricity option.

“There are a lot of things Cincinnati is doing to position itself as a leader in sustainability and going green – both in the public and private sectors,” Falkin concluded. “This is a significant part of that total package in terms of branding Cincinnati as a progressive city, and cities across the country may start to look to adopt the Cincinnati solution for energy.”

The final Budget & Finance Committee meeting scheduled to discuss power aggregation will take place today at 1pm at City Hall (map).