Cincinnati Bell Gets Streetcar Naming Rights

The Cincinnati streetcar has a new name as it gears up to begin revenue service on Sept. 9.

The 3.6-mile line will be known as the Cincinnati Bell Connector.

Cincinnati Bell is paying $340,000 annually for 10 years for the naming rights. Money generated from naming rights will be used to fund streetcar operations

The telephone company’s logo will appear on the front, back, top and inside of each streetcar. The existing logo and colors will no longer be used.

The cars had been painted yellow and white, but will be repainted into the colors used by Cincinnati Bell in its marketing materials.

Advertising from other entities will continue to be sold and displayed inside and outside the cars.

With 18 stops, the streetcar, which is managed by the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority and operated by Transdev will feature 18 stops on a loop extending from downtown to the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

It will come within a block of the Great American Ball Park on Second Street where the Cincinnati Reds play.

The five streetcars to be used were built by CAF USA in Elmira, New York, and feature low floors.

Funding of the $148-million streetcar project came from public-private partnerships, which included grants from the Federal Transit Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation.

The numbers of the streetcars begin with 1175 because the last car to be used in Cincinnati was number 1174.

Streetcar service in Cincinnati ended in the early 1950s.

Tags: Cincinnati, Cincinnati Bell, Cincinnati Bell Connector, Cincinnati streetcar, Cincinnati streetcar line, Cincinnati streetcar project, Public transportation, Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, streetcars