Although we didn’t pick up our bus pass until April 10th, I’m considering the start of May as our second month with bus riding and wanted to run through a quick list of pros and cons I’ve encountered along the way so far.
Pros:
- The routes near home (6, 11, 16) have been on-time about 80% of the time so far. The other 20% of the time they’re maybe a minute or two late. The longest wait I’ve had so far is around 5 minutes.
- The buses I’ve ridden have been clean. Aside from some wet footprints on rainy days, I haven’t seen much in the way of dirt of trash on the bus. And I’ve been riding anywhere from early morning (7am) to late evenings (9pm). If I were to compare the cleanliness to my car (which I tend to only vacuum out once per year) I’d say the bus would win.
- The buses feel safe. While you do see some strange looking folks from time to time, I’ve not been harassed by anyone or otherwise made to feel uncomfortable. I’ve heard some young women who have encountered this problem before, so I’m sure I might feel different if I were in their shoes. I guess it all depends upon your personal comfort levels around strangers. Most people seem pretty complacent with sitting silently and waiting for their stop, but others have struck up friendly conversations with me, especially when I’ve got the youngin’ along for the ride. Babies are magnets for friendly small talk.
- Lastly, I’ve saved myself a decent amount of money. Not having to pay for parking is great because some meters are expensive and garages are even more. I’m also the kind of guy who rarely carries around change or small bills with me, so it’s great to not have to worry about having enough to feed the meters. And it’s also great that I’m not sweating towards the end of meetings because my meter is running out of time and I’m rushing back to avoid getting a ticket. And don’t get me started on gas. We had to fill the tank when we went out of town last weekend, but otherwise I think we’ve only filled it up once in the past month. If a bus pass can save you a full tank of gas per month, that pretty much covers the cost of the pass right there.
Cons:
- The discrepancies between bus stops. I’d love to see more shelters and more maps and timetables at bus stops. It can be confusing and intimidating unless you’ve either got your own map or know what you’re doing.
- The #2 bus sucks. This is the most popular route that runs up and down High Street and has been crowded and slow every time I’ve ridden it. I don’t think it’s ever been on time, and I’m willing to bet this bus line gives people a bad misconception about the rest of the routes being unreliable as well. The #2 is the first COTA bus that OSU students ride when they arrive in Columbus, and if this is what they have to deal with, no wonder they don’t want to support public transit options once they’re out of school. I rode the #2 from Downtown to southern Clintonville two weeks ago and it took FOR-EV-ER. The bus stops at nearly every single block and people are getting off and on at every block. It took a good 35 minutes to run that four mile stretch. That’s a speed of less than 7mph. Unacceptable.
That’s really about it. For the most part I’ve had a very positive experience. Positive enough for us to get another bus pass for the month of May.
And I really think that the Streetcar could help out with the problems I mentioned with the #2. If the Streetcar serves that heavily-used and frequent-stopping route from the Courthouse to south campus then the #2 can act as a “shuttle” that only stops a few times in that zone. Maybe one stop at Broad & High, one in the Short North, and one in the middle of Campus. Then it would continue north to Clintonville and Worthington and beyond to get everyone else where they need to go more quickly.
Bring it on!
We had a great discussion going at Warehouse today on the bus line and the need for a major change (streetcars) to our transit system.
My only experience with COTA was the #2 when I lived near campus. It wasn’t bad, but walking almost always seemed the better option. I’ll probaly have more experience come fall with other lines.
Seems like the routes by your house are pretty much on time. My rule of thumb with COTA is that the bus isn’t really late unless it’s more than 10 minutes late. And it’s a good idea to get to your stop 5 minutes early.
As for the OSU student experience, I think in addition to the # 2 many many take the # 18, particularly for shopping (it goes to 2 Walmarts and Tuttle) as well as for everyday use by many grad students who live along the line. The 18 isn’t as slow as the 2, but it runs far less frequently – once an hour !!!.
Sounds like you’re on board with my plan for a #2 and a #2x. Maybe my whole concept of removing stops to speed up service is only truly necessary on the #2 because it’s the busiest route with people waiting at a majority of the stops?
I would personally hate it if the #2 had less stops. Although, I’m sure I’m definitely in the minority. I guess I enjoy the people watching/getting dropped off right at my doorstep more than I do getting somewhere fast.
I do like the idea of the streetcars though.
This was a really useful piece of information. However, I wanted to know how safe is it to stand at a bus stop at OSU after dark? I am a new female graduate student and have recently moved to Columbus.
Hi Deepika!
Most of the OSU stops are very well lit, there is plenty of pedestrian traffic in the area (extra eyeballs on the street = a more safe environment than being all alone), and OSU has a lot of those blue-light emergency phone boxes within a close distance if you do need to call for help during any sort of situation. So I’d argue that it’s one of the safest areas to wait for a bus in the city.
That being said, it never hurts to stay aware of your surroundings, keep an eye out for anyone suspicious looking, and wait with a friend for the bus whenever you can.