All posts in the topic Park and Ride Network (Short link)
Summary
- There are 5 posts — by 3 authors — in this topic.
- Latest post made by Joshua Wiener at Jul 12 05:22 UTC
Building from the discussion earlier this week about regional transportation,
I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts about COTA's park and ride system in
Columbus. Given that COTA is the primary provider of public transportation in
the area at the present time, the park and ride system seems like a good method
to bring people from outside of Columbus into the city for work, pleasure,
etc...
Is the system effective? Since I live within the city limits I have not yet
had the opportunity to try the park and ride network, but I'm very curious to
hear your opinions about it and to learn more about its success in Central
Ohio. I've moved to Seattle for the summer for a job, and I've been extremely
impressed with the bus network and the park and ride system here. The buses
are prompt and reliable, and by offering express buses to downtown from the
nearby park and ride my commute on the bus takes no longer than if I were to
drive to work in my personal vehicle (plus there are the additional benefits of
not having to pay for parking and gas).
What sort of experiences have you had or heard about with the park and ride
system in the Columbus area? Do people take advantage of the system in Central
Ohio? Any ideas for ways that it can be improved?
Thanks!
Best,
Josh Wiener
All, In a conversation I had with Bill Lhota a couple of weeks ago, he told me that their park and ride lots are full or nearing capacity. Ridership on the Express routes into downtown have seen a most dramatic increase in ridership and he is getting calls everyday for increased service. The good news is that ridership is up, the bad news is that ridership is up. With the rising cost of diesel fuel, more of their budget is going toward fueling their buses than ever before. Transit agencies are not immune to the rising costs of fuel and a declining tax base. Ideas for improvement would be to turn COTA into a true Central Ohio Transit Authority by extending service along fixed, grade separated guide ways. Buses are wonderful, but they are limited in moving in mixed traffic, stop lights, frequent stops, etc. Light rail and added capacity to existing freight lines for commuter/heavy rail would form the basis for connectivity into counties and communities outside of Franklin County. Andrew Bremer On Fri, Jul 11, 2008 at 1:57 AM, Joshua Wiener <wiener.19@osu.edu> wrote: > Building from the discussion earlier this week about regional transportation, I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts about COTA's park and ride system in Columbus. Given that COTA is the primary provider of public transportation in the area at the present time, the park and ride system seems like a good method to bring people from outside of Columbus into the city for work, pleasure, etc... > > Is the system effective? Since I live within the city limits I have not yet had the opportunity to try the park and ride network, but I'm very curious to hear your opinions about it and to learn more about its success in Central Ohio. I've moved to Seattle for the summer for a job, and I've been extremely impressed with the bus network and the park and ride system here. The buses are prompt and reliable, and by offering express buses to downtown from the nearby park and ride my commute on the bus takes no longer than if I were to drive to work in my personal vehicle (plus there are the additional benefits of not having to pay for parking and gas). > > What sort of experiences have you had or heard about with the park and ride system in the Columbus area? Do people take advantage of the system in Central Ohio? Any ideas for ways that it can be improved? > > Thanks! > > Best, > Josh Wiener > > > Joshua Wiener > Columbus > Info about Joshua Wiener: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/7RLT8BjR8IDYMobo479RI > > This topic's messages may be viewed at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/5qPQZxBIg4lC6P4psDWt7C
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!
I agree-creating light rail in Central Ohio would be lovely! Also as the
Experience Columbus! Efforts push to increase Columbus as a national
destination for conferences and things-a rail from the airport to downtown
is desperately needed.
Thank you Andrew and Nick for giving your insight into COTA and the park and
ride system. I'm glad to hear that ridership is increasing, and I hope that
the system is able to accommodate the growing number of riders in order to
ensure that expansion can continue. We all seem to agree that the region
benefits from a strong public transportation network, and it's nice to know
that people are utilizing the system we currently have in place.
Out of curiosity, does anyone have information about the number of people who
commute into Columbus for work from more than 20 miles away? I'm trying to
figure out the size of the long distance commuting population in the area. I'm
curious if these people benefit much from the park and rides, or if the park
and rides are used more by the people living closest to the sites. Either way
it's great that people are taking advantage of this opportunity, and I would
love to be able to learn more about who has become the primary users of the
park and rides in central Ohio.
Thanks,
Josh Wiener