Free-pass plan approved for Downtown workers

The Central Ohio Transit Authority has approved the last step in a plan that allows 45,000 Downtown workers to get free, unlimited bus rides as officials seek to cut down on commuting by car.

The COTA board of directors passed a resolution on Wednesday allowing the transit authority to participate in the plan, completing the process for the program to begin in June.

“Economic development really depends on having a healthy and well-used transit system,” Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of the Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District, said during the COTA meeting.

The passes, though free to workers, are being paid for through a special tax and grant money.

The program is believed to be the first of its kind in that it is getting more than a quarter of the $4.5 million to operate the program from property owners inside the Downtown special improvement district.

Those property owners agreed to tax themselves to raise $1.3 million for the program, to run from June 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2020.

Federal grants will pay $2.84 million, which might be reimbursed by private grants. Eventually, Ricksecker said Wednesday, “it’s conceivable that the (property) owners might pay for 100 percent of it.”

Another $400,000 is expected to come from other property owners whose employees live or work on the fringe of the district and also want to participate in the program.

The money allows property owners to buy $744 annual COTA passes for $40.50 each for their employees. Called CPass, the program doesn’t actually have a pass. Workers participating in the program will have stickers placed on company identification cards or information embedded in those cards to get unlimited access to bus rides.

The goal of the 2½-year program is to entice commuters to ride the bus to and from work, reduce auto emissions and free up about 2,400 parking spaces, the equivalent of four parking garages, to attract more Downtown businesses and fill vacant office space.

“If car-centric Columbus can do this kind of program,” Ricksecker said Wednesday, “conceivably many, many other cities can do the same thing.”

[DISPATCH FILE PHOTO] Some 45,000 Downtown workers in a special improvement district will be eligible for free COTA bus passes starting June 1. The program, partly financed by property owners within that district, is intended to cut down on commuting by car.