CINCINNATI — Hamilton County now has an Uber-like bus service to make it easier for residents in some suburbs and disconnected parts of the city to get where they need to go if they don’t have a car and don’t want to pay traditional ride-share prices.
What You Need To Know
- Metro is launching an Uber-like bus service in select parts of Hamilton County
- The program, MetroNow!, is opening in two zones as a pilot before expanding to four others early next year
- Residents can request a shuttle using an app or by calling Metro
On Wednesday, Metro formally unveiled its new MetroNow! service. Using an app or by placing a call, people in certain parts of the county can request to be picked up by one of Metro’s new shuttle-style buses and taken anywhere inside a specified zone. The cost is $2 per trip.
The program launches on Monday, May 22, in Springdale and Sharonville. Metro is expanding the pilot to the Northgate area in mid-June.
Six total zones covering much of Hamilton County will launch by early 2024, according to Darryl Haley, CEO and GM of Metro.
“It’s a game-changer for Hamilton County,” Haley said during a community event at The Healing Center in Springdale.
“For $2 dollars, you can have on-demand service one place in a zone to anywhere else in that area,” he added. “That could mean taking it from your home to a local shopping center or health-care facility or using it to take you to a bus stop to get you to somewhere else with in the region.”
Using MetroNow!
Haley described the initial MetroNow! zones as a pilot. Metro’s service planners are going to use the data and information they gather to inform decisions about expansion. The first two zones will have 14 total shuttles in service.
Other communities in the first wave of MetroNow! coverage include Northgate, Mount Healthy, Forest Park, Springfield Township, Glendale, Woodlawn, Colerain Township and North College Hill.
These are places with a plethora of shops, grocery stores, banks, health care facilities, Haley said, but the residents have limited access to those things.
“Not everyone who lives or works there has access to a personal car,” he said, and for whatever reason, Metro’s standard 40-foot bus “isn’t an ideal option for them.”
At launch, the 10-passenger shuttles will operate weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and weekends between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. There will be 14 total shuttles servicing the first two pilot zones.
Residents can book a trip through the MetroNow! app or by calling 513-551-5555.
The Metro team is hosting another community event Thursday, May 25 at the Sharonville branch of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library to walk residents through the ins and outs of the service. It goes from 2 to 4 p.m.
More than just a bus route to residents who need them
One of the immediate beneficiaries of MetroNow! service will be the Healing Center’s clients, according to its executive director, Adrienne Wiley.
The center provides 50 different programs and services aimed at addressing the economic, social, emotional and spiritual needs of residents. Offerings include food and clothing, but also educational resources and access to financial and job counseling.
“If you can get here, we will provide services to you,” Wiley said. But she admitted the “getting there” part isn’t always easy for some clients.
For the last 15 years, Metro has offered fixed routes in the area. There’s a stop right outside the center’s parking lot on Century Circle Drive.
Those routes have been a great resource for their clients and “moving them from place to place,” Wiley said. But many don’t have access to a vehicle or have difficulty getting to a bus stop from where they live.
It’s not unusual to see mothers with their children walking up the street trying to get home with their groceries and other household items, Wiley said.
“Many of them live several miles away,” she added. “Sometimes the closer you live, the more difficult it is to get around.”
MetroNow’s curbside or door-to-door service is going to make it easier for a lot of residents in the Sharonville and Springdale community can “have their basic needs met,” she said.
Several bus riders waited for the No. 78 bus outside the Health Center as Metro’s event took place Wednesday. One of those riders, Bryan, who declined to give his last name, called MetroNow! “long overdue and much needed.”
A longtime and regular bus rider, Bryan said the service in the area has “been pretty good in recent years.” Metro has changed and takes away service to a few routes, Bryan said, but the overall service in the area “adequate” for his needs.
He feels MetroNow! has the potential to benefit a lot of other people.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” Bryan added.
Springdale Mayor Doyle Webster was one of several government officials in attendance Wednesday. Others included representatives from Colerain Township and Forest Park and all three Hamilton County commissioners.
Webster, who’s been in office for 28 years, referred to the ribbon-cutting as “one of the most outstanding” events he’s attended. He stressed it marks the progress made in regional transportation options for residents, workers and visitors in recent years.
MetroNow! is a “leap forward” in the quality-of-life for Springdale residents and business owners, Webster said, because it eliminates the “last mile” barrier that’s hindered public transportation options in his 11,000-person city and other community in the outer rings of Hamilton County.
Because of the distance of bus stops and a “disconnected sidewalk system,” traveling within Springdale is difficult for people who can’t access or can’t drive a car, Webster said.
While MetroNow! is open to anyone, it can help support Metro’s existing para-transit service. Each of the shuttles has two reserved seats for persons who may require a wheelchair or other mobility devices.
“(MetroNow!) will also allow Springdale and Hamilton County residents to get the most out of what their community has to offer,” Webster added.
‘Reinventing’ bus service across Hamilton County
Places like Springdale and the outer rings of Hamilton County have never really had access to a robust, “all-inclusive” bus service, Webster said. However, he said that changed in 2020 with Issue 7.
The voter-approved ballot initiative dedicated an extra 0.8% in sales tax to support transit service and transit-related infrastructure in Hamilton County. That influx in cash led to the rollout of a long-term strategic plan, Reinventing Metro, for improving and expanding service countywide.
Starting MetroNow! with communities outside of downtown Cincinnati and its neighborhoods was intentional, Haley said. He noted that the city’s urban core has “very robust transit routes.” Metro recently introduced 24-hour service on some routes, more frequent bus arrivals and expanded crosstown service.
Through MetroNow!, the bus agency hopes to fill in service holes to better connect the broader Hamilton County system, Haley said.
The other four zones are Blue Ash/Evendale, Bond Hill/Roselawn, Monfort Heights/Finneytown and Pleasant Run North.
“We’re connecting this region in a way it’s never been connected before,” Haley said.
From a bus rider’s perspective, Bryans has high hopes for MetroNow! service. But he did have a message for Haley and Metro’s staff:
“Just make sure the buses show up on time,” he said.