Post in Park and Ride Network

Jul 11 14:12 UTC

My experience with COTA is that the buses are within 5-8 minutes of their
scheduled times.  I live on the west side near broad street so I walk up to
the corner to catch the bus, but their is the park and ride about a half
mile West (away from downtown).  I have noticed that more people are parking
their and taking the bus (yippee!) than a year ago.  However, I can drive to
work in about 10 minutes (I work a block from the statehouse), but it takes
me about 25-30 minutes on the bus.  I grew up in Cleveland, and have driven
in rush hours of Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dayton,
Indianapolis and other places and Columbus does not have bad traffic near
downtown.  (around 270 is a different story-but still not that bad).
I think people will start to use the public transportation system more if
1. It saves both time and money (or an extreme of one or the other).
2. The stress of driving becomes to much.  If parking lots begin to
disappear downtown and people have to fight for parking I think that would
help.
3. Park and Ride locations have to be close. I do not think people will
drive 10 minutes to park and then another 20-30 on the bus.  (plus 5 minutes
of waiting and then a longer walk once downtown).

I love the bus because I recognize that the fewer cars on the roads the
better, and I hope others recognize the gift of public transportation!