This update reveals that "The debut of Cincinnati's $110 million, 4.9-mile streetcar line will occur in mid-2015, not in late 2014 as originally planned."
So when is "mid-2015"? Let's be charitable and say the project won't really be "late" again until Aug. 31, 2015.
And wouldn't it be nice if the project really did come in at $110 million? Not sure where that figure is coming from, but it sounds low. In February 2012, when a ceremonial groundbreaking was held for the project, the city's streetcar website -- the closest thing we have to "official" figures -- made several points public:
-- The first segment will cost $95 million, the city claims, plus a (still) unresolved amount for utility re-location. Duke claims moving services will cost $18.7 million, the city is offering $6 million. And of course, this cost estimate has been adjusted at least nce already. At the end of 2008, this article stated that the proposed streetcar system would include a $102-million loop through downtown and Over-the-Rhine, a $35-million connector link to the uptown area near the university and local hospitals and eventually a loop in the uptown area for another $48 million. So we were supposed to get up the Vine Street hill for $137 million (not happening) and the "full" streetcar with true access to the UC area for $185 million. (Heh.)
-- The city says the 3.6-mile, 18-stop system will involve five cars running 18 hours a day, at an operating cost of $2.5 million a year. We shall see.
-- There is no set price yet on fares. Yet without any notion of price, a consultant somewhere assumes the public demand is strong enough that the streetcar will enjoy 3,700 "trips per day," which adds up to 1,350,500 "trips" per year. Again, we shall see.