CMAX is a
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
(BRT) service in
Central Ohio
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the counties of Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union. The population of the MSA is 2,078,72 ...
, operated by the
Central Ohio Transit Authority
The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA ) is a public transit agency serving the Columbus metropolitan area, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It operates fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services.
COTA's hea ...
(COTA). The line begins in
Downtown Columbus, traveling northeast to
Westerville. CMAX is Central Ohio's first bus rapid transit line; it began operation in 2018.
Route and fleet
CMAX runs from
Downtown Columbus to
Westerville, primarily along Cleveland Avenue and
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
.
The route is long. The trip is estimated to take about 56 minutes, depending on the time of day.
Landmarks and parks along the line include
Franklin University
Franklin University is a private university with its main campus in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1902 to serve the needs of adult students. On-site courses are offered at the university's campus in Columbus' Discovery District. However, mos ...
, the
Franklin County Government Center
The Franklin County Government Center is a government complex of Franklin County, Ohio in the city of Columbus. The government center has included several iterations of the Franklin County Courthouse, including a building completed in 1840 and ...
, the
South High Commercial Historic District
The South High Commercial Historic District is a historic district on High Street in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and the Columbus Register of Historic Properties in 1987.
The ...
,
Columbus Commons
John F. Wolfe Columbus Commons is a park and Green infrastructure, green space in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, downtown Columbus, Ohio, located on the site of the former Columbus City Center mall. The park features gardens, a performance stage, car ...
, the
Ohio Statehouse
The Ohio Statehouse is the state capitol building and seat of government for the U.S. state of Ohio. The Greek Revival building is located on Capitol Square in Downtown Columbus. The capitol houses the Ohio General Assembly, consisting of the H ...
on
Capitol Square
Capitol Square is a public square in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The square includes the Ohio Statehouse, its Capitol Grounds, as well as the buildings and features surrounding the square. The Capitol Grounds are surrounded on the north and west ...
, the
High and Gay Streets Historic District
The High and Gay Streets Historic District is a Historic district (United States), historic district in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
The district includes 18 buildings, includ ...
,
Sensenbrenner Park
Sensenbrenner Park is a park in downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States. The park was dedicated on September 18, 1980, and commemorates former mayor Jack Sensenbrenner.
See also
* List of parks in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio has numerous muni ...
,
Battelle Hall
Battelle Hall (originally known as the Ohio Center) is a 6,864 seat multi-purpose exhibit hall located in Columbus, Ohio, part of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. It opened as the Ohio Center on September 10, 1980, and although sometimes c ...
and the
Greater Columbus Convention Center
The Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC) is a convention center located in Downtown Columbus, Ohio, United States, along the east side of North High Street.
The convention center was predominantly designed by Peter Eisenman, constructed ...
, the
Central Ohio Fire Museum
The Central Ohio Fire Museum is a firefighting museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The museum is housed in the former Engine House No. 16 of the Columbus Fire Department, built in 1908. It was listed on the Columbus Register of Historic Properties ...
,
Columbus State Community College
Columbus State Community College (CSCC) is a public community college in Columbus, Ohio. Founded as Columbus Area Technician's School in 1963, it was renamed Columbus Technical Institute in 1965 and was renamed again to its current name in 19 ...
,
Fort Hayes
Fort Hayes is a military post in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Created by an act of the United States Congress on July 11, 1862, the site was also known as the Columbus Arsenal until 1922, when the site was renamed after former Ohio Governor ...
,
Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
St Ann's Hospital, Sharon Woods
Metro Park, and the
OhioHealth
OhioHealth is a not-for-profit system of hospitals and healthcare providers located in Columbus, Ohio and surrounding areas. The system consists of 12 hospitals, 200+ ambulatory sites, hospice, home health, medical equipment and other health serv ...
Westerville Medical Campus.
Buses operating the CMAX route have unique livery, and were among the first in the system to include USB charging ports and onboard Wi-Fi.
The fleet includes buses 1619-20 (two 40-ft. 2016
Gillig
Gillig (formerly Gillig Brothers) is an American designer and manufacturer of buses. The company headquarters, along with its manufacturing operations, is located in Livermore, California (in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area) ...
BRT Plus CNG
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...
-fueled buses) and 1714-1726 (13 of the same type, issued in 2017).
BRT attributes
The service is estimated to be 20 percent faster than conventional service, due to its use of
limited stops, dedicated
bus lanes
A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway c ...
on its High Street portion during rush hours, and utilizing
transit signal priority
Bus priority or transit signal priority (TSP) is a name for various techniques to improve service and reduce delay for mass transit vehicles at intersections (or junctions) controlled by traffic signals. TSP techniques are most commonly associat ...
.
Most of the stops have covered shelters and information terminals with real-time bus arrival times. Some of the stations feature local art.
Between downtown and Northland Transit Center, the buses operate with a 10-minute frequency on weekday mornings and afternoons, 15 minutes during off-peak times, and 30 minutes on weekends.
The CMAX line has not been assessed by the
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy
The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) is a non-governmental non-profit organization that focuses on developing bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, promoting biking, walking, and non-motorized transport, and improving priva ...
(ITDP), which classifies BRT lines. An individual assessment following ITDP's
BRT Standard rated the CMAX line in its "Other" category, failing to meet the "Bronze", "Silver", or "Gold" standards for BRT transport. In 2019, TransitColumbus called the service a "great first step", though it criticized the service's lack of
bus lane
A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, often on certain days and times, and generally used to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway ...
s or busways, enclosed stations, ADA accessibility, and off-board payment, calling it moreso "BRT-lite". ''
The Columbus Dispatch
''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...
'' likewise separated the service from "true bus rapid-transit lines" by noting CMAX's lane-sharing with other traffic and its lack of larger stations.
Columbus, OH - COTA bus stop.jpg, A CMAX bus shelter
COTA countdown clock 01.jpg, Countdown clock and information terminal
History
The CMAX route primarily operates on Cleveland Avenue, on a former
interurban
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...
and streetcar route. The Columbus & Westerville Railway Company was granted the right to operate an interurban railroad there in 1893; it later became the Columbus Central Railway Company, and was acquired by the Columbus Railway Company in 1899.
CMAX was planned as early as 2010, when the Central Ohio Transit Authority applied for a
Federal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...
grant.
CMAX was created with $48.6 million in funding, including $37.4 million from the federal government grant. It was created to help reduce traffic congestion on Cleveland Avenue, bring economic activity, and increase job and healthcare access to low-income and minority neighborhoods on Cleveland Avenue, including
Milo-Grogan and
Linden.
[http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/tcrp/docs/TCRP_H56_Final_Report.pdf ] The service complemented and improved COTA's second-busiest route, Local Line 1 Cleveland (present-day
route 6).
[https://www.columbus.gov/uploadedFiles/Columbus/Departments/Development/Planning_Division/Boards_and_Commissions/Columbus_Arts_Commission/Meetings/2015/3%2030%202015_Cleveland%20Ave%20%20CMAX%20CAC%20description.pdf ] The service began operation on January 1, 2018, and offered free fares in its first week of service.
CMAX ridership is projected to increase in the future. One upgrade COTA proposed in 2016, before the line's opening, was for a future high capacity transit corridor for CMAX. It would re-align the route to utilize the former Mt. Vernon
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
line. The line could be used for a dedicated busway or for rail, serving the growing populations in Westerville and Polaris.
See also
*
Bus rapid transit creep
Bus rapid transit creep is a phenomenon commonly defined as a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that fails to meet the requirements to be considered "true BRT". These systems are often marketed as a fully realized bus rapid transit system, but end u ...
*
List of bus rapid transit systems in the Americas
*
List of COTA bus routes
The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) operates 41 fixed-route bus services throughout the Columbus metropolitan area in Central Ohio. The agency operates its standard and frequent bus services seven days per week, and rush hour service Mon ...
References
External links
*
*
{{USBRT
2018 establishments in Ohio
Bus rapid transit in Ohio
Central Ohio Transit Authority
Transport infrastructure completed in 2018
Transportation in Columbus, Ohio
Transportation in Franklin County, Ohio
Transportation in Delaware County, Ohio