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Some Council Members Suggest More Tickets For Blocking Streetcar

Jay Hanselman
/
WVXU

Some Cincinnati council members say the city should be writing more parking tickets to keep people from blocking the streetcar route.  

Blockages have been an ongoing problem since passenger service started in September, and can delay service for several minutes.  
Member Yvette Simpson is calling for more aggressive action.

"The honeymoon is over," Simpson said. "People have gotten time to get used to the streetcar, it's been here for five months or so now. I would say be aggressive. Ticket them and then ask them to move, or ask them to move and pull around the corner and then ticket them. But let them know very clearly that they cannot park where it says they can't park."

Council member Chris Seelbach agreed the city needs to do more to stop the problem.

"If we need to do a motion that says write a ticket every time there's a blockage, we need to do that," Seelbach said. "If that doesn't work, I think we need to raise the fine."

A city parking official said enforcement officers have been averaging about one ticket a day for illegal parking along the streetcar route.  Instead of tickets, officers have been asking people to move their vehicles.

Some council members said that is sending the wrong message about the seriousness of blocking the streetcar route.

The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority reported Tuesday that 42 percent of the blockages since streetcar service started are illegally parked cars and delivery trucks.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.