I posted earlier in my "Am I Anti-Car?" post what my basic ideas are surrounding urban growth, transportation policies and the direction I want Columbus to head. Stepping away from a bike-centric perspective, I want to spend some time looking at ways the transit here in Columbus can improve.
Why transit? To me, transit is the gateway. Bikes and transit can work so beautifully together-they really are working to the same ends of getting people to consider alternatives. Transit makes urban living much easier. A family or couple can decide to ditch one car, save the money and use the transit system for a large majority of their basic needs. Transit provides better stability in rough economic times. Rate hikes are often announced well in advance, as are service cuts. Much easier to plan with the advanced notice. Traffic jams, auto accidents and other inconveniences can spring up with little warning. Not to mention the recent gas spike and the recent decline in prices (don't hold your breath, we'll probably see them head back up). With a healthy set of legs, a good bike and a good transit system, a much larger portion of a city is opened up to the typical resident. In places where cycling is less convenient or perceived to be more dangerous, transit can bridge the gap and bring you someplace that is much easier or safer to cycle.
The major issue here in the states is that our transit systems have all but been destroyed. A fragment of what once existed is still around, with cities like Columbus hit hard. A sad reminder of what once was in Columbus sits on Oak St. east of downtown, the ruins of an old streetcar building. Buses replaced rail (a lot of controversy still exists on exactly how much of a role the auto executives on the early 1900's had to do with this) and funding for transportation always falls well below what we spend on auto centric transportation. Thankfully, under Lhota's leadership at COTA, we are starting to see a turn around here in Columbus. COTA recently announced their move within the next year or so to a new building downtown. Lhota has stated that there will be no employee parking and that it is his hope that all COTA employees, including himself, begin using the service. One can only hope this will hasten much needed improvements to our system. COTA has a 30 year plan that the spokespeople love to refer to. I take issue with a publicly funded organization typically not showing much innovation or progress, on even basic things, and instead referring back to a plan that might be completed in the next 3 decades. There is quite a lot lacking here in Columbus that is a basic part of most decent transit systems. Without harping on too much longer, here is a list of basic things we need to see in Columbus within the next 5 years (yes I know there's a damn recession!):
COTA needs to put their routes on a diet. Looking at our transit map requires, at best, a Masters level degree or higher to decipher and attempt any ride over 4-5 miles. COTA is moving forward by utilizing the Google maps feature, but this too has issues. In one case I was directed to a stop that didn't exist. One improvement would be to work out an application for both the iPhone and Blackberry showing real time bus data and trip planners.
One of the fundamental issues with buses in a large urban environment is their limitations. A bus can be used in a large geographic region with few stops or in a small geographic region with many stops. The former would be express lines and Bus Rapid Transit service, the later are local routes. COTA seems to lean more toward a mix-large area and many stops creating the inefficiency issues we have. COTA should look to planning (I'll have to reference the plan myself, as I know BRT is being discussed) several N-S BRT lines at various points of the city and several E-W lines. From there, divide the columbus region into sections-NE, NW, C, SE, SW- that these BRTs would cross in and out of and create lines with many stops servicing just those sections. Cross town travel time would decrease to a usable level.
COTA also needs to look at serving job centers across Columbus. Easton, for instance, is a great place for service industry employees to find work, yet the latest bus on a Saturday is 9-9:30 PM. I don't know if there are any precedents, but it seems like there may be some good cases around the city for public/private partnerships in supporting better bus service. Could the Easton management company add a 1-2% charge on leases to provide funding for an Easton-Downtown bus line?
COTA needs to have a more vocal public vision. One great thing about Columbus and the work by the city to improve bicycling conditions are the demonstration projects. Their are a number of projects that have been recently completed that have been highly publicized and easily seen by area cyclists. Seeing work done gives greater confidence to the public. Probably one of the biggest "failures" for COTA in this regard was in relation to the streetcars. It seemed that a major point of contention for the general public was the already congested High Street with several bus lines. COTA did not appear to have a ready answer as to how buses and streetcars would integrate on the roads or how the routes for the buses could be altered to serve the community better and still allow for streetcars. I think with a ready answer at the next opportunity, we may see more converts to Columbus Streetcars. COTA also needs to find a way to have their own demonstration projects. Implementing one BRT line in the next few years, installing Smart Card fare systems on one bus route or improving the bus stops (maps and way finding at ALL stops).
I will say that I am pleased, so far, at the direction COTA is heading. It needs work (and a healthy dose of funding) to improve further. I hope that with the next Presidential administration we can really see change in how transportation and infrastructure policy is handled (it's rumored that several pro-transit, pro-bike people are on the short list for transportation secretary). Increased federal funding and support for better mass transit is badly needed.
