FORWARD: A random location to start this PTBnotes series? Not really, it just so happens it is the most recent location where I was able to practice my transit hobby. Being in Cincinnati for the first time ever, with ecosystem stakeholder meetings to implement an employee ownership initiative, meant it was a brand new transit experience to share as part of my blogging and writing practice!
buzzing around Cincinnati to bring you
the recent experience of a traveler in town
on business for 3 nights. How did they fare?
The original plan to figure and take transit from the airport, to downtown, where they would be staying at a commercial hotel, was delayed. This because the air travel bringing them to Cincy which was scheduled to arrive at 12:30 pm in the afternoon, did not actually get them to CVG airport until 9:45 pm. Tired, battered, and not bruised, the traveler decided on Lyft which was on the scene within 5 minutes of submitting for a ride. Kudos for the ground transport area having a nice sized partial enclosure outside the waiting area which kept the winds at bay while waiting, as the region, along with a lot of the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeast, was going through a deep freeze. The Lyft ride dropped the traveler at the hotel in the downtown business district, check-in was quick, and room was accessed at 10:30 pm.
The Travelers first full day in the city allowed pedestrian activity to commence! Distance from hotel to meeting place was only a 15-minute walk. Although there had been snow and cold, unlike what Cincinnati is used to, the sidewalks were relatively clear, and the fully sunny day was welcoming anyone to come outdoors. After a full day of meetings, ending at 5 pm, the Traveler was to experience the only other ride share experiences of the trip in order to arrive and depart together to a dinner location suggested by our hosts, which was on the fairly northward neighborhood of Clifton / Gaslight District and involved the need for efficiently coordinating with other persons for the location selected.
Day two was full of pedestrian walking jaunts between locations of the Central Business District up through the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood. The Traveler later learned, when looking at the transit map for planning my TANK ride to the airport for departure, that there is a very convenient, and free, daily streetcar line that runs regularly (about every 12-15 minutes) between these neighborhoods. It’s called the Cincinnati Bell Connector, runs 3.6 miles on electric rail, with late night service until 11:30 pm all days except Sundays.
Even if the Traveler had known about the free streetcar, he wouldn’t have taken it, as every walk between meeting locations, meals, and social events was under 15 minutes each, and made for great stretch and air breaks, from sitting and consuming. That is, excepting the final walk back to the hotel at nights end, from Rhinegeist Brewery to Voco the Claire hotel, which was 33 app minutes, but ended up being just under 30 actual minutes. The Traveler was at the Rhinegeist for a monthly Cincinnati cooperative business community social mixer, and by all account enjoyed the NA IPA available at the bar.
The morning of day three allowed just enough time for the complimentary hotel breakfast and then to explore the TANK bus line to the airport. TANK stands for Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky, it’s necessary to cross the state border over the Ohio River. The walk from the hotel to the closest 2X line to CVG airport was only about 10 minutes for the Traveler, who ended up waiting for about another 10 minutes for the bus to arrive. The fee, compared to the $35 Lyft ride upon arriving at CVG three days ago, was a wee $2.00, which the Traveler paid with cash using two $1 bills. Time to airport was about 35 minutes, a but longer than the 25 minutes or so with the Lyft ride. The Traveler showed no discomfort during the ride, it was dry, warm, and smooth.
A couple random pieces of interest that the Traveler conveyed upon completion of this trip included that they did see Veo micromobility electric bicycles laying around the city in snowbanks, but none were witnessed in use during this wintery snap. The Traveler did not think about using them in Cincinnati during this sojourn, as he often does in other instances, since all locations were so very near to each other allowing for the easiest of walking outings.
Secondly, the Traveler noticed that the distant from airport entry to the flight gates was pretty dang far, and resulted in the experiencing of six people movers. Now the Traveler doesn’t normally use the people movers, favoring getting in the extra steps of airport passage, but as such had the thought to make a little observation – that being the length of the people movers was each 60 steps long. In order to make a comparison, the Traveler hopped on the next people mover and continued walking forward, which resulted in a length of 44 steps – pretty negligible, unless you have to use them for personal mobility needs, the recommendation is to walk the normal floor surface and skip the “travelators” as we have learned they are sometimes referred to, for movements sake.
This is PeTey Bee signing off – may your PTB experiences be joyful!
