Why is the streetcar late?

It could be the start of a joke: What do a funeral procession, Rhinegeist beer and an ice cream truck have in common? Nothing, except at one time or another over the last four months they all held up the streetcar.

And while may be funny, it's no laughing matter to the streetcar operator and council members who desperately want to make sure the city's controversial streetcar project is a success. Streetcar delays are frustrating riders waiting at stops and in a city as small as Cincinnati, there's a fear riders will walk or Uber instead.

So what's really the hold-up? Deliveries, emergencies and, yes, people going in and out of Rhinegeist, according to an Enquirer analysis of delays dating back the Sept. 9 opening.

The data is important.The streetcar operators analyze it and use what they learn to make improvements.

An Enquirer assessment of the 144 times the streetcar was delayed shows it comes down to one problem: people. They aren't paying attention. They stop on the tracks to make deliveries or when picking people up and dropping them off at their destination. And they park in the way of the streetcar path.

"It's imperative that the tracks be clear in order for the streetcar to pass," said Sallie Hilvers, a spokeswoman for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority. "Education began a year ago. But if you don't come downtown often, you may not know. Our message: Pay attention."

December ridership numbers for the Cincinnati Bell Connector show the 3.6-mile loop is most popular on Saturdays, but struggles to fill its cars on other days, according to documentation from the streetcar's operator. Overall last month, ridership was 40 percent below what was projected.

At last week's Major Transportation Committee meeting, city council members Chris Seelbach and David Mann both told stories about waiting at streetcar stops at least 25 minutes, something they said is unacceptable.

And, even if people don't mind a longer wait, electronic signs at stops saying when the streetcar will arrive aren't working either.

What the data shows

The Enquirer analysis found there were 144 delays since the streetcar opened. A closer look showed:

The median delay is four minutes, meaning half the delays were shorter, half longer. That's a big deal when the streetcar is supposed to arrive at stops every 12 to 15 minutes.

Three of every 10 delays occurred in roughly a two block area. The route is most often clogged on Walnut Street between Fifth and Sixth streets and on Main Street between Fifth and Sixth. Those two blocks alone had 30 percent of all the delays.

Only a third of the delays are during rush hour, with slightly more occurring in the morning. The mid-day period from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. accounts for slightly more delays than during rush hours.

Fire, police and EMS incidents caused the most delays, with more than a third of the total.

Issues at the top of the route, near Rhinegeist and the streetcar shed, accounted for 15 problems.

The streetcar suffered delays roughly half the days The Enquirer reviewed. On six days, there were five or more incidents, accounting for a quarter of all of delays. On 12 days there were more than three delays.

The delays were spread fairly equally over the days of the week, with Sunday and Tuesday being the least problematic.

And if you were looking to be on time to your destination in December, that likely didn't happen. There were only nine days without delays.

In a separate data set, SORTA showed there have been 10 major issues since the streetcar began service that caused long delays. Among them: two bomb threats, an out-of-control streetcar, six accidents and an evacuation.

And delays don't necessarily have to be the result of a major issue. Slowing down for cars or big crowds on game day might just take 10 or 15 seconds here or there, but that can add to minutes during the day.

Everyone who runs the streetcar – the city, which pays for it; Transdev, which operates it; and SORTA, which oversees Transdev – is taking delays seriously.

City parking enforcement officers travel the streetcar route scouting out potential delays. They educate people causing the problem and these days are even ticketing streetcar scofflaws. The cost of ignoring streetcar rules: $50.

Attn Rhinegeist Thursday night crowd ...

Parking enforcement officer Scott Smith works the night shift on the "streetcar beat." He drives a parking enforcement car continuously along the streetcar route looking for issues. He says the number of problems he sees have declined, but haven't been eradicated.

"The worst was when a car stalled on the tracks," he said. "I tried to help push it off the tracks, but the transmission locked up. It shut the whole system down."

And don't get him started about outside Rhinegeist. Late at night Uber drivers clog up the route and often they're repeat offenders, meaning he's already told them parking on the tracks is a no-no. And when there's a show at the Aronoff Center on Walnut Street drop off and pick almost guarantee issues, despite sheriff's deputies on hand to help out.

Mostly Scott politely asks drivers to move and they comply. If they don't, the streetcar might have to slow to pass or, at worst, halt the whole train.

"There's a ripple effect," said Dan Fortenberry, director of Cincinnati's parking division. "If we can keep the track clean, people will use the streetcar. And they can start making decisions about how many cars to own and how they'll get to work."

"Enforcement isn't free, but it would be expensive not to be here," Fortenberry said.

While there were 144 delays, things in the way of the streetcar – or obstructions – are just as much a problem.

Streetcar officials counted a whopping 780 obstructions. Elm Street at Rhinegeist accounted for more than half the obstructions. Roughly 95 percent of the incidents happened after 11 p.m. Thursday night through Saturday, caused by ride-sharing drivers parking on the tracks while picking people up at Rhinegeist. It's tough for the streetcar to make the turn at Twelfth and Main streets, notching 140 incidents. And there's a smaller, but similar issue to Rhinegeist on weekend nights at The Banks.

Between the opening and Jan. 7, 169 tickets were issued for blocking the route, city records show.

"We are trying to change the behavior of vehicles that block the tracks, particularly delivery vehicles," Assistant City Manager John Juech told the Major Transportation Committee. Trucks accounted for 1 of every 5 delays in The Enquirer analysis.

Juech was quick to say it's not about enforcement, it's about paving a clear path for the streetcar.

John Schneider, the leading streetcar supporter and a Downtown resident, expects blockages will be cleared up with due diligence.

"This is more about traffic management," Schneider said. "This can be fixed without inconveniencing drivers."

Fernanda Crescente contributed.