Cincinnati Metro is sinking $350 million into one of its biggest projects ever: a bus rapid transit overhaul meant to make riding the bus along two of the region's busiest corridors faster, more reliable and more like riding a train. Metro CEO Andy Aiello has described the new service as essentially rubber-tired light rail, and construction on the first leg is on track to begin next spring.
Two Corridors, One Big Bet
The project targets Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue, which Metro has called two of the region's most heavily traveled transit corridors, according to Local 12. The routes emerged from a study Metro launched in 2023 that evaluated four high-traffic corridors — Glenway Avenue, Hamilton Avenue, Reading Road and Montgomery Road — each of which carries more than one million riders a year, per the Metro BRT Project website. Metro ultimately picked Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue to receive the first round of bus rapid transit service.
According to Signal Cincinnati, the Reading Road route is planned at 9.2 miles with 13 stations, while Hamilton Avenue is planned at 8.8 miles with 11 stations. Construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2027, with service targeted to launch in 2028 on Reading Road and 2029 on Hamilton Avenue, the outlet reported. Once both sections are running, buses between the University of Cincinnati and the Banks are planned to operate every five minutes.
What Riders Would Actually Get
Metro's bus rapid transit design includes dedicated stations along both corridors, with level boarding meant to speed up stops, as well as dedicated or semi-dedicated lanes and signal priority so buses can move through intersections faster. Stops would also be spaced farther apart than on a standard route, a tradeoff Metro says trims travel time. Aiello has argued that faster trips make the service more competitive with driving and should help attract new riders.
Metro has ordered 60-foot BRT buses, nearly half again as long as the standard 40-foot buses currently on the road, the same report notes. On Reading Road specifically, Metro's existing 43 route currently serves 4,000 to 5,000 riders a day; the agency has projected that figure climbing to 6,000 to 7,000 riders daily once the new route is operational. Riders would pay the same fare as they do on Metro's existing fixed bus routes, and Metro has said bus rapid transit broadly could save riders 15 to 20 minutes compared with regular routes, per Local 12 — a claim that Axios Cincinnati separately reported as a 15-minute savings estimate.
Streets, Crossings and a Lane Debate
The project isn't just about the buses themselves. Plans call for resurfacing 5.82 miles of streets and upgrading 62 pedestrian crossings within two miles of the new stations, the same Signal Cincinnati report states. The Federal Transit Administration has also determined that SORTA's proposed Reading Road project meets the criteria for a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act, according to the Metro BRT Project site.
How much of Reading Road will actually get bus-only lanes remains a point of disagreement among recent reports. Axios Cincinnati reported in late September that a map of the plan showed no new bus-only lanes, while a transit advocate quoted in that story said five sections had shifted to mixed traffic across successive map updates. Weeks later, WVXU reported that the design then called for bus-only lanes on about 70% of the route. The available reporting does not explain whether that difference reflects a revised design, differing definitions of a bus-only lane, or something else.
Funding Fight and Outside Comparisons
The project is also tied to Metro's sales-tax funding stream, though sources differ on the exact figure. Metro's own funding page states that 75% of its sales tax levy — described there as 0.6% out of a total 0.8% — funds bus service operations and capital costs, with the remaining 25%, or 0.2%, funding infrastructure improvements. Signal Cincinnati, however, described the 2020 Issue 7 levy as a 0.08% sales tax. The discrepancy between those two figures is not resolved in the available reporting.
Cincinnati Council member Mark Jeffreys has pointed to bus rapid transit systems elsewhere as evidence the investment can pay off, telling WVXU that a Cleveland BRT route sped up service by 26% and a Hartford, Connecticut route improved speeds by 50%. Metro has also been working to build public buy-in: the agency reported holding 296 MetroRapid events and community meetings with 11,020 participants as of Oct. 13, per Signal Cincinnati's reporting.
Metro's spending plans have drawn broader business-press attention as well, with Tom Demeropolis authoring coverage for the Cincinnati Business Courier, which also produced an Above the Fold podcast episode on the project, according to Local 12. For now, the firmest dates on the calendar are construction starting next spring and service launching on Reading Road the following year, with Hamilton Avenue a year behind it.
