Travel by Car
We encourage carpooling to Columbus if possible. Columbus is centrally located in the Midwest, and 46% of the US population lives within a 10-hour drive. Dormitory check-in begins at 3 pm. See parking options below.
Bus Transportation
The Columbus Greyhound Station is located at 111 E. Town Street Columbus, Ohio 43215. For tickets and travel information visit their website.
Note: There is no direct passenger rail service to Columbus. You can explore combined rail/bus options from other Ohio cities on the Amtrak website.
John Glenn International Airport (CMH; 4600 International Gateway, Columbus, OH 43219), located 8 miles from The Ohio Union, is the major Columbus airport. There is no public transportation option to the OSU campus, but rental car, taxi, Uber, and Lyft are available options.
Rickenbacker Airport (LCK; 2241 John Cir Dr, Columbus, OH 43217), located 19 miles south of The Ohio Union, is a small civil-military, cargo-focused airport with that offers nonstop flights on Allegiant air to several destinations. There is no public transportation option to the OSU campus.
Campus Parking
The Jones Tower residence hall and The Ohio Union conference venue are 0.7 miles apart (~15-minute walk). Overnight parking is available near both. Because parking is pull-ticket at entry and fees must be paid upon exit, the least expensive parking option is to park for the entire conference at one garage, without multiple entries/exits. Parking rates and rules are posted below.
Lane Avenue Garage (2105 Neil Avenue Columbus Ohio 43210) is the closest parking garage to Jones Tower residence hall.
Ohio Union South Garage (1759 North High Street Columbus OH 43210) is the closest parking garage to The Ohio Union conference venue.
Due to the number of conference participants, we are contracting with Transportation and Traffic Management to provide buses between the Jones Tower residence hall and The Ohio Union at the start and end of each conference day. Please utilize these special buses, marked “MWZFC 2022” for transportation or walk between the residence hall and Ohio Union.
On Friday afternoon/evening, the shuttle will run a continuous loop between the Archer (#8) and Union bus stops (#9) at the following times:
- 4:30 – 6:30 pm
- 8:30 – 10:30 pm
The bus takes ~5 minutes from the Archer stop to the Union, and the full loop takes ~15 minutes.
On Saturday morning, the shuttle will run a continuous loop between Archer (#8) and Union (#9) bus stops between 7:00 – 9:00 am.
On Saturday evening, the shuttle will run the following continuous loops:
- 5:30 – 6:15 pm, between Union (#9) and Archer (#8) bus stops
- 6:15 – 7:30 pm, between the Archer bus stop (#8) and the Ohio Stadium (#4). The bus will drop passengers at the Huntington Club entrance, near Gate 23. The bus takes ~5 minutes between the two stops, and the full loop will take ~10 minutes.
- 8:00 – 10:15 pm, between the Ohio Stadium and the Archer bus stop (#8).
On Sunday morning, the shuttle will run a continuous loop between Archer (#8) and Union (#9) bus stops at the following times:
- 7:30 – 9:30 am
- 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
The bus takes ~5 minutes from the Archer stop to the Union, and the full loop takes ~15 minutes.
At other times, the Campus Area Bus Service (CABS) is a free transit service provided by The Ohio State University Transportation and Traffic Management. No ID or bus pass is needed to ride on regularly scheduled buses. Note: CABS runs dramatically reduced service during summer and most buses do not run on summer weekends.
You can download the Ohio State app to get the real-time CABS bus routes information:
- iOS: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/osu-mobile/id446442963?mt=8
- Android: http://market.android.com/details?id=edu.osu.osumobile
- Click on the ‘Campus’ tab (bottom icons) and the CABS routes will show in real time
Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA)
The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) provides public transportation within Central Ohio and the Greater Columbus area. Several COTA routes provide service between Ohio State’s campus and locations throughout Columbus. Ohio State’s Campus Area Bus Service (CABS) and COTA share multiple bus stops on campus, allowing for easy transfers between the two systems.