Interview Themes: Misinformation

Up to this point, our TransForum team has conducted (at the very least) 25 one-to-one interviews with Cincinnatians from all over the metro area. Over the course of these interviews, topics such as regional transit, public transit, and revitalization issues were touched upon.

Since our interviewees, or respondents, were approached completely at random, we feel as if this microcosm provides us with an interesting perspective into the lives of Cincinnatians in relationship to public transit.The wide range of interviewees helped us notice a few trends among the greater population; we will explain those trends within the next few posts.

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Misinformation

At no fault to the citizens themselves, it seems like there is a collective disarray in terms of current information about the streetcar initiative. During our conversations, multiple people brought up issues which have been either debunked or addressed already. Due to the ever changing nature of the public transit debate, it’s only natural for misinformation to be abound.

As we press forward, we should keep in mind that a majority of the public is still confused about the proposed streetcar line. There have been many proposals that have been brought up or spoken about; we need to help clear the air.

The initial funding and upkeep of the streetcar is also another contentious issue. People are misinformed about where the money for the Streetcar is coming from, how much exactly, and when it is being collected.

Funding is as important an issue as the economic benefits of the streetcar itself. We had many residents complain about whether or not their hometowns/neighborhoods would be positively/negatively affected by the SC, or even be affected at all, in the case of our Rural respondents.

Lastly, another issue that we’ve witnessed is the lack of a connection between the Streetcar and the holistic revitalization efforts being played out around Cincinnati. By boiling down such a massively complex idea like revitalization down to a single issue, the streetcar, we’re doing a disservice to the community. We need to spell out for our neighbors exactly how the streetcar will play into an uplifting of the entire Cincinnati-area.