History of Hamilton Public Transit
Compiled by Jim Blount
Public transit in Hamilton started in 1875 with horse-drawn streetcars that later yielded to electric-powered streetcars and gasoline-fueled buses. After nearly 121 years, public transit halted Friday, March 1, 1996, in Hamilton. Only limited service has been available since that date.
The city had about 13,000 inhabitants in 1875 when the Hamilton Street Railway Company was formed. Stock sales raised $11,000 in capital. Most of the shareholders were Hamilton merchants, who believed the cars would boost their businesses.
Mark C. McMakin was its president; James Rossman, vice president; Dr. Samuel L. Beeler, secretary; Joseph Curtis, treasurer; and Robert Harper, Louis Sohngen and Jacob Shaffer were directors when Hamilton City Council granted the company right-of-way July 5, 1875.
On the east side, the line started at the depot of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad at South Fifth and Henry streets. It went to South Fourth and Ludlow, then west one block on Ludlow and north on South Third Street to High Street. The route continued west on High Street and Main Street to D Street, then south to Ross Avenue, its western terminus.
Laying of the three-foot narrow-gauge track began in August 1875. Service started in late September or early October.
In February 1876 the company ran three one-horse cars, and sometimes four, over the route at intervals of eight to 10 minutes.
Hamilton and Middletown were among more than 300 towns with horse railways when that transportation form peaked in the mid 1880s.
In 1879, C. F. Gunckel had started the Middletown & Madison Street Railway Company. The 1.25-mile line ran between the depot of the Short Line Railroad in Middletown and the Madison (West Middletown) station of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad.
Despite initial euphoria, the Hamilton horse railway had problems and operated at a loss for most of its 14 years.
Snow often stopped service because the horses couldn't get enough traction to pull the cars. A periodic problem was illness among the animals. Another obstacle was opposition to expansion of the line by some nearby property owners.
In April 1889, the company was sold to owners who planned to build "a cable railway and do away with the bobtail car," a newspaper reported.
Electric-powered streetcars rolled along Hamilton streets on three routes for the first time Dec. 30, 1890. Service continued under several owners for more than 42 years.
In its last years, the street railway franchise was owned by the Cincinnati & Lake Erie Railway Company, which also ran interurban lines in Ohio.
The last streetcar -- operated by motorman Conrad Mainous -- completed its run from the west end of Millville Avenue to the Lindenwald car barn at Pleasant and Williams avenues shortly after midnight Sunday, July 23, 1933. A passenger on that final trip was George J. McGehean, who had operated the first Hamilton electric streetcar in 1890.
The streetcars were replaced the same day, July 23, 1933, by gas-powered buses. They were operated by Hamilton City Lines, a subsidiary of the Cincinnati & Lake Erie interurban company.
Hamilton City Lines had won the bus franchise in an unusual election May 2, 1933. The vote was the result of an initiative petition submitted to Hamilton City Council by another company that sought the rights to operate on city streets.
Hamiltonians voted for or against three transit proposals that day. The first would mandate municipal ownership and operation. The second would grant the bus rights to Hamilton City Lines (HCL). The third would give the franchise to Schisler Transit, which had been operating for about 13 years without a franchise authorized by city council.
Only the HCL plan received a favorable vote. The margin was 333 votes (4,759 for and 4,426 against).
In 1933, Hamiltonians viewed the switch from streetcars to gasoline-powered buses as progress for several reasons. The rubber-tired buses were considered safer, quieter and more comfortable than the steel-wheeled streetcars that clanked over steel rails.
Passengers often complained of bumpy rides on the streetcars, a condition caused when wheels developed flat spots from frequent braking. Passengers had to board and leave streetcars in the middle of the street. Buses provided curbside service.
With buses, routes could be extended or altered in an instant. Changes in streetcar routes had required laying of new track and erection of overhead wires.
During the first 12 months of operation, a Depression year, the 20-bus fleet averaged 6,700 passengers and traveled about 3,000 miles a day.
Bus ridership rose during the Depression years and boomed during World War II when government restrictions discouraged the use of private cars. By the middle of the war in 1943, Hamilton City Lines, operating seven days a week, averaged 28,900 riders daily.
That average started a steady decline after the war as more and more local riders switched to cars. Butler County registrations increased from 34,000 vehicles in 1941 at the start of World War II to 53,887 in 1950 during the Korean War, to 89,600 in 1970 during the Vietnam War.
In 1952, its 20th year, Hamilton City Lines employed 84 people, including 67 drivers, and operated 47 buses that covered 4,100 miles and served more than 16,600 passengers daily -- a 42 percent ridership loss since the World War II peak.
To cut losses, Sunday bus service ended Oct. 2, 1960. The Hamilton Transit Company said it had been unable to realize a profit, which was part of its cost-of-service contract with the city.
That agreement entitled HTC to a profit equal to 5 percent of gross revenues. It hadn't collected its full share since acquiring the franchise from HCL in 1954.
In June 1965, with ridership and revenues continuing to fall, the owner announced cuts in service and employment. That prompted a 36-day strike by protesting drivers. When it ended, the city agreed to subsidize the bus firm.
In 1965 it was called a lease-management agreement, not a subsidy. The city leased the company's equipment for $10,800 a year, and then leased it back to the operator for $1 a year. Under the pact, the company could not realize a profit of more than 3 percent of gross income.
At the end of 1966, the company paid the city $6,257, plus $1 for the lease. That meant city taxpayers put only $4,542 into the system that first year.
By 1972, the city's annual cash infusion had increased to $26,400. That figure didn't include city payments on 1968 bonds that helped purchase 15 new buses for the company. In 1967, there had been problems because 18 of 37 buses were 1950 models or older.
More changes came in the 1970s. During the 1971-72 school year, city buses hauled an average of 2,452 students to and from Hamilton schools each day. That revenue, at 13.5 to 20 cents a ride, was lost in September 1972 when the school system started operating its own fleet.
In 1975, with federal assistance, the city took over full ownership of the city bus operation and renamed it The Bus Company. A private transit management company was hired to run the service.
Over the final decades, other changes, refinements and promotions failed to lure more riders. A major innovation was the point deviation service introduced in 1991. It enabled riders to call the company a day in advance for door-to-door service within the city.
In the end, nothing offset the negative impact of rising fares and service reductions. A system that once ran 19 to 20 hours daily seven days a week became a 12-hour operation five days a week. Routes extending into neighboring communities also were eliminated. Daily ridership dipped below 1,500 in the mid 1980s, and to less than 450 in 1995.
In its final year, fares provided only about $80,000. The city subsidy approached $400,000, federal funding provided more than $550,000 and state grants about $150,000 In 1994, an Ohio Supreme Court decision affirmed a lower court decision that Bus Company workers were city employees. As such, they were entitled to retirement benefits. It was a costly edict for the city, which had to make retirement payments for previous years.
In November 1995, voters in Hamilton rejected a 2.4-mill property tax levy that would have raised about $1.5 million a year to support the bus system.
Passage would have brought several changes: (a) reducing fares from $1 to 25 cents; (b) a free cross-town shuttle route between shopping areas and other high-traffic sites; and (c) possible resumption of Saturday service. If approved, it would have cost the owner of a $100,000 house an additional $73.50 in annual property tax.
Defeat of the levy sealed the fate of the public service, whose cost to city taxpayers had rocketed from $4,542 in 1966 to nearly $400,000 in 1995 -- an increase of more than 770 percent in 30 years.
Hamilton City Council voted Feb. 14, 1996, to end the city-owned service the afternoon of Friday, March 1.
Monday morning, March 4, 1996, vans operated by Universal Transportation Systems replaced buses on Hamilton streets. Since 1996, there have been periodic attempts to revive some form of subsidized public transit, but service has been limited and poorly patronized. Some plans included routes connecting Hamilton, Fairfield, Middletown, Oxford and other parts of Butler County. Voters have rejected additional levies that would have provided upgraded service.
Hamilton-Cincinnati bus service started in December 1921 "A new mode of travel between Cincinnati and Hamilton" started Monday morning, Dec. 12, 1921, when Jonathan H. Henry inaugurated bus service over Dixie Highway and Reading Road.
The bus supplemented steam-driven passenger trains and electric-powered interurbans in transporting people between the two cities in 1921. Earlier, the trip could have been via stagecoach and canalboat.
Although the hour-and-a-half bus trip was slower than the one-hour schedules of its rail competitors, Henry often had more riders than he could handle. He started with just one bus, but had two more Duplex Limiteds ordered.
Henry's first schedule included Hamilton departures at 7:30 and 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and return trips starting from Cincinnati at 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. The one-way fare was 45 cents.
The service operated without terminals or stations for several years. Runs from Hamilton originated from the southwest corner of High and Front streets (37 High Street), and ended in an alley beside the Mabley & Carew Department Store in downtown Cincinnati.
Henry owned and operated the family company with assistance from his wife and daughter, according to a later report. He maintained a garage at 2531 Dixie Highway, near his residence.
"The bus attracted quite a lot of attention in Hamilton Friday morning when it made its first appearance," a Dec. 9, 1921, newspaper account noted in previewing the "new mode of travel." The writer said the bus "is complete in every detail, accommodating 23 persons" in cane seats with wood floors. "It resembles a new streetcar of the latest type, only it is built on a Duplex chassis." The article said "the Duplex truck being used holds several endurance records and is claimed to be especially adapted to this use." "In those days, it was a hard tug up Reading Road," recalled Charles Stroup, who drove a bus over the route. "The paving was not as smooth as today, and the coach shook and swayed a great deal more than our modern buses," Stroup said in a 1931 interview.
Later, Henry's operation became the Cincinnati-Hamilton Bus Company with larger buses and a more frequent schedule.
Between 1921 and 1925, several other companies operated buses to and from Hamilton.
Another Cincinnati-Hamilton route was added over Pleasant Avenue and Hamilton Avenue (U. S. 127). A Hamilton-Oxford company was opened by John Zeipfel; William Shartle started a Hamilton-Middletown route; and Walter L. Furrey initiated Hamilton-Eaton service.
Several small operations were acquired and consolidated in the 1925-1931 period by the Ohio Bus Lines Company, the major bus company in the area until its bankruptcy in 1971. Henry sold his assets and rights to the Ohio Bus Lines for $225,000 in 1931.
In November 1931 -- nearly 10 years after Henry started with one bus and three daily round trips -- Ohio Bus Lines advertised 78 coaches arriving each day in Hamilton. "More passengers enter and leave Hamilton daily on Ohio Bus Lines than on any other transport service," the company boasted.
It operated buses seating 21, 29 or 40 passengers over two routes to Cincinnati and service to Oxford, Middletown, Eaton and Richmond.
Ohio Bus Lines offered "through tickets sold to any point in the United States, and to many points in Canada and Mexico." The company also provided package delivery, including express service.
In addition, Greyhound Lines served Hamilton with several daily buses. In 1931, its excursion fares from Hamilton to distant points included Indianapolis $3.25; Louisville $4; Chicago $7.25; St. Louis $8.25; Boston $19.55; and Los Angeles and San Francisco $43.95.
The bus boom, city leaders believed, demanded something better than curbside loading and unloading. Their dream became reality in 1931.
Hamilton's new bus terminal opened in 1931 "It has both dignity and color," a reporter said of the new Hamilton Union Terminal in 1931. "Indiana limestone embellished with blue Rookwood tile inserts and decorative aluminum strips, along with a pleasing graceful design gives the exterior that beauty which characterizes all of today's most advanced commercial units," he said in describing the bus station at 40 High Street.
Earlier in the year, a city survey reported 200 inter-city buses passing through Hamilton daily. They were served by a make-shift store-front station at the southwest corner of Front and High streets which required buses to park and double-park on the street.
Within six months, that inadequate facility was replaced by the $25,000 terminal dedicated Saturday afternoon, Nov. 21, 1931.
In May 1931, the Ohio Bus Lines Company had bought the site of the former Anderson Furniture Store from John A. Schwalm, who also owned the adjacent Rialto Theater at the northwest corner of Front and High streets.
The terminal was designed by Hamilton architects, Frederick G. Mueller and Walter R. Hair. The F. K. Vaughn Building Company of Hamilton started construction started Aug. 10. Buses began using the terminal at 6:30 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 22, 1931.
"The building proper is 31 feet wide and 62 feet deep," a newspaper reported in 1931. "A driveway 20 feet wide extends along its west side the full depth of the block (200 feet) from High Street to Market." "Its main entrance from High Street leads directly into the waiting room which occupies the full width and height of the structure and 38 feet of its depth," the report said. "It has been made especially attractive with marble terrazzo floors and ornamental plaster walls and ceiling. Here are found the ticket office, telephone booths, newsstand, baggage and check room, and lunch and refreshment facilities. From the west side of this waiting room an exit leads to the bus platform.
"On the north side is the main stair which affords access to the drivers' club room and men's restroom on the ground floor, and the offices and women's lounge on the mezzanine floor.
"A pleasant, comfortable restroom and lounge for women occupies half of the mezzanine floor, while the balance is devoted to executive offices. Another feature of this floor is a balcony which overlooks the main waiting room," the newspaper said.
Hamilton wasn't the only city with a new bus station. In 1930, $10 million was spent to build new bus terminals in U. S. cities.
That year there were 32,150 inter-city buses and 13,348 city buses in operation, a total of 45,498 vehicles. Companies had added 4,697 buses to their fleets in that early Depression year.
When opened in 1931, Ohio Bus Lines Company operated 78 buses daily through its new Hamilton terminal. Most of its fleet was 525-horsepower General Motors coaches seating from 21 to 40 passengers. Other companies also used the terminal.
The High Street building served as a bus terminal for 40 years. Later, it housed a dry cleaner and law offices until acquired by the City of Hamilton for office use.
The previous bus ticket office across High Street had been "everything from a church to a saloon," according to a 1931 report.
"The old building is known to have been in existence as early as 1846. The second story housed the Universalist Church. The large hall in which the congregation worshipped subsequently became an armory, dance hall and a billiard hall," the article said. "The lower floor has been occupied by the United States post office, a jeweler, a billiard hall and a saloon." "When touring cars and buses first began running from Hamilton to the neighboring cities, this corner became their starting point and in time the ground floor was remodeled into a waiting room and station," the article said of the structure at the southwest corner of Front and High streets, now the site of a church parking lot.