Commemorative fare card sales fetch $50K for streetcar

Commemorative Cincinnati streetcar fare-card sales generated an additional $8,000 in a matter of days, bringing the grand total of fare-card revenue to $50,000 since the metal cards went on sale last week.

The supply of cards continues to dwindle. Of the 1,500 cards produced, at least 1,114 have been sold.

The monochromatic, metallic cards have the new logo engraved in them and are designed as a collector's item. The cards, which also come with a padded carrying case, were sold at three separate price points, and will be good for unlimited rides when the streetcar becomes operational in 2016.

All 750 of the $25 fare cards good for 15 days of unlimited riding are sold out. There were about 113 of those cards remaining on Friday, according to Go-Metro.com.

Limited quantities of the $50/30-day unlimited ride cards and the $100/60-day unlimited ride cards remain. As of Friday, 197 of the $50 cards remained and 189 of the $100 cards remained.

Total sales were projected to generate up to $73,750 to help cover streetcar operating costs for the first year. The $50,000 of revenue generated so far could come in handy as the project's contingency fund of$9.7 million is down to only$80,443.

The cards can be purchased at the City of Cincinnati's second-floor cashier's office and Metro's sales office across from Government Square. Metro has pulled the online card-purchasing option, according to a Thursday news release.