As the Cincinnati Bell Connector approaches one year on the streets of Cincinnati, here's how it's performed - and what lies ahead.

Ridership never quite reached the high expectations made before the tracks were laid.

Now the projections are about half of what was initially expected. But the streetcar has not sucked up city revenues, as some feared.

This is certain: The streetcar will likely remain a hot political issue in the city for years to come. It will be up to the elected officials to decide whether the millions in parking revenue routed to the project are best spent there or somewhere else- or if it's worth it to extend the streetcar route.

Streetcar ridership has never topped its first day

More than 18,000 rides were taken on the streetcar on Sept. 9, the day it officially opened to the public. It was free for the first three days of operation, but as of Aug. 15, that first day has not been topped with the streetcar averaging 2,026 rides a day.

Within a couple weeks of its launch, it was clear the initial projections made by consultants for the city were wishful thinking. In 2011, consultants estimated the streetcar would see 3,200 rides each day. Last fall, those projections were lowered to 2,800 a day.

Those earlier projections did not take into account seasonal changes in use and other factors like holidays. SORTA's new projections do.

The most recent projections from SORTA run from July 2017 to June 2018 and estimate a total ridership of 609,300 or an average of 1,693 per day.

Who pays for the streetcar?

Streetcar fares only make up about 14 percent of revenues. The rest is made up of parking meter contributions, Haile Fund contributions, advertising and sponsorships and growing funds from the tax incentive program.

The city also hoped Federal Transit Administration grants would help pay for operations after it contributed $45 million for construction. Despite applying for the grants, the city didn't get the money.

The Haile Fund committed $9 million to the streetcar during its first 10 years of operation, and additional surplus funds from construction have also been moved to the operations budget.

Tax incentive money paid by companies along the route contribute to the operating budget. The program brought in less than $100,000 in the past year but is expected to grow quickly. That revenue is projected to come in at $531,000 next year.

Seasonal and weekly ridership

Seasonal changes in ridership have become apparent in the past year. January, February and March each saw less than 40,000 rides before warmer weather brought monthly totals back over 60,000.

The streetcar is also primarily a weekend form of transportation. While billed as an option for commuters and those traveling around the city for work, ridership on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is nearly double what occurs during the rest of the week.

Who gets streetcar money?

The bulk of streetcar funds go to Transdev, the company hired by the city to run the streetcar. The contract calls for Transdev to be paid $17.4 million over five years, with an option to extend the contract an additional five years.

However, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority incurs overhead and direct costs for operating the streetcars. The agency's overhead costs cannot exceed 8 percent of the Transdev contract. The direct costs, such as electricity, security and other expenses, are handled separately.

The city itself also incurs overhead costs for parking enforcement and other tasks.

Public transit in Cincinnati is a shadow of what it used to be

The old streetcar system is hardly comparable to the new one. It was far more extensive, more people lived in Cincinnati and far few residents owned cars during its operation. Nevertheless, comparing the numbers reveals public transit is used far less now than it was.

In 1940, just before the U.S. joined World War, the streetcar system was fully operational and taking in about 5.5 million fares a month, according to Enquirer reports at the time. It served a city population of over 455,000 people, about 155,000 more than live in Cincinnati today. After the war, streetcars began to be replaced with buses until the last railed lines were completely shut down April 28, 1951.

The new streetcar has averaged 60,192 rides a month. The 1940 streetcar system matched that number in less than half a day.

SORTA reports it currently provides 15 million rides a year with its bus system. In 1940, the streetcar was doing that in three months.

Public transportation also grew in the wake of the war for a time. In 1951, the Cincinnati Street Railway Company using a combination of buses and streetcars completed between 7 million and 8 million fares a month.