COTA Line Review: 73 Dublin
why is this route so good what
what is this
The 73 Dublin is one of my personal favorite routes. It runs from downtown Columbus’ COTA Transit Terminal to the Dublin Dale Park & Ride in the eponymous suburb. In the peak direction (inbound in the morning, outbound in the evening), it uses Riverside Drive from Grandview Heights all the way up to Dublin, with some rather spectacular river views along the way. On the way back, it uses I-270 and I-70. I rode this route back in February, so the trees were without leaves, enhancing the views.
okay, where does it go
Because this route follows two distinct paths that are very different from one another, this review will have me riding from downtown to Dublin via Riverside Drive, then back downtown via I-270 and I-70.
We started our journey at the COTA Transit Terminal downtown, turning north onto 3rd then west onto Spring. As we leave downtown, Spring becomes Dublin, then becoming Riverside as we leave Grandview Heights.
The ridership was low, although I was riding the first trip out of Downtown of multiple, leaving downtown around 3:45 pm, earlier than a lot of traditional jobs end. To the best of my knowledge, this is the absolute earliest an express bus departs downtown.
As we continued northwest along Riverside, we made one stop at the Griggs Dam P&R. This serves the western end of Upper Arlington. Interchange here is available to the 32 and 75. After we made this stop, the Scioto views began to get really spectacular (or, rather, as spectacular as Central Ohio can get.)
Before long, we got off of Riverside and onto Dublin-Granville, then north onto Dale. We pulled into the Dublin Dale Park & Ride right on time. This Park & Ride is very conveniently positioned in Dublin, within one block of the central core.
Dublin is one of my favorite suburbs of Columbus. The positioning of mixed-use development atop a gorge with the Scioto at the bottom really is nice. To top it all off, connecting the newer, mixed-use development to the older section of town is a beautiful pedestrian bridge, aptly named the Dublin Link.
After a bit of exploring Dublin, it was time to return to Columbus. We pulled out of the park and ride, heading south onto Dublin-Granville, which becomes Bridge as we crossed the Scioto. We weaved in and out of business parks and office centers as we went along Metro Place and Blazer Parkway. Ridership was slightly higher, as this is the only reverse peak trip of the day of the 73 Dublin.
We went south along Emerald Parkway, then getting onto I-270 at Tuttle Crossing. We blew past Hilliard, then turned onto I-70. Riding an express bus is always very fast, and they are usually on time as a result. We exited I-70 at Spring, then turning onto Long. Turning south onto 4th, we passed the Statehouse, after which we turned onto Main, then into the COTA Transit Terminal.
so what
As I already said, the 73 is one of my favorite routes. It runs rather frequently (4x a day), is very scenic, and has something that I don’t think any other express route does: the ability to go out to the suburb, walk around/explore/get food (shout out to North Market in Dublin!), then take that same express route back downtown in the same evening. With the current schedule, you can have up to one whole hour in Dublin before the return trip runs. This 100% will add some points.
Service along the Riverside Drive segment is complemented by service on the Zoo Bus, which runs around six times daily while the zoo is open. It makes all of the same non-downtown stops (it takes a different route through downtown) but continuing north from the Dublin Dale P&R to the Columbus Zoo, it nicely complements the current service on the 73.
final rating
I cannot see a world where I do not give the 73 a 10 out of 10. Yes, a perfect score. It has comfortable sidewalks where it stops and runs frequently enough to take trips out to Dublin for the afternoon. The scenery is unlike pretty much anything else you will see on COTA, with a few exceptions. Before riding this route, I had high expectations, which it very much exceeded. This may be the only route I will give such a high rating to.
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