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    Pilot Program to Provide Free Bus Rides for Short North Workers, Others

    Short North workers can now take advantage of a new pilot program that will allow them to ride the bus for free. And starting in May, the program will expand to include residents and visitors to the neighborhood as well.

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    The program, created by the Short North Alliance and the Central Ohio Transit Authority, is being funded with $50,000 generated from parking meters located within the Short North Parking Benefit District.

    To sign up, employees need to first register for a COTA account via the Transit App, then fill out a short form on COTA’s website. The site also has instructions for downloading the app, and directions for those without access to a smart phone (COTA offers ‘smartcards’).

    When access to the program expands, visitors and residents will be able to go through the same process. COTA staff will approve the registrations within one to two business days, at which point $62 will be loaded onto the individual’s account – that’s the maximum amount riders can pay per month to ride the bus. At the end of the month, any remaining funds will be rolled over, and riders can also register for new funds.

    “Demand will drive how long the pilot may run,” said Betsy Pandora, Executive Director of the Short North Alliance. “We hope to see it last through the spring and summer, depending on participation.”

    The pilot marks the first expansion of the C-Pass program, which COTA and the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District launched in 2018 to provide free bus passes to Downtown workers. That program helped to boost Downtown bus ridership in its first two years, before the pandemic upended bus travel and commuting patterns.

    COTA spokesperson Jeff Pullin said that the Short North C-Pass pilot “will be assessed as we go, but all COTA pilots have a goal of ultimately becoming permanent,” adding that “COTA encourages organizations to invest in pass programs that provide access to the entire COTA system.”

    The Downtown C-Pass program is funded by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and by participating property owners in the Capital Crossroads SID, and is limited to employees who work for a participating employer.

    The Short North Parking Benefit District was established in 2019 after a many years of debate and planning around parking issues in the neighborhood. The benefit district allows revenue from parking meters to stay in the area and be fed back into transit and other mobility improvements – a committee made up of neighborhood leaders and area commissioners makes recommendations about how the money should be spent.

    According to a 2015 survey commissioned as part of the Short North Parking Study, 80 percent of employees in the district drove to work at the time, and nearly half parked within a block of their workplace.

    In other COTA news, the following service changes will go into effect on Monday, May 2:

    • The AirConnect bus route, which travels from the airport to various Downtown hotels, will be restored for a select number of dates this year, timed to correspond with nine major conferences and conventions.
    • The Indianola Morse Park & Ride will permanently close, due to “historically low utilization,” according to COTA.
    • The daily “final line up” of buses Downtown – which now takes place at 10 p.m. but happened around midnight, pre-pandemic – will shift to 11 p.m.
    • The frequency of several rush hour-only lines is being reduced to run just once in the morning and once in the evening.
    • The frequency of the 102 route is being increased, from every hour to every half hour.

    For a complete list of service changes, click here, and for more information on the Short North C-Pass, click here.

    Additional Reading:

    COTA Outlines Plan to Fund Transit Corridors, Other Transportation Upgrades

    LinkUs Leaders on the New Transit Plan & the Case for a Sales Tax Hike to Pay for It

    A graphic showing the dates that the AirConnect bus will run this year – via COTA.
    A map showing the boundary of the parking benefit district – via the City of Columbus.
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    Brent Warren
    Brent Warrenhttps://columbusunderground.com/author/brent-warren
    Brent Warren is a staff reporter for Columbus Underground covering urban development, transportation, city planning, neighborhoods, and other related topics. He grew up in Grandview Heights, lives in the University District and studied City and Regional Planning at OSU.
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