The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. SORTA operates Metro fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services. SORTA's headquarters are located at the Huntington Building in Cincinnati’s Central Business District. The agency is managed by CEO and General Manager Darryl Haley along with a 13-member board of trustees. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 13,091,500, or about 44,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
SORTA replaced the Cincinnati Transit Commission, which operated buses from 1952 to 1973. In 2012 SORTA Metro released its schedule information in the General Transit Feed Specification, making schedules more easily available to customers.[5] The Cincinnati Bell Connector was operated by SORTA until 2019; the City of Cincinnati has since owned and operated the streetcar. Until 2021, SORTA Metro was funded primarily by Cincinnati's city earnings tax, second by fares, and third by federal sources, with some other minor sources. This stood in contrast to other Ohio transit agencies, such as COTA and GCRTA which are primarily funded by sales tax. For a sense of perspective, the portion of Cincinnati's earnings tax going to Metro's budget was about 0.3%.
Reinventing Metro
On May 14, 2020, Hamilton County voters passed Issue 7, which switches the source of SORTA funding to a sales tax levy of 0.8 percent. The sales tax in Hamilton County raised to 7.8% and the Cincinnati earnings tax was eliminated. The levy is projected to generate $130 million a year, which will be split 100/30 between Metro and road infrastructure respectively. The new sales tax rate went into effect on October 1, 2020.[6] The new funding will be used to implement Reinventing Metro, which is a transit network redesign of its fixed-route services, but also introduces Mobility on Demand and Bus Rapid Transit to the region.
An example related project is the Northside Transit Center, which is located in Northside and replaced a basic bus stop. The new transit center, which opened in 2020, features eight boarding bays, each with an architecturally designed shelter and enhanced streetscaping, lighting and amenities. In addition, the transit center features artwork designed by winners of the transit agency's art contest for Northside residents. The contest asked residents to submit designs following the theme, "What does Northside mean to me?”. The artwork is displayed prominently on installations at the transit center's entrance and exit. The Northside project was a partnership with the Federal Transit Administration, the Ohio Department of Transportation, and other local stakeholders.
Services
Metro
SORTA Metro operates about 40 major fixed bus routes, as well as a demand-responsive paratransit service. Of the major routes, roughly half run only at rush hours and are essentially commuter services, some of them serving the reverse commute. The other half operate throughout the day, and some offer increased frequency during rush hours. Approximately 90% of all trips are made on the all-day routes, and 10% on the express commuter routes. Routes 4, 11, 17, 33, 43, 51, and 78 run at all times.
Route 42X was a route that extended into neighboring Butler County under an agreement with Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA). The route was discontinued at the end of 2023. On January 1, 2024, BCRTA started their own route and brand it as CincyLink[7] that will run from Middletown to Downtown Cincinnati.
Throughout 2021 and early 2022, Metro worked on developing an accessible, on-demand and localized mobility service, including connections to Metro's network of more than 40 fixed bus routes.
Previously referred to as "Mobility On-Demand," this service is now called MetroNow!, with two zones that launched pilot service in Sping of 2023. Metro plans to roll out several additional service zones in the future.
Stops and stations
Located on Fifth Street between Walnut and Main in Cincinnati, Government Square serves as Metro's downtown transit hub.
Most of SORTA's roughly 3,600 stops are simply marked with a sign on a pole listing routes the stop serves, and are fairly infrastructure-light. Several dozen stops include bus shelters and covered benches. Several suburban stops are park-and-rides. Government Square is the main transit station, located downtown near Fountain Square. SORTA owns and operates several transit centers across the region including the recently constructed Northside Transit Center, Oakley Transit Center, and Glenway Transit Center. SORTA operates the Riverfront Transit Center though it's only used for a layover point for the Metro*Plus route and a stop for route 85.
Fares
On April 4, 2021, Metro introduced a simpler fare structure.[9] With this new fare model, base fare increased 25 cents to $2 per ride on all local routes. Express buses are $2.65 within Hamilton County. Certain express routes turned into commuter routes and have a $2 fare. Express routes that go into Butler, Clermont, and Warren County have a fare of $3.75. Zone fares and paper transfers were eliminated. Transfers are only available to those using the Transit app and to 5-ride ticket users. There are several day pass options available to purchase. Mobile fares must be purchased through the Transit app. Refer to the charts for more information. Transfers to higher-cost service require payment of the fare difference. Children under 36 inches ride for free with a fare-paying rider; a limit of 2 children applies.
Metro fares are available for mobile payment via Transit, an app that has been adopted for such purposes across several cities.[10]
5-ride Hamilton County Local & Commuter Service Ticket
$10
Half Fare 24-Hour Pass (Child Fare, Fare Deal, UC, Cincinnati State)
$2
Hamilton County Local 30-day Pass
$80
Hamilton County Express 30-day Pass
$105
Metro/TANK 30-day Pass
$105
Suburban County Express 30-day Pass
$150
Garages and fleet
SORTA operates about 350 buses on fixed routes, and about 50 smaller vehicles as part of their 'demand responsive services'. All vehicles in SORTA's fleet are ADA accessible. On average, vehicles in the fixed route fleet are 6.9 years old, and in the demand-responsive fleet 1.4 years. Vehicles in the fixed route fleet are rated, on average, for a capacity and 65 passengers, both sitting and standing.[11]
All fixed-route buses have a bike rack mounted on the front with room for two bicycles.
Garages
Queensgate Garage 1401 Bank Street, Cincinnati, OH 45214
Bond Hill Garage 4700 Paddock Road, Cincinnati, OH 45229
^"National Transit Database". National Transit Database. Federal Transit Administration. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
