University Community — Mobility Needs and Challenges (Pt. 2)

In our second post in our series on our annual Mobility Innovation Sprint, we explore needs and challenges related to mobility on campus. Students conducted secondary research and interviews with fellow students to identify mobility needs and challenges.

Within a large university such as Ohio State, there are unique sets of obstacles for the various members of the Buckeye community, meaning that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. To understand how to improve campus mobility and connectivity, we must define the challenges and needs that present themselves most frequently. By understanding problems and pain points, students in the six-week sprint developed solutions to target these areas for improvement.

Based on student research and direct experience, a few primary mobility issues at Ohio State’s Columbus campus are noted below:

1. Lack of Reliability

The main form of public transit around Ohio State’s main campus and surrounding area is the bus system provided by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). Through a robust COTA/Ohio State partnership, current students have unlimited access to COTA’s bus system with just a swipe of their student ID. Ohio State’s Campus Area Bus Services (CABS) and COTA share stops on campus, allowing for easy transfers.

Although no form of public transit is flawless, adhering to a common schedule with little variation from day-to-day operations is necessary to ensure that COTA riders get to their destination on time. While students had positive examples of using COTA to get to events and shopping near campus, students also expressed concern about lack of reliability with COTA bus service. Riders depend on COTA to help them travel to work, class, and other time sensitive commitments. So, when buses are off schedule with no real-time updates, users associate a lack of reliability with COTA services.

2. Safety Concerns

One challenge in many fields is ensuring safety for users of the service or product. But in the context of public transportation, there is an added layer of complexity in which some cases the safety concerns are the COTA riders themselves. Given that The Ohio State University’s main campus is in a bustling urban area near downtown Columbus, there is an abundance of foot traffic which creates the potential for more conflict.

3. Underdeveloped Digital Resources

Technology has integrated into almost every part of our daily lives. Even with these new tech capabilities, developing a multi-modal campus and increasing campus mobility still presents challenges as there are diverse needs within the Buckeye community.

Resources such as Google Maps, CampusParc, Transit for COTA, and the Campus Area Bus Service (CABS) can all be found in the app store on any smart device. These apps are meant to inform and aid users to create a more positive experience, and while they do solve some gaps in the process, there are more issues to alleviate.

4. User Anxiety

User anxiety may stem from various causes, but some students expressed a lack of knowledge and confidence in their ability to use the COTA bus. This anxiety can prevent individuals from using the COTA system and decrease overall mobility on campus. Students expressed a need for more information on how to use the COTA system.

Next post: Student Solutions

Prior posts in this series: Enhancing Mobility at Ohio State and Beyond