The Central Ohio Transit Authority is getting a 2.8 million dollar federal grant to pay for a program giving free bus passes to an estimated 45 thousand qualified downtown Columbus workers. Jim Letizia reports.
The COTA board is scheduled to vote on the Cpass program on February 28. The program, which will also be funded with SID money from businesses in the Capital Crossroads area, is designed to increase ridership and ease parking problems downtown. The Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District operated a similar 18-month pilot program for 800 workers through December 2016. Cpass will run for 2-and-a-half years, starting in June. Workers must contact their employers to see if they quality. Capital Crossroads says 83 percent of Downtown employees drive to work, and the resulting crowding has hurt the job market and the area's office vacancy rate.
