Metro to Expand Public Transportation Services

In the coming months Metro will begin rolling out plans to provide much needed improvements and expansions, including: more crosstown routes, more frequent service, 24-hour service on several routes, expanded weekend service, earlier and later service on several routes, circulator routes, extension of Express routes, new service to emerging job centers, and an overall expansion of its service area. Kreg Keesee, Chair of SORTA, says they will continue to engage the community during this rollout to ensure that the community’s evolving needs are met.

Passage of ballot Issue 7 last month paves the way for these expanded transit service and transit-related infrastructure improvements throughout the county. Issue 7 approved a 0.8 percent countywide sales tax increase for transit service and transit-related infrastructure improvements which will trigger elimination of the 0.3 percent city of Cincinnati earnings tax on city residents and workers that has been Metro’s primary funding source for more than 40 years.

Keesee expressed gratitude to all who supported Issue 7, seeing this as evidence that Hamilton County residents understand the importance of public transportation to our region’s economic development, job growth and healthcare accessMetro is a non-profit, tax-funded public service of the

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA), providing about 14 million rides per year.