According to a Statehouse source, the 3C Corridor should be officially receiving federal stimulus dollars tomorrow in an announcement following Obama’s State of the Union speech. In October 2009, ODOT and the Ohio Rail Development Commission submitted their application for $563 million to help fund a passenger rail line that would run between Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. More information about the 3C Corridor can be found at 3cisme.ohio.gov. More information about tomorrow’s announcement can be found in a Dispatch article here.

Update #1: Gov. Strickland’s office is planning a news conference today (Thursday) in the Statehouse Rotunda at 1pm. Anyone planning on attending?

Update #2: It’s official. The 3C Corridor is receiving $400M in federal funding.

From The Dispatch:

COTA takes steps to use them on busiest routes
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
By Debbie Gebolys

Before streetcars, trolleys or trains, central Ohioans might see those funky two-part buses on our streets. Articulated buses, which have two cabins connected by a flexible, accordionlike hinge, are on COTA’s list for the future. The Central Ohio Transit Authority asked the Columbus and Upper Arlington city councils to allow the buses on their streets. The Columbus council voted last night to allow the longer buses: 66 feet, compared with the former limit of 48 feet.

[Read More]

The COTA fare increase was announced back on November 17th, but it’s probably worth a reminder that the fare increases will officially take effect tomorrow, January 1st, 2010. One-way local fares will jump a quarter from $1.50 to $1.75 and local monthly passes will jump $10 from $45 to $55 per month.

Additionally, COTA will be running their #21 Night Owl route tonight to service anyone staying out late for New Years Eve. More information on both the Night Owl and the new fares can be found at www.cota.com.

COTA will be ringing in the new year by adding more late night service to almost all of their major routes as a part of their ongoing regular service updates.

During the weekdays, bus routes 1 though 11 plus 16 and 18 will have new/updated Downtown lineups at 11pm and Midnight, which means that each bus will be running their final routes later than before. Service expansion on weekends means the same 11pm and Midnight lineups for the same bus routes on Saturday, and new 8pm and 9pm lineups on Sunday.

The new changes are scheduled to take effect on January 4th, 2010. The full detailed list of service updates can be found by clicking here (PDF). More information can be found online at www.cota.com.

From XING Columbus:

Should Port Columbus (CMH) have more Transit Service?
December 12, 2009 by John

A 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.

[Read More]

Via Email from MORPC:

Shaping our Future is a plan the Mid Ohio Regional Planning is spearheading for 12 counties in central Ohio. Expected to be completed in 2012, Shaping Our Future will integrate elements that impact the region including the transportation system, land use patterns, air quality, energy security, water quality, food production, and economic development. The mission is to have a regionally accepted plan that ensures major public infrastructure expenditures and public development decisions are made with a focus on sustainability to secure a competitive advantage for central Ohio.

The survey takes 10 minutes. There are questions about energy, environment, transportation, the economy and your neighborhood. Most importantly, it’s an opportunity for you to say what you like about central Ohio and what you think would make it better. It’s anonymous, it’s fast, and it’s important. Get involved in Shaping Our Future! Click here to take the survey.

Linking Ohio - “Linking Ohio is a diverse group of citizens who have lots of different reasons to want passenger rail transportation available in Ohio, starting with the 3-C “Quick Start” Project connecting Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati. Ohio state government has applied for $564 million in Federal grant dollars to make this passenger train route a reality—here are complete official details.” [Read More]

Ohio Higher Education Rail Network (OHERN) - “The Ohio Higher Education Rail Network (OHERN) is a plan to link all public and private colleges and universities in the state by rail. The OHERN concept grew out of the belief that there is a mutually beneficial and interdependent relationship between education and transportation; where colleges and universities can help build a statewide network of passenger trains and, by building that network, strengthen Ohio’s system of higher education.” [Read More]

Image Courtesy Giles Clement

Another big announcement coming out of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District annual meeting this afternoon is that a $490,000 grant was received from the Department of Energy for the addition of new bike facilities throughout Downtown. The grant will fund the development of new bike shelters, bike lockers, and additional bike parking within existing parking garage structures. These new facilities will be spread out to around dozen locations where workers are likely to benefit for commuting purposes and residents are likely to benefit for recreational riding. [Read More]

After holding several community meetings, COTA has announced today that they are moving forward with their plan for increasing ridership fares for 2010. This fare increase is the first in the past four years.

One-way local fares will rise from $1.50 to $1.75 and unlimited monthly passes will rise from $45 to $55. The increase is expected to generate an additional $2.1 million in annual revenue for COTA.

“We believe that our customers should contribute a reasonable portion of the cost to provide transit service,” said Bill Lhota, COTA President and CEO, in a press release issued this morning. “By adjusting fares upward we are striving to maintain an equitable ratio between the fare paid by the customer and amount subsidized by the taxpayers.”

The new fares are scheduled to take effect on January 1. More information can be found at cota.com.

An article in today’s Dispatch showcases the concern that some University District residents have with the growing size of apartment complex parking lots in the area around Oakland Avenue. Residents who have lived in the area for years are complaining that with more students driving, more apartment complexes are expanding their parking lots and contributing additional congestion and blight to the neighborhood.

The full Dispatch article can be found here.