09/27/2023

Growing Transit in the Urban Core with a Passion

According to the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the greater Columbus region is expected to grow by more than 3 million residents by 2050. Large scale development hubs are being announced almost every month. While COTA has been the backbone of public transit for Franklin County since 1972, a close collaboration with State of Ohio and regional counties is necessary to serve the new developments. How are public transit planners keeping up with the outward growth in regional and rural areas while connecting and improving transit in the urban core? This continuous outward growth has created transit challenges that require more than just COTA to respond but all the regional partners.

This session will discuss high-level changes to land use, zoning, regional coordination, and service integration that can improve transit within the urban core and in villages across the larger region. The panel will dig into recent project examples, including LinkUS, Central Ohio Workforce Transit Plan, Short Range Transit Plan and County Connections to discuss how goals and theories are being actionized to create lasting change.

Speakers
Amy Snell
Claire Jennings
Sara Walton
Devayani Puranik