COTA’s new Night Owl bus makes weekends a little easier for Ohio State students. The line brings buses to OSU’s campus at late night hours and makes stops in popular destinations such as the Short North and the Arena District.
The No. 21 Night Owl, which debuted in early September, starts its run at 7:40 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, taking a straight shot down High Street from Clintonville to downtown with stops every 30 minutes.
The line begins at Whetstone Park of Roses in Clintonville and makes stops at every COTA connection along High Street, ending at Nationwide Boulevard and Front Street before looping back around to the north.
The bus then loops around and follows the same route north, ending at Whetstone Park.
The last bus of the night leaves downtown at 2:40 a.m.
The line will cost COTA about $100,000 annually, said Marty Stutz, a COTA spokesman.
“Those costs are for drivers, fuel, maintenance and other variables that go into operating the service,” he said.
Since the new line launched, more people have turned to the bus for late-night transportation, Stutz said. The first night of service drew 214 passengers, but by the second week that number had catapulted to 600. Ridership peaked at 800 on Oct. 4 during the monthly Gallery Hop in the Short North.
Linda Mauger, chair of COTA’s board of trustees, said the Night Owl gives students the opportunity to get out without the burden of taxi fares. Because the COTA fee is packaged in each student’s quarterly tuition, there is no additional out-of-pocket expense to ride, she said.
“It’s a really viable way to connect students to restaurants and nightclubs in the area, all the way from Clintonville and the Ohio State campus, to the [South Campus] Gateway, the Short North and the Convention Center area,” Mauger said. “I think it gives flexibility and safety, and more choices for getting around on a pretty extensive corridor of High Street.”
The No. 21 replaces the No. 20, which ran from campus to the Brewery District, but was eliminated in 2004 during a COTA budget crisis. Many say the No. 21 will have a different fate because it pitches both to students and residents along the route’s five-mile stretch of High.
“It’s mutually beneficial for OSU students and residents of the city,” said Dawn Tyler-Lee, vice chair of COTA’s Board of Trustees and assistant vice president of community relations at OSU. “I’m excited that the routes exist because what I’ve heard from students in the past is they’re able to get to the Arena District and other places downtown, but aren’t able to get back to campus after the bars close.”
Because parking is often difficult to find on campus and in the Short North, especially on weekends, Tyler-Lee suggests students take advantage of the line.
“The university and COTA work through a lot of channels to make sure students know about [the line] and know how to route their trips,” she said. “It’s a tremendous resource.”
Kelsey Robison, a third-year in political science, said she knows about the Night Owl because of postings at the High Street and 15th Avenue COTA stop.
“I think it’s a good idea in theory,” she said. “But I haven’t seen anything about it anywhere else around campus. Some students don’t take COTA often and probably don’t know about [the No. 21]. I think a lot of people would use it if they were aware of it.”
Many students rely on a free “party bus,” which is unaffiliated with COTA, that departs Friday and Saturday nights from the 7-Eleven on High and 10th Avenue. But Robison said the Night Owl runs more frequently and makes more stops, making it more accessible, she said.
“A lot of times the party bus is overcrowded and it takes a really long time to get downtown,” Robison said. “I’ll probably try the Night Owl to see if it’s better.”
