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From XING Columbus:
Should Port Columbus (CMH) have more Transit Service?
December 12, 2009 by JohnA post about the new $41 Million airport interchange generated more comments than I would have expected. Bruce Rawson, one of our frequent commenters, noted that it is difficult to get to downtown from the airport using COTA. He also took the time to send me information about transit service to a little over 40 other cities in the US. I decided to pare down that list and take a more detailed look at how COTA’s service to CMH compares to its peer cities.
I think having a direct route downtown would be a good idea, especially if the convention center hotel gets built. The main advantage of buses over trains/monorails is that it is much easier to experiment with new routes and do away/alter them if they prove to lack ridership. The cabbies, car rental agencies, and airport parking companies may put up a fuss, but I would take it if were easy to use.
As it stands, it is a lot to ask a visitor to the city to try and figure out COTA and determine what transfers have to be made to get downtown. I would also not want to be standing at an on off the beaten path street corner with my luggage waiting for my transfer bus to show up.
There are also a lot of airport workers who probably could benefit from this route.
What? Does this mean they are going to put parking meters at every jetway? I’d love to see them haul a Airbus A-320 off to impound for failure to pay parking tickets.
Awesome analysis!
As Columbusites, we’d definitely take advantage of a direct COTA line and save the ~$30 on the Blue Lot.
But as conventioneers go, I still think Rail >>> Bus. Whenever I hop on a bus in a new city, no matter how well I think I’ve studied the route and stops, I still find myself crossing my fingers that I’ll make my destination.
Perhaps a COTA shuttle/express that is just two stops (Convention Center and Airport) would alleviate that anxiety for newcomers. At least until rail is realized ;)
I also believe that an express line from airport to downtown is in order. However, I think the route needs a stop at broad and high for ease of transfers. Perhaps a handful of downtown stops would be useful (e.g. convention center, nationwide & high, gay st?, broad, westin/county complex).
Any additional bus service to and from CMH would be wonderful. I’m a flight attendant based out of CMH and it would do a lot to make our airport more attractive as a base if you could get to and from it without a car. We have a lot of commuters (people who live in other cities who fly in to work), and they have to either stay at hotels with transportation or have a second (usually junky) car here to get them to their crash pad. Most of the places our people stay are in the Stelzer/Agler area, which is very close, yet practically impossible to get to from CMH using public transport. More public transport would also be wonderful for the Convertioners. I bring in a lot of people for Conventions who have no idea how to get where they’re going. I have to tell them to take a taxi, but would love to be able to tell them to take Bus #blahblah and it will take them right to that area. As an aside it amazes me how many people don’t research where they’re going and expect the flight attendant to know everything about every city (but that’s a separate topic).
I’d love to have a COTA direct bus or shuttle from the Convention Center to CMH. I fly every month and hate forking 30 bucks to park. I live in north Vic Village but would be more than willing to walk (or take the #7) to a COTA stop that gets me to CMH.
My response would be to have both regular bus service and an express bus with luggage racks connect from downtown to CMH to Easton.
Back in 2000 or 2001 there was the Capital City Express (or something with that name) with luggage racks and one that made limited stops downtown and convenient to hotels. Maybe the taxi coalitions shut them down. The fare was something like $5 and it went directly from CMH to somewhere near the downtown Courtyard by Marriott among other stops.
One other thing to keep in mind… if you’re headed to the airport with a small child (or two or three) in tow, it’s a huge pain in the ass to install a car seat temporarily in the back of a cab. Taking the bus would be a MUCH more family-friendly option.
Never thought about this, but are you just supposed to just hold you baby/toddler on the bus? Is this safe if the bus wrecks? I have seen those school bus videos of people bouncing around.
Not a parent or a frequent Cota rider….
yeah, you just get on and hold a kid on the bus. COTA asks that you fold up strollers, but I hardly ever see people do that. Most of the time kids are in strollers.
I think light rail would be feasible since there are tracks that already run from the airport to downtown along 670. This would be great instead of having to always pay to park or take a taxi. An express bus would be nice. A local bus along city streets would probably take too long and would probably go through the ghetto (Mt. Vernon area)- not the side of our city that we want first time conventioners or visitors to see IMO.
I thought once about using that James Rd. connector but decided against it after driving through that ‘hood – $30 saved in parking vs. having your car jacked isn’t worth it.
Build a commuter rail line instead of the stupid 3C!
mstimple Says:
“I thought once about using that James Rd. connector but decided against it after driving through that ‘hood – $30 saved in parking vs. having your car jacked isn’t worth it. Build a commuter rail line instead of the stupid 3C!”
Yep, the train should also go to New Albany instead of downtown. I heard there were 9000 murders down there in November alone…
I was Very surprised when I returned to the airport and could not catch a bus downtown. I could to to Easton to shop, but not downtown. WTF?
An express bus to downtown and/or surrounding neighborhoods would be great. I used to work near the airport, hated driving, but thought it was too dangerous for me to ride my bike (and I didn’t have a good place to change once I got to work). I looked into taking the bus from vic village and found it would take almost two hours plus a half mile walk to get there.
What bus goes from the airport to Easton?