Come downtown for the MidPoint music, enjoy the urban experience and move your feet — but save your shoe leather for the dance floors. With so many bands to see each evening in a variety of clubs, festival organizers have devised an unusual shuttle service to get you around quickly.
The Scion Streetcar Shuttle will deploy 20 Scion xB cars to circulate on a route that models Cincinnati’s proposed streetcar line, offering a taste of what the service would bring while lightening the load in your loafers. The crossover vehicles will make stops at nine locations running north on Main Street, west on 12th Street, south on Walnut Street and east on Fifth Street.
The rides are free for everyone with a one- or three-day MidPoint wristband and will run 7-11 p.m. Thursday and 8 p.m.-12 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
City officials currently are gathering financing for the streetcar line that would connect the riverfront, the central business district, Over-the-Rhine and Uptown areas around the University of Cincinnati. MidPoint organizers are pleased to be able to showcase how a small portion of the line could improve access to downtown’s nightlife and entertainment attractions.
“Every year MidPoint brings a lot of energy, excitement and great music to downtown Cincinnati, and the Scions are an excellent addition to MidPoint’s great lineup,” Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory says. “Strong systems of public transportation are critical to continuing our progress downtown. The Scions are going to help people get around quicker and ultimately hear more bands.”
“And this is just a tiny part of the planned streetcar route,” says John Schneider, a longtime downtown resident and streetcar champion. “When it’s extended from southeast to northwest across the breadth of downtown and Over-the-Rhine, hardly any destination will be more than a three-block walk from the streetcar.”
Source CityBeat
