Q9:ExpandingMultimodalTransportationOptionsinColumbus

During the quarter, shared mobility companies Spin and Lyft deployed electric scooters in the Columbus market. CoGo Bikes also grew, adding 26 new stations in the region, 13 of which are located in the city of Columbus.

EasyMile was selected to operate the self-driving shuttle to start service in the Linden community in November 2019. The Smart Circuit self-driving shuttle operating on the Scioto Mile in downtown Columbus had nearly 12,000 riders through the end of the quarter.

Other highlights from the quarterly report include:

• Columbus City Council passed on EV-Only ordinance to remove disincentives for adding EV charging and EV-only parking to private properties
• Twenty new workplace charging ports were installed at four sites
• The Smart Columbus Experience Center celebrated its one-year anniversary since opening to the public. The center had the highest visitor traffic since opening during Q9, with over 9,300 people coming through our doors. Since opening, nearly 19,000 people have visited the Experience Center, which surpassed the life of project goal of 10,200 visitors. Community festivals provided the most traffic, and events hosted at the Experience Center provided a consistent flow of 80-200 visitors per day. On average, our team welcomed 108 visitors to the center daily with a minimum of 14 and a maximum of 831.
• In April, the State of Ohio transportation budget was approved. This approval included:
  • Doubling the amount of public transit funding from $33 million a year to $70 million;
  • Increasing the gas tax by 10.5 cents a gallon, bringing nearly a 60 percent increase to the infrastructure budgets of local municipalities; and
  • Authorizing the introduction of a $200 annual registration fee for plug-in EVs and $100 for non-plug-in hybrid vehicles.
• The City of Columbus purchased 66 fleet EVs in Q9, for a total of 191 to date. The vehicles included one Ford Fusion Energi, 23 Nissan LEAFs, 16 Kia Niro’s and 26 Toyota Prius Primes.
• Yellow Cab of Columbus purchased 10 Tesla Model 3 vehicles in Q9, which are expected to be in service in Q10. The company recently installed two dual-port 50k DC fast chargers to support these vehicles, which are expected to be activated in Q10.

Read more about programs and initiatives in Q9 in the report below.