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    New Bus Route takes Center-City Residents to Suburban Jobs

    It’s widely known that Silicon Valley is a hotbed of high-paying tech jobs for Millennials on the West Coast, though not a lot of them want to live in the suburbs of Palo Alto or Mountain View close to where they work. A large portion of that young workforce would rather inhabit the hip neighborhoods of San Francisco trade higher rents for a more vibrant living experience and commute to work on a shuttle bus instead.

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    A similar situation on a smaller scale exists here in Central Ohio at The New Albany Business Park, which has grown rapidly in recent years and now boasts over 12,000 corporate jobs with companies that include Bob Evans, Aetna, Tween Brands, Abercrombie, Discover Financial Services and many others. With an estimated residential population of just under 9,000, it means that New Albany has more jobs than it has people, and young workers are opting for hip rentals in The Short North rather than a subdivision home with a mortgage close to work.

    To address this issue, The City of New Albany is partnering with The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) to launch a new reverse commute express service that will transport workers from Downtown Columbus to the New Albany Business Park. There, the COTA bus route will connect with a new shuttle service provided by The City of New Albany that will loop workers to their final destination throughout the business park area.

    “We sat down a couple of years ago with leadership in New Albany to talk about how COTA could help solve the problem of getting people to their jobs,” said Lisa Knapp, Public and Media Relations Manager at COTA. “They told us that they do have workers that live in The Short North, Downtown and German Village areas who report that they don’t want to have to drive to work. It’s a change in lifestyle choices and we hope that this new service can become a model for other communities in the region.”

    The service will operate as Route 40, and will launch on Tuesday, September 2nd. The total travel time is expected to be 35 to 40 minutes and will travel from the Downtown City Center Garage Station up Cleveland Avenue and Morse Road to stop at the Linden Transit Center and the Easton Transit Center before continuing on State Route 161 to the New Albany Business Park. Route 39 will continue to operate as a traditional commute in the opposite direction, and a new realignment will cut travel time from New Albany to Downtown Columbus by approxmiately 10 to 15 minutes.

    bus-routes

    “I’d ride it in a heartbeat,” said Steve Szuter, a Digital Marketing Analyst at Abercrombie who lives in the Discovery District Downtown. “I’d be able to get rid of my car and save $500 dollars a month in gas, insurance and maintenance. It takes me 25 to 30 minutes to drive, and another six or seven minutes to walk from the back of the parking lot to the building, so it sounds like this bus service would only add another 10 to 15 minutes.”

    Trent Beers, a Senior Graphic Designer at A&F who lives in Weinland Park shares Szuter’s enthusiasm for the new route, though says that it may not come without some challenges.

    “While I think it has a lot of potential, it could be a tough habit to break since so many people are already used to getting into their cars and doing that 25 minute drive,” he said. “But I can definitely see people enjoying getting a coffee and reading their iPads and relaxing on the way to work. In general, I think people want to do the right thing for the environment too, so there’s the recognition that we waste a lot of gas driving individually those 40-plus miles every day.”

    For ongoing discussion about COTA’s suburban commuter services, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.

    For more information, visit cota.com/smartride.

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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