Branding, Operating Details Approved for Cincinnati Streetcar

"Officials with the City of Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) made several major announcements last week pertaining to the rollout of the Cincinnati Streetcar system," reports Randy A. Simes.

Announcements pertained to the system's brand design and its operating agreement. Kolar Design is responsible for the branding design, which "will be utilized all throughout the system including its fare cards, ticketing machines, uniforms, wayfinding, brochures, website and social media, and, of course, the trains and their stations."

As for the operating agreement, "the City of Cincinnati is building the system, and is its owner, but will contract out its operations to SORTA." One particularly innovative detail of the operating agreement, as noted by Simes, is "an innovative technique that would lower property tax abatements 7.5%. This is an important component of the agreement as it addresses a longstanding call from opponents for those benefiting from real estate valuation increases to cover more of the costs of modern streetcar system."