CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bell Connector was busy on Oktoberfest weekend from Friday, Sept. 16 through Sunday, Sept. 18, providing more than 29,000 rides. 

The busiest day was Saturday, Sept. 17, with almost 12,500 riders – eight times the projected streetcar ridership of 1,500 for an average Saturday.

Ridership, based on automatic passenger counters using FTA-approved sampling method:

Friday, Sept. 16:                       7,041             (3,000 projected average weekday ridership)           

Saturday, Sept. 17:                 12,433             (1,500 projected average Saturday ridership)

Sunday, Sept. 18:                     9,639             (990 projected average Sunday ridership)

Total                                        29,113

Revenue

Based on the strong ridership, revenue exceeded the cost of operating the service this past weekend and no additional funds were needed.

Ticket vending machine update

There are intermittent issues with the ticket vending machines, including credit card processing at some machines.  The manufacturer said this issue is not unique to Cincinnati’s machines and they are working on a solution. A local contractor is checking and servicing the machines daily to handle any issues that arise.