This guest column by Stu Nicholson, executive director of All Aboard Ohio, appeared on the Ideas and Voices page Sunday, Feb. 7 accompanied by one by State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg.
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Updated: 8:50 AM EST January 31, 2021
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Central Ohio Transit Authority is suspending fares Sunday because of a Level 2 snow emergency in Franklin County.
COTA suspends fare payments for all transportation lines when the Franklin County Sheriff declares a Level 2 or Level 3 snow emergency.
The policy covers all transit vehicles, including fixed-route buses, Mainstream, COTA//Plus and any other COTA vehicles.
The service is provided to encourage people who have to travel to take public transportation instead of using their personal vehicles.
The no-fare policy will remain in effect through the rest of Sunday.
The Central Ohio Transit Authority board passed a five-year capital budget that includes $2.875 million for a new transit center near Rickenbacker Airport.
The Rickenbacker Mobility Center will include not only stops for COTA fixed routes and first mile/last mile services for people to reach their work sites, but will also include food services, child care, health care and job training services, said Patrick Harris, COTA s assistant vice president of government affairs/corporate communications. It really is a quality of life center, Harris said Wednesday after the meeting.
It will also be a stop for regional transit services from Pickaway and Fairfield counties, he said.
Bee Tolbert wanted to be part of a pilot project to test technology geared toward driver safety because she knows what it s like to be blindsided by another driver. I ve had a car come through a light and hit me, said Tolbert, 61, of the Northeast Side. I want to be part of a change. I have four grandchildren I care for, she said. I felt I could make something safer for the people.
More than 300 people are participating in a pilot project along North High Street, Morse Road and Cleveland Avenue that will alert drivers to red lights ahead while detecting potential collisions with other connected vehicles, and when they enter school zones.