The COTA Board of Trustees today approved plans for a free Downtown circulator bus. Starting May 5th, riders will be able to board one of the specially-branded buses and ride for free on a route that stretches from East 3rd Avenue in the Short North to West Sycamore Street in the Brewery District.
The free price is set through the end of the year at least, when COTA will re-evaluate and determine if there’s a need to start charging for the service. COTA has expressed interest in seeking business sponsors to cover some of the cost of the line’s operation.
Josh Lapp of local advocacy group Transit Columbus applauded the news;
“The Downtown Circulator service will be a great opportunity to both introduce new riders to transit and enhance connectivity between our Downtown neighborhoods,” he said. “The service will be of great use to residents, employees, and visitors alike and will help to mitigate parking woes in the Short North. We hope this is another step towards putting Columbus on the path of more fast, frequent and fixed services.”
Marty Stutz of COTA said that the branding and color scheme of the buses will be introduced closer to the launch of the service, although a name has been selected – “CBUS”.
Buses along the route will run every 10 minutes during the day Monday through Thursday, and every 15 minutes in the evenings (from 7pm to 9pm). On Fridays and Saturdays, service would continue until midnight and on Sundays buses would run every 15 minutes from 10:30am to 6pm.
For more updates and discussion of the Downtown Circulator, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.
Full Map Provided by COTA: