John Schneider

Leading streetcar supporter John Schneider is a Downtown resident.

Here’s a surprise: After years of squabbling, Cincinnati has built America’s best modern streetcar. The route is ingenious, the vehicles best-in-class, and the workmanship is exquisite. Finished ahead of schedule and under budget, it’s earning its keep with massive investment along the tracks.

Streetcars are everywhere in our urban core. You can’t go far without seeing one or hearing the perfectly tuned door chime or the authoritative horn.

As the streetcar closes distances, we’ll redraw our mental maps of “downtown.” Sports fans will be pre-gaming in Over-the-Rhine, finally ending the debate over where the Reds ball park should have been built. Symphony and opera lovers will dine near Fountain Square before going by streetcar to Music Hall. Visitors will park once and pay $2 to travel all over Downtown and Over-the-Rhine for the rest of the day and night. Office workers can pay a dollar to go to lunch in OTR. Chew on that, Uber!

Hamilton County taxpayers may see more revenue as the streetcar better connects commuters with the county’s riverfront garages. Restaurants at The Banks will be more in the swim of things.

No schedule is needed. Service is frequent during the busiest times of day. You can download apps that let you know when the next streetcar will arrive. One of them enables you to pay your fare online.

Liberated from the cocoon of your car, you’ll run into old friends and make new ones. Waiting at the stops with strangers may make us a friendlier city, and a safer one with more eyes on the street.

Early adopters can ease our path, which will be rocky at first. If someone’s having trouble with the ticket machine, help them out. If someone parks over the white line, remind them it’s a $50 ticket plus a $90 tow – and that they’re delaying dozens, perhaps hundreds of people on streetcars that can’t get around them. And watch out! Our streetcars are very quiet.

The Cincinnati Bell Connector literally closes the loop on decades of strategic investment in the core of our region – bold visions that are paying off handsomely for our city. I mean, 20 years ago, who besides Jim Tarbell foresaw Over-the-Rhine becoming what it is today? Or who could have imagined our new riverfront? The streetcar connects all of this and more.

If we act purposely, starting now, tracks could reach the far edge of the University of Cincinnati’s main campus in six years. With a tunnel – or, more precisely, two short ones – the trip between Uptown and Downtown will be faster than driving and parking. And considerably cheaper.

The Connector may revive the community conversation about regional light rail. Truth be told, those rails you see on Main and Walnut were built for full-blown trains. Those sleek streetcars are actually light rail vehicles. Couple two together, add more seats, and you have a something that will take you home to Blue Ash.

Our streetcar is better on account of its critics, and it exceeds the expectations of its boosters. It is emblematic of a city that wants to act smarter and explore new ways to grow again. As steel rails reveal the richness and authenticity of our city, most Cincinnatians will forget why we fought about it.

An early rail fan, President Lincoln, said “the best way to predict your future is to create it.” Cincinnati has created a great future here. Enjoy the ride.