Big crowd for OSU game prompts special plans for buses, parking garages, portable toilets

Buckeyes fans who want to avoid hours of postgame gridlock will be able to get a shuttle or bus ride to their cars or homes, even though the USC game will end late Saturday night.

"No one needs to worry about being left behind," said Marty Stutz, spokesman for the Central Ohio Transit Authority. "If someone came to the game on a bus, we're going to get them home on a bus."

COTA guarantees that shuttles to the state fairgrounds and the Crosswoods Park and Ride lot in Worthington will run for at least two hours after the game, no matter how late it ends.

COTA also is increasing the frequency of bus service on other routes and extending hours on several routes just to make sure.

Ohio State University officials warn that it could take motorists as long as three hours to exit campus after the big game with the University of Southern California. Cars parked closest to the stadium probably will take the longest to get out.

"The last thing we want to do is scare people, but we do want them to have a realistic idea of what they might face and to be prepared," said Beth Kelley-Snoke, OSU's assistant director of transportation and parking services.

Coming in should be a much-smoother ride, especially earlier in the day. Shuttles and buses will run earlier than normal, so tailgaters can arrive well before the game's 8 p.m. start.

COTA says parking at the state fairgrounds is an especially good bet because buses will bypass most of the congestion and run every five to 10 minutes.

"We had over 3,900 passengers use our Expo Center Park and Ride alone last Saturday -- almost double our average ridership," said Beth Berkemer, COTA spokeswoman.

To help ease the flow of postgame traffic, Ohio State will attempt to distribute parking in the South Campus garages more evenly. That means some cars will be directed to the next garage before a closer one is full.

Bikes also provide a nice alternative. More than 440 riders left bikes Saturday at two free corrals operated by the University Area Enrichment Association. Although the school doesn't have a dedicated lane for bikers, it will ask bus drivers and motorists to leave cyclists as much room as possible.

For those who arrive on campus early, will there be enough toilets?

Ohio State hopes so and says it has learned its lesson from big matchups such as the Texas game in 2005, in which cleanup crews found several soiled shorts and a few coolers filled with poop.

"You either deal with the problem up front, or you deal with it later when it's ugly," said Kelley-Snoke.

In the past four years, the university has doubled the number of portable toilets available on game days, she said. On Saturday, there will be more than 90 port-a-loos -- about the same as last season.

But because officials anticipate large crowds, a contractor will clean them at midday, said Mike Penner assistant athletic director for event management. Ohio State has never done that before.

The university also will have an army of groundskeepers, garbage collectors and custodians working through the day and into Sunday morning to clean up the campus. Trash bins will be rolled into the stadium and tailgate lots by Friday night and cleaned out during the game and again at 4 a.m. Sunday.

The campus hopes to lessen the mess with its Scarlet, Gray and Green recycling campaign. In the past two years, it has collected nearly 190 tons of recyclables from fans in the stadium and in tailgate lots.

epyle@dispatch.com