Metro News

It’s the most wonderful time of the year to go Metro! Throughout the month of December, Metro has multiple promotions and giveaways planned to make your holiday season merry and bright.

CINCINNATI – It’s the most wonderful time of the year to go Metro! Throughout the month of December, Metro has multiple promotions and giveaways planned to make your holiday season merry and bright.

Shop Small, Go Metro
On the heels of “Shop Small Saturday,” Metro this week kicks off its “Shop Small, Go Metro” holiday promotion. Between Monday, Nov. 28 and Sunday, Dec. 25, we’re thrilled to be partnering each week with a different neighborhood business district – all conveniently accessible by Metro – to showcase all the fantastic products, gifts and services these locally owned shops and storefronts have to offer.

Throughout each week, Metro customers can redeem different “perks” at participating businesses by showing their Metro bus pass. Each Saturday, we’ll raffle off a holiday prize-pack to our social media followers, as well, filled with goodies provided by our partners.

To find out where you can redeem your Metro holiday perks – while supporting small, local business in the process – find Metro on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to learn more and to enter the weekly prize-pack giveaways.

Look for the ‘Merry, Merry Metro Bus’
Metro’s holiday buses will make a joyous return this year when the “Merry, Merry Metro Buses” hit the streets.

From Saturday, Dec. 10 through Sunday, Dec. 25, two buses will circulate through Metro’s fixed routes with their cabins decked out in holiday cheer. If one of these buses arrives on your route, that trip’s on us! Tag us in a photo riding the Merry, Merry Metro Bus, and we’ll send you an extra holiday surprise.

‘Stuff the Bus’ w/ Radio One & Kroger
We’re thrilled this year to be partnering with Radio One and Kroger to collect new toys and non-perishable food items to benefit Community Action Agency’s Head Start Program and Food Pantry. We’ll be staged on three consecutive Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at these Kroger locations:

– Dec. 3: Colerain Township, 3636 Springdale Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45251
– Dec. 10: Newport Pavilion, 130 Pavilion Way, Newport, KY 41071
– Dec. 17: Anderson Towne Center, 7580 Beechmont Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45255

The public is also invited to bring new toys and/or non-perishable food items to Metro’s Northside or Oakley transit centers on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., where Metro staff will be stuffing Access paratransit buses. Donated items will benefit Hamilton County Job & Family Services.

The Northside Transit Center is located between Blue Rock Road, Hamilton Avenue and Spring Grove Avenue in the neighborhood business district. The Oakley Transit Center is located on Isben Avenue between Marburg Avenue and Calvert Street at Oakley Station.

More Local Service, Weekend/Evening Hours
Upcoming improvements to Metro’s service will make Metro an even more convenient option for hitting the holiday scene this year.

Next week, Metro will launch Phase 2 of the five-phase Reinventing Metro plan, an innovative reimagining of public transit in Hamilton County, adopted by voters in 2020. Effective Sunday, Dec. 4, Metro will implement numerous major service improvements throughout its fixed-route network, including two new routes, new 24-hour and local service in three additional neighborhoods and simpler routing options than ever before.

These improvements build upon the increases in late-night and weekend service Metro introduced earlier this year. Learn more about the upcoming service updates at http://www.go-metro.com/mapsandschedules.

Plan Your Holiday Outings
Plan. Pay. Track. Download the Transit app to plan your trip, pay your fare and track your bus in real-time from the convenience of your smart phone. Sign up for Cincy EZAlerts for detour and service alerts tailored specifically to the routes you ride.

Click or tap here for complete schedule and fare information.

Printed schedules may be picked up at the Metro Sales Office, located downtown in the Mercantile Building, at 120 E. Fourth St., across from Government Square. The Sales Office is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For additional information, call Metro’s Customer Care Center at 513-632-7575, open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.