BY KAREN SAMPLES
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Forget about the aquarium, the new convention center, the neat-o 3D theater coming soon to Newport. Turns out we've already bested Cincinnati in two key areas: cigarettes and booze.
This I learned while riding one of those cute little blue buses around town. The cigarette tip came from Allen Estes, 21. He and his wife, Brenda, hopped on the Southbank Shuttle in order to pick up some cheap smokes. Thanks to Kentucky's miniscule cigarette tax -- second-lowest in the country -- they saved $5 on a carton of Waves. That's not to mention the extra buck it would have cost to ride a regular TANK bus.
"These come around a whole lot faster," Mr. Estes said, "and it's less crowded."
Hmm. Cincinnatians in search of cigarettes were perhaps not what Southbank Partners had in mind. Didn't the organization intend for tourists to ride these shuttles, which would tie together attractions in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky?
Of course, we've got a lot to show off these days: the empty space where the aquarium's going to be, that gorgeous parking garage under construction in Covington. Please pardon our dust.
Southbank Executive Director Wally Pagan acknowledges the shuttle runs began a year or so early. Considering all the projects still under construction, the ridership numbers are amazing, he says.
During one week at the end of July, 7,500 people rode the 20-seat buses. Some 30,000 have hopped on since the service began in May. These included folks trying to avoid traffic problems during events like the Coors Light Jazz Festival, Mr. Pagan says.
"It was really intended to do the things that it's doing, but we never expected it would do this well this quickly," he says. And if some riders are only making runs to cheap convenience stores?
No problem, says Mr. Pagan, whose organization markets the riverfronts of Covington, Newport and Bellevue.
"Anytime we can keep cars off the road, we have a second benefit, and that's the pollution aspect," he says.
The blue buses come by every 20 minutes on a loop through Bellevue, Newport, Covington and downtown Cincinnati. They stop at points of interest like Fountain Square and MainStrasse Village. Local hotels and restaurants inform people of the service -- which costs just 25 cents -- and it has proven so popular that businesses are clamoring to be added to the route.
The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky runs the buses and subsidizes the cost, while Southbank Partners handles promotion.
For the record, I did meet some tourists on the shuttle. From my unofficial survey, which consisted of staring at people and eavesdropping on their conversations, I estimate about half the riders were from out of town.
This was obvious with one group, which kept substituting ah for ar. A park became pahk, for instance, and curry became cahrry. This group also appeared fascinated by the notion of a restaurant called Hooters.
As our shuttle passed the esteemed establishment on Newport's riverfront, someone called out, "OK, now, anyone that's interested, Hooters is taking applications!"
Everyone else cracked up.
Turns out the group of seven -- from Massachusetts, of course -- was in Cincinnati for a Knights of Columbus convention. During breaks, they were taking the shuttle into Northern Kentucky.
"There's a few thousand of us across the river, but we like this side better," said Sonia Dobson as we alighted in MainStrasse Village.
"It's more quaint," said one of her companions, Lorraine Steele.
Now for that liquor-store tip.
Sonia's husband, Dave Dobson, says there aren't as many places to buy booze in Cincinnati. This is because Ohio controls liquor sales more tightly than Kentucky.
Mr. Dobson is no drunkard, of course, but he did need to stock a hospitality room at the group's hotel. So he hopped on the Southbank Shuttle and soon arrived at a liquor store in Covington.
Turns out the place didn't have any black sambuca on hand, but a helpful clerk immediately arranged to get some from another store. Now that's hospitality.
Karen Samples is The Enquirer's Kentucky columnist. Her column appears on Sundays and Thursdays in The Kentucky Enquirer. She can be reached at 578-5584 or email
her at ksamples@enquirer.com
SAMPLES ARCHIVE