The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, SORTA operates fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services. SORTA's headquarters are located in the Huntington Building in downtown Cincinnati. The agency is managed by CEO and General Manager Darryl Haley along with a 13-member board of trustees. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Downtown Cincinnati is also served by the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK), whose transit services extend over the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

into Northern Kentucky.

History

SORTA replaced the

Cincinnati Transit Commission The Cincinnati Transit Company (or Cincinnati Transit, Inc., abbreviated CT) was the public transit operator in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 1952 to 1973. It began operation on December 30, 1952, and replaced the Cincinnati Street Railway. ...

, which operated buses from 1952 to 1973. In 2012 SORTA Metro released its schedule information in the

General Transit Feed Specification GTFS, which stands for General Transit Feed Specification or (originally) Google Transit Feed Specification, defines a common format for public transportation schedules and associated geographic information. GTFS contains only static or schedul ...

, making schedules more easily available to customers. The Cincinnati Bell Connector was operated by SORTA until 2019; the City of Cincinnati has since owned and operated the streetcar. Until 2021, SORTA Metro was funded primarily by Cincinnati's city earnings tax, second by fares, and third by federal sources, with some other minor sources. This stood in contrast to other Ohio transit agencies, such as COTA and

GCRTA The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is t ...

which are primarily funded by sales tax. For a sense of perspective, the portion of Cincinnati's earnings tax going to Metro's budget was about 0.3%. On May 14, 2020, Hamilton County voters passed Issue 7, which switches the source of SORTA funding to a sales tax. The sales tax in Hamilton County will be raised to 7.8% and the Cincinnati earnings tax is eliminated. The levy is projected to generate $130 million a year, which will be split 100/30 between Metro and road infrastructure respectively. The new sales tax rate went into effect on October 1, 2020. The new funding will be used to implement Reinventing Metro, which is a transit network redesign of its fixed-route services, but also introduces Mobility on Demand and

Bus Rapid Transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

to the region.

Services

Fixed-Route SORTA Metro operates about 40 major fixed bus routes, as well as a demand-responsive paratransit service. Of the major routes, roughly half run only at rush hours and are essentially commuter services, some of them serving the

reverse commute A reverse commute is a round trip, regularly taken, from an urban area to a suburban one in the morning, and returning in the evening. It is almost universally applied to trips to work in the suburbs from homes in the city. This is in opposition to ...

. The other half operate throughout the day, and some offer increased frequency during rush hours. Approximately 90% of all trips are made on the all-day routes, and 10% on the express commuter routes. Routes 29X and 82X extend into neighboring

Clermont County Clermont County, popularly called Clermont ( ), is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 208,601. Ordinanced in 1800 as part of the Virginia Military District, Clermont is Ohio's eighth oldest county, the ...

under an arrangement with the

Clermont Transportation Connection Clermont Transportation Connection (CTC) is a public transportation agency serving Clermont County, Ohio, United States. It operates two fixed transit bus routes, the Dial-A-Ride demand responsive transport service, and paratransit service. The tw ...

. Routes 71X & 72X extend into neighboring Warren County under an arrangement with

Warren County Transit A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Anglo ...

. Route 42X extend into neighboring Butler County under an agreement with Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA). Mobility on Demand (Spring 2023) As part of the Reinventing Metro plan, SORTA Metro has the exciting opportunity to provide regional transit access to neighborhoods that historically have not had access to public transportation. Throughout 2021 and early 2022, Metro has been developing an accessible, on-demand and localized mobility service for all, including connections to Metro's network of more than 40 fixed bus routes. Previously referred to as "Mobility On-Demand," this service will be called ''MetroNow!'', with two zones planned to launch pilot service in early 2023. Following these initial pilot launches, Metro will roll out several additional service zones.

Reinventing Metro

With the passage of Issue 7 in the spring of 2020, Hamilton County voters approved a sales tax levy of 0.8 percent and a new funding source for Metro. With improved funding, Metro is bringing to life its Reinventing Metro plan, offering the Greater Cincinnati region bold, new transit innovations that will help grow the regional economy and better connect our community to jobs, education, health care and entertainment. Metro will also be expanding local service into new areas as well as investing in waiting amenities such as new bus shelters, bus benches and transit centers. One example of the new Metro is the Northside Transit Center, which is located in

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...

and replaced a basic bus stop. The new transit center, which opened in 2020, features eight boarding bays, each with an architecturally designed shelter and enhanced streetscaping, lighting and amenities. In addition, the transit center features artwork designed by winners of the transit agency's art contest for Northside residents. The contest was launched to help add a special Northside touch to the center's design and asked residents to submit designs following the theme, "What does Northside mean to me?” The artwork is displayed prominently on installations at the transit center's entrance and exit. The Northside project was a partnership with the Federal Transit Administration, th
City of CincinnatiOKI Regional Council Governments
the Ohio Department of Transportation, and other local stakeholders.

Stops and stations

Most of SORTA's roughly 3,600 stops are simply marked with a sign on a pole listing routes the stop serves, and are fairly infrastructure-light. Several dozen stops include bus shelters and covered benches. Several suburban stops are park-and-rides. Government Square is the main transit station, located

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

near Fountain Square. SORTA owns and operates several transit centers across the region including the recently constructed Northside Transit Center, Oakley Transit Center, and Glenway Transit Center. SORTA operates the

Riverfront Transit Center The Riverfront Transit Center is a multi-modal transportation center currently used as a local bus and commuter bus hub for TANK and SORTA, in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio near Great American Ballpark and The Banks project. It runs alongside t ...

though it's only used for a layover point for the Metro*Plus route and a stop for route 85.

Fares

On April 4, 2021, Metro introduced a simpler fare structure. With this new fare model, base fare increased 25 cents to $2 per ride on all local routes. Express buses are $2.65 within Hamilton County. Certain express routes turned into commuter routes and have a $2 fare. Express routes that go into Butler, Clermont, and Warren County have a fare of $3.75. Zone fares and paper transfers were eliminated. Transfers are only available to those using the Transit app and to 5-ride ticket users. There are several day pass options available to purchase. Mobile fares must be purchased through the Transit app. Refer to the charts for more information. Transfers to higher-cost service require payment of the fare difference. Children under 5 ride for free with a fare-paying rider; a limit of 2 children applies. Paper transfers are no longer be issued as of 4/10/2021. Zone fare was eliminated on 4/4/2021.

Garages and fleet

SORTA operates about 350 buses on fixed routes, and about 50 smaller vehicles as part of their demand responsive services. All vehicles in SORTA's fleet are ADA accessible. On average, vehicles in the fixed route fleet are 6.9 years old, and in the demand-responsive fleet 1.4 years. Vehicles in the fixed route fleet are rated, on average, for a capacity and 65 passengers, both sitting and standing. All fixed-route buses have a bike rack mounted on the front with room for two bicycles. Garages *Queensgate Garage 1401 Bank Street, Cincinnati, OH 45214 *Bond Hill Garage 4700 Paddock Road, Cincinnati, OH 45229 Current Buses in Service Future bus orders

References

External links

Go Metro
SORTA official website {{Authority control 1973 establishments in Ohio Bus transportation in Cincinnati Bus transportation in Ohio Government agencies established in 1973 Intermodal transportation authorities in Ohio Passenger rail transportation in Cincinnati Passenger rail transportation in Ohio Transit agencies in Ohio Transportation in Cincinnati Transportation in Hamilton County, Ohio