How many more “Pain at the Pump” stories can we bear?
Yes, we all know the price of gas is high, and probably going higher. Yes, we all know ethanol is driving up the prices at the grocery store. Is any of this really newsworthy anymore? Ever wonder how many times the same story can be recycled?
Well kudos to Dispatch reporter Tim Doulin for doing more than clicking on columbusgasprices.com and moving on to talk about solutions.
Save on gas: Park your car
Many people turn to COTA, ride sharing
Thursday, March 13, 2008
By Tim Doulin
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCHWith gas prices heading toward $4 a gallon, some commuters are looking at alternatives to their gas-powered cars and trucks, and more are turning toward public transportation.COTA ridership is up 3 percent during the past 12 months. In January, the bus company provided 1.29 million rides, up 4.7 percent compared with January 2007.
“We are seeing increases, and I am confident we are going to continue to see increases as gas prices go up,” said William Lhota, president and chief executive officer of the Central Ohio Transit Authority.
Americans took 10.3 billion trips on public transportation in 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association. That is the highest number in 50 years and a 2.1 percent increase over 2006.
However, most of the increase was on light rail, commuter rail and subways.
COTA’s pursuit of a light-rail system was shelved a couple of years ago.
“Central Ohio has indicated that light rail is not something that is viable right now,” Lhota said. “But as gas prices go up, in my opinion, eventually central Ohio will have to look at options other than a bus.”
Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman wants the city to look into a streetcar system that could run between Downtown and the Ohio State University area. The big consideration is how to finance it, but the mayor is expected to make a recommendation soon on whether to move forward.
I wonder if the ridership increases are enough to offset the higher fuel costs for COTA.
Regardless, I still say COTA could increase ridership and decrease fuel costs by having fewer stops. I think a lot more people would ride a limited-stop service (one stop per half mile or so) that is more time-competitive with the car. I’d love to hear if I’m wrong though. Would you be willing to walk a little farther to a bus stop if it meant faster trips?
Reminder, there is a COTA Park and Ride Google Map to help you ditch your car.
I wouldn’t be willing to do that John, but I live in one of the densest parts of the city. I think that may work for suburban areas that only have a few residences within walking distance, or no sidewalks. I think those folks tend to use the park and rides more.
Since I live in a pretty tight radius, I tend to use COTA to replace medium-long walks (1-2 miles) in bad weather. If there wasn’t a stop within 2-3 blocks of my house, I wouldn’t take the bus.
I actually think that a limited-stop system would be most advantageous in the dense parts of the city. Even though there is a bus stop on every block in the low density parts of the suburbs, there is rarely someone waiting to board or ringing the bell to alight, so it doesn’t slow down the service that much. On North High Street though, there are often passengers at every stop, every 1/8 mile. It bugs me to stop that often, and I know it bugs a lot of my friends in Chicago (which has the same problem), but maybe we’re alone in that respect.
Maybe the best answer is to have two routes on one street; a local route making all stops and an express “X” route making fewer stops. Of course, it needs to be a pretty heavily traveled street to support two bus routes with reasonable headways.
I think the distance between “local” bus stops is fine as it stands, especially for the #2, #3 and the #5. It bugs me a lot more that COTA insists on circuituous routes that meander around every two-bit neighborhood in order to better “serve” clientele. The #18 (Kenny Rd.) has been rendered all but useless this way; a straight shot across Bethel Rd. would probably shave 10 minutes off the total trip; another 10 would be saved by avoiding that ridiculous bounce between Tuttle Mall and Nationwide in Dublin (twice!!). I don’t mind walking a few blocks - I just don’t want to wait at a bus stop for an interminable period or meander around back neighborhoods once I do get on the bus. The #7 (Neil Ave.) is even worse - and I swear you can walk in a straight line faster to get from Dodridge and Neil to Buttles than the #7 can go, what with it’s weird Brownian motion around the OSU medical complex.
I agree completely William. I think they should shift to a trunk and feeder system that focuses on frequent straight routes along Neil, High, Cleveland/Parsons, Livingston, and Broad. The perpendicular feeder routes can come at slightly lower frequency.
It requires that some people transfer a bit more, but creates an easier to understand system, and that should really boost ridership. I’d LOVE to be able to walk out to High St. and know that I’ll wait an average of 5 minutes for a bus (10 minute headways). It takes the guesswork/research out of riding the bus.