The Bus to the Future, a project of Columbus, OH as part of Finding Time: Columbus Public Art 2012

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Since I do not have a car, I use the COTA (Central Ohio Transit Authority) bus system regularly. The bus lines, schedule, and accessibility often determine my appointments and activities. I first noticed The Bus to the Future public art installation while waiting for a bus on High Street at a bus stop labeled below with the sign, “equal opportunity.” It seemed ironic and made me think of inequality when you are car-less which impacts your ability to access job opportunities, social activities, and access in general when you live in a city that is dominated by cars and with limited public transportation.

 

The new bus stop labels are a part of The Bus to the Future public art project, conceived by the German collaborators, Martin Keil and Henrik Mayer, who call themselves Reinigungsgesellschaft, which means "The Cleaning Society” in German. They were commissioned by the city of Columbus as part of Finding Time: Columbus Public Art 2012 in conjunction with 200Columbus the Bicentennial. The duo profess that their work is an "artistic venture at the point of intersection between art and society." Other bus stops are labeled on High Street, a main street of downtown Columbus and Broad Street that intersect High.  Other phrases include: “cleaner air,” “remaking the city,” “demographic change,” “renewable energy,” “reduce dependency on oil,” “reduce emissions,” “cleaner water,” “power of diaspora,” “job creation,” “public space,” “car free care free,” “community needs,” and “to the unknown.” Large posters at bus shelters declared, “Explore Transportation Diversity,” “Social Inclusion,” “Liveable Communities,” “Local Potential, ”Redefine Freedom,” “Health Point,” “Bicycling Benefits,” and “Reduce Speculation.”

 

What I noticed next was that the signs were in English and that the focus was the use of language rather than images. This does not acknowledge the diversity of the constituency that uses the bus that includes international students and immigrants.

 

As part of their research, Keil and Mayer rode the COTA bus from one suburb to another for three days and spent two weeks to conduct interviews along the bus lines. This culminated in a workshop where they asked, “What would you call your bus line to take you into the future?” The goal of the workshop was “to spur community thought and discussion on creating sustainable options in and around Columbus/Ohio and other cities in the world.” As a result of the interviews and community workshop, labels were collected and then displayed on bus stop signs and shelters.