Hey, the Cincinnati Streetcar – sorry, the corporate branded “Cincinnati Bell Connector” – opened today! It’ll run for free over the weekend, with fares to be paid from Monday onwards. This is notable because it really looked like this streetcar would never get off the ground, what with anti-streetcar ballot initiatives, opposition from Ohio’s Governor John Kasich, and a mayor in John Cranley who threatened to cancel the project and literally tear up a section of already-constructed tracks.

But it’s finally here, and this is the system map. It’s so… grey.

I understand that a muted background colour scheme can be desirable to enable the route to stand out, but this just ends up being oppressive and grim. It also calls undue attention to the tangled web of Interstate highways that hem the city in.

Unusually, stop names are numbered on the map and then referenced in a legend. I always find this a little unfriendly, as you have to look back and forth between the two to work out how the names and locations are related.

Points of interest are represented by an uneasy mix of simplified black architectural elevations (popular on many a wayfinding map these days), logos for the Library, Arts Center and CAC, with labelled darker grey footprints for larger buildings. It’s all a little hodge-podge, and some more thought here could have created a really nice unifying element for the map.

Our rating: Not horrendous, but not fantastic either. The legend for stop names is annoying. Two-and-a-half stars. Compare to the super clean, minimalist look adopted by the Kansas City Streetcar.

Source: City of Cincinnati website