The transit system serving the Cincinnati metropolitan area was decades out of date when then-Mayor John Cranley began leading a coalition to place a measure on the ballot to increase funding to the Southwestern Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). A measure was crafted and set to appear on the ballot in 2018 when Mayor Cranely engaged with Accelerator, and it became apparent that the initiative as structured was likely to fail. With public opinion and policy research support from Accelerator, the measure was retooled into Issue 7, a 0.8% sales tax that would repeal and replace an existing 0.3% earnings tax that inadequately funded SORTA.

Issue 7 was set for the March 17, 2020 ballot, with voting-by-mail extended through April 28 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It passed with 50.36% of the vote (67,698 - 66,718) and is projected to raise $3.25 billion over its 25-year life span.

With improved funding, Cincinnati is bringing to life its Reinventing Metro plan, offering the region bold, new transit innovations that will help grow the regional economy and better connect the community to jobs, education, health care, and entertainment. New transit centers and park & ride locations, more new buses with free Wi-Fi, charging ports, and other amenities, more suburban job connectivity with new demand-response service, and Bus Rapid Transit corridors offering faster travel are all coming online for Cincinnati.