Business interests on a downtown commercial street complain a transit mall is making the area less attractive for retail.
Developers say that potential retailers and their customers are deterred from the Broad and High Street area by passengers waiting for bus transfers. Instead, they would like to see the Central Ohio Transit Authority transfer point replaced with on-street parking, according to Angie Schmitt.
Local transit advocates argue that buses bring up to 14,000 potential customers to the area each day, far more than additional parking spaces would. Schmitt quotes John Wortz of Xing Columbus:
"I don't see any way the parking could generate even close to as much pedestrian traffic as the buses currently do. So if I were someone promoting downtown businesses, I wouldn't be willing to sacrifice the bus lanes on High Street unless a very good alternative solution could be found that would be both convenient for bus passengers and keep them walking down High Street and passing those potential retail locations."
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