COLUMBUS – In their ongoing search for answers to parking and traffic problems in the popular Short North neighborhood, Columbus officials are going to try out a free electric-car shuttle service.
The city Thursday announced a two-month pilot project with Hopper Carts to test a free neighborhood shuttle starting Monday.
“Encouraging people to consider transit options such as Hopper Carts will be vital to limiting congestion in dense urban areas,” said Kelly Scocco, deputy director of the Department of Public Service.
The shuttles (pictured above) will serve an area from approximately Nationwide Boulevard north to Fifth Avenue, said Cathy Collins, assistant director in the Department of Public Safety.
The plan calls for eventually expanding the service areas once the pilot project is evaluated, but Collins and other officials believe the Short North was a perfect location for the rollout.
Not unlike Uber and Lyft, riders summon the shuttle through an app on a smartphone.
The owners of Hopper Carts approached the city with the idea and asked what licensing and regulation was needed to start the shuttle service only to discover that the concept of a “free rides” is not addressed in the section of the city code that governs vehicles-for-hire. Draft rules were written, the drivers have all been verified via licensing and background checks and the vehicles have been inspected, Collins and Scocco said.
The pilot program will allow officials to evaluate the service and its draft rules, they said.
They said the carbon impressions the electric vehicles will leave on the environment is minimal, and the technology used to request a ride is fits in with Smart Columbus transportation initiatives.