I’ll be the first person to admit that I don’t ride the bus as much as I should, even though I fancy myself as a staunch supporter of mass transit. In all fairness, I’ve lived in German Village for the past five years and I really didn’t need to bus around much because I had a lot within walking distance of where I lived. Grocery store, coffee shops, stores, bars, restaurants. All walkable.
Now that Anne & I have said goodbye to German Village and Hello to the KLD, we’re currently lacking in everyday walking options, and even though it’s only a quick 20-30 minute walk to most places downtown, it’s currently hard for me to make that trek on slippery sidewalks with sub-freezing temperatures.
So yesterday, I decided to take the bus downtown for a lunchtime meeting, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I walked down to the corner stop near my house and stood outside for only three minutes. We have a stop that serves the 6, the 11, and the 16… all three of which will take me over to Broad & High (my destination) so during the day one of these three will pass through every 5-10 minutes. Easy enough.
I hopped on and dropped in my $1.50 in change and grabbed a seat. The first thing that I noticed was that the bus was very clean. I hear a lot of people complain that they don’t ride the bus because it’s “dirty” but I didn’t find that was the case. At least not with this particular bus. I took a look around at my fellow riders and saw a mix of faces. Some people who looked like they were headed to work. Some people who were dressed a little more casually. No one looked overly dirty or smelly or crazy, as is often the negative stereotype associated with bus riders.
After a quick 10 minute ride I had reached my destination. It would have only taken me 5 minutes to drive, but probably another 5 minutes to find a spot to park, plus a buck or two at a meter or more in a surface lot. I had to walk a block from the corner of Broad & High to get to my final destination, but it was brisk and I actually bumped into someone I know and had a quick chat.
So there you have it. I know it sort of goes against the grain, but I’d describe my bus ride as clean, quick, easy, and cheap. And after being inspired last month by Jeff Johnson’s COTA Challenge I plan on attempting something similar pretty soon. Monthly bus passes are $45 bucks, which is roughly equivalent to 15 gallons of gas for the car. I’m sure I could easily offset that, not to mention the additional wear and tear costs that go into using a car.
To be continued…
You’ve got GREAT transit connections over there. Glad to read that you’ll be able to take advantage of them. And you’re right, COTA busses are generally very clean.
That’s nice that you’ve got three options to choose from. On S. High St., I’ve only got two options (#7 and #16), and waiting times can range from 5-20 minutes, so I always check the schedules before I head outside. It definitely cuts down on how frequently I use it too. A streetcar or bus on routine 7 minute headways would really get me riding more often.
Yeah, the three bus options are nice, but I’d like a streetcar as well. If that second line (the non-High Street line) gets built I’d be a 5-10 minute walk from the eastern-most stop for that, which wouldn’t be too bad.
BRING ON THE TRANSIT!!!
Just a comment. COTA, I think, is doing better, but has a long way to go. The tax levy should help.
What I want to pass along is a personal experience that I had when I used COTA last Summer. The idea was to use public transportation to visit a friend in Cleveland.
This experiment call for use of the #2 bus downtown from Clintonville and Greyhound to Cleveland, where I’d catch an RTA bus out to Lakewood. It all went smoothly, even if the total trip time was about 4-1/2 hours, compared to about 2-1/2 by car.
I expected the disparity in trip times, since public transportation isn’t near what it ought to be and isn’t really set up to cater to a niche market that a traveler like myself would represent.
The one problem was a gentleman, who boarded the #2 and filled the bus with a noxious stench that had other passengers opening the windows to catch their breath. Apparently the guy did a lot of dumpster diving and brought the fruits of his labor along for the ride.
I gagged all the way downtown
[...] the meantime though, the only thing we’ve currently got is the COTA bus system. I mentioned recently that I wanted to put my money where my mouth is and ride more frequently now that our new [...]