Currently, if you want to take the bus between the Convention Center and the Airport, you’ve got to hop on the south-bound #2 line to head east on Main Street and transfer to the #92 to head north on James/Stelzer Road. If that doesn’t already sound like a little bit of a hassle, then you should also note that both of these bus lines are local service, which means that they stop every couple of blocks, stretching the trip into nearly an hour-long adventure. The Central Ohio Transit Authority wants to fix that sometime next year with the introduction of a new express-style service.
MORPC Executive Director William Murdock stated yesterday at a Port Columbus development meeting that COTA was working on a new bus line, and Lisa Myers, Public and Media Relations Manager at COTA confirmed it with more details.
“There is direct service from Downtown to the Airport in our Transit System Review plan,” she stated. “We’re phasing the TSR in with each service change, and the Airport line is slated for sometime in 2016.”
She said that the exact route the bus would take has not finalized, but says that it would service Downtown hotels and the Convention Center before heading to Port Columbus, likely on Interstate 670 without any neighborhood stops in between. The frequency of service has not yet been determined, but Myers said that it would run regular hours with a possibility for additional frequency during special events like The Arnold Sports Festival.
“I can’t speak to specifics on how it would operate, but that’s something we’ve done with the CBUS, running it later during events like Highball Halloween,” she stated. “That’s something we’re seeing ourselves do more of, so it’s always a possibility.”
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