opinion

News flash: We’re building a streetcar

Supporters and opponents of the streetcar have debated this issue at length across multiple election cycles, in many City Council meetings, and in daily conversation in person and online. In December 2013, City Council finally put that debate to bed. We paused, we reviewed, and we chose to move forward. The consequences, monetary and otherwise, of terminating the project at that point were absolutely unacceptable.

By most accounts, preparation for the streetcar opening in September 2016 is going well. Our project leaders are working around the clock to deliver this project on time and under budget. Citizens who spend time in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine have seen the rails put into the ground, new stations erected, and development sprouting up all over the line. Later this year, the city will receive its first streetcar vehicles, and soon after, those vehicles will begin running on our streets.

That said, we still have a handful of decisions to make before the streetcar opens. Who will operate the streetcar, and how will those employees be organized? How will we fund the crucial pre-revenue service? How much will it cost to, ride and how will the streetcar integrate into our broader transit system?

These are important questions, and I do not expect that my colleagues and I will always agree as we work toward decisions. But these decisions must be made to ensure the streetcar is successful. One thing I hope we can agree on is that the streetcar is being built, and it is in the city’s best interest that it succeeds.

If City Council can agree to that, I have no doubt that we can find solutions to the remaining obstacles that we are currently faced with. Finding those solutions will take cooperation, rational and informed conversation, and a sharing of information and ideas that we have sometimes lacked.

We cannot allow petty politics to trump thoughtful leadership on this project.

David Mann, vice mayor, Cincinnati