The Cincinnati Enquirer Todd Baumgartner flips a quarter into the fare box of the Metro bus and settles in for a five-minute ride from the Firstar Center parking garage to his job at Broadwing on Fourth Street. The Anderson Township resident Monday tried a new shuttle bus linking downtown office buildings to riverfront parking. The goal is to allow them to get to work easier and avoid long walks from where they park. Midday and evening service runs every 15 minutes. 25-cent fare each way.
City planners hope so.
About 2,350 spaces have opened since September. But most are on the riverfront, a hefty hike to downtown jobs and shops with cold-weather months here. And planners say sufficient downtown parking for all is still two to five years away. Parking fees, meanwhile, have jumped as much as 20 percent this year at some coveted lots in the heart of downtown, Enquirer research shows. That has been a devastating blow for many downtown commuters.