Committee advances ordinance making BRT stations no-loitering zones, enforcement limited to future BRT platforms

The Cincinnati Public Safety and Governance Committee on an unspecified date advanced an ordinance to prohibit loitering at future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stations, restricting platform use to boarding, deboarding and short-term fare transactions. Council Member Mark Jeffries introduced the measure and the committee moved the item for passage without a recorded roll-call vote.

The ordinance, Jeffries said, mirrors the existing streetcar platform rules and is intended “to make sure that we are clear that this is about being able to be used exclusively by persons for limited purpose of boarding, deboarding, bus rapid transit vehicles, waiting to board the train, purchasing a fare,” and to protect the investment in BRT infrastructure. John Revazio, chief of staff at Metro, told the committee the rule “would go a long way to help the efficiency of the proposed bus rapid transit system” and emphasized design elements such as dedicated lanes and station shelters that enable level boarding.

Nut graf: Supporters framed the rule as a targeted enforcement tool tied to BRT platform design; several council members and public commenters pushed back or asked for clarification about how enforcement would differ at existing bus shelters and about the potential effects on people experiencing homelessness and on elderly riders.

Committee discussion repeatedly distinguished future BRT stations from today’s bus shelters. Jeffries and other members said enforcement at BRT stations should be simpler because BRT will operate on single lines with predictable arrivals — similar to the streetcar — which makes it easier to tell whether a person is waiting for a vehicle. Jeffries noted legal design considerations: once a sidewalk or sidewalk-level boarding is incorporated into the right-of-way it can complicate enforcement, so adopting the ordinance now is intended to preserve enforceable station boundaries during the design phase.

Several speakers raised concerns about the ordinance’s practical effects. Gerald Checo, a Clifton resident, supported the anti-loitering provision specifically for BRT stations but urged the city to ensure all bus stops are kept clean and safe. A council member asked how the city currently handles people staying at bus shelters and whether enforcement would involve arrest or fines; the committee chair answered that “today, basically nothing” is enforced at existing bus shelters and that the proposed BRT rule would create a misdemeanor that could include up to 30 days’ exposure if applied.

Committee members and public commenters said the ordinance does not change enforcement at existing bus shelters. Jeffries repeatedly clarified that the ordinance “only impacts BRT,” and that addressing loitering at ordinary bus shelters would be legally more complicated and would require a separate conversation with the city law department. Several members expressed concern about elderly riders and people without homes who use shelters as a place to sit or seek shelter from weather; the discussion emphasized that those issues require different policy and operational responses.

The committee moved item number 6, the BRT anti-loitering ordinance, for passage with no objections noted in the transcript. The committee did not record a roll-call vote in the meeting transcript provided to this report.

Ending: Committee members said they will continue work with city law and with transit staff on related shelter policy, and that any broader measures for ordinary bus shelters would be considered separately.