CINCINATTI — The cost of pausing the city’s streetcar project for nearly three weeks in 2013 could exceed $2 million, depending on whether or not a deal could be struck with the project’s consultant on the manufacturing of the vehicles, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.

The city’s streetcar team said it is negotiating an overrun payment to its consultant, with the vehicles being delayed six months from the original schedule. The team’s conservative estimate is that the consultant could have to be paid $1 million, but it is continuing to negotiate that amount. The $1 million is in addition to the $1 million the City of Cincinnati has already spent because of the City Council’s decision to delay the project.

Additionally, the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority has reduced its estimates by $569,000 for both streetcar fare revenue and what it believes it can capture from those who want to advertise on the vehicles.

The original streetcar operations budget guessed that fare revenue would generate $1 million per year, but it is now estimated to generate $675,000 a year, while advertising revenue estimates have now been slashed from $350,000 to $106,000 a year. For the full story, click here.