I'm sick of using the car as a crutch. We honestly need to start a Carholics Anonymous here in Columbus. The lure, the temptation of internal combustion laziness is, at times, too sweet to ignore. So the car is going. I've been holding out for a bigger check by selling on Craigslist, but no hits thus far. So off to Carmax first thing next week.
Preparing for my liberation, I rode to work Monday. The ride at 4 am was actually pleasant. I think I had a total of 10 cars on the road the entire commute. Overall I had the run of the roads and was able to cut .5 mile off my commute in the morning since I was able to take main roads. That night, Consider Biking held a small gathering at Global Gallery in Clintonville. The ride was more than doable, but a severe lack of sleep and the 16 miles I had already put in had me looking at another option.
The last time I used COTA was about 2 years ago when I was living just south of the University District. Then, the bus was mainly used for short trips up High to avoid the bitter winter cold or to help me out while I was on crutches. Because of this, I never cared much for schedules or time tables, since I could be fairly certain a bus coming about every 10 minutes or so. Monday, the ride would take me a bit further so I hopped onto the recently added Google feature to route myself and find the best way. You simply type your two addresses like you would driving directions and select public transportation. The default is to route based on current time, but you have the option to set a departure time or an arrival time and get the closest match.
I was presented several options and chose the easiest for me: walking up the street to one stop and transferring to a new bus for the majority of the trip. The only problem was that the bus stop they sent me to didn't exist. I kept walking further up the street and managed to find the correct stop, the bus was on time and off I went. I was dropped off at the next stop, further up the route and the next bus was just behind. All in all pretty impressive to see what amounted to an effective transit system-and here in Columbus no less. The return trip was easy as well. I chose to ride the one route and stop for groceries before walking back to my apartment. After not riding COTA for 2 years, I was pretty damn impressed to have such a great experience. Then there was today.
My phone needs some work done and the nearest store is at Henderson and Reed, about 8 miles. I got onto Google and found 3 options-a 3 bus transfer, or walking a .5 mile to a stop, boarding and then transferring to another bus. The shortest quoted ride was about 55 minutes. Unfortunately I just missed the bus and found, according to the time table, the next one was due an hour later. I decided to take care of another errand and rode the bus from 8th to Buttles for a haircut. Could I have biked it? No doubt, but I wanted a chance to ride the bus. Coming back was an issue. One of the severe shortfalls I am finding here in Columbus is trying to run any errands by bus. An inconsistent schedule with a 10 minute wait, at best, and an hour or more at worse is a massive failing. It's one thing to plan work schedules around a bus, but errands with no defined time or schedule leaves one at the mercy of COTA. Thankfully, I had grabbed a timetable and checked it as I stood in the rain for a bus. I had a 25 minute wait or a 1.5 mile walk. I walked.
Tomorrow should be interesting. I am attempting to ride COTA to work and back, followed by a trip to Verizon later in the afternoon.
