Want to get from here to there? You have a lot of choices. In the past year, the number of transportation options in Columbus has more than doubled. We wanted to know how they stack up and enlisted nine Dispatch interns to test various methods.

Want to get from here to there? You have a lot of choices.

In the past year, the number of transportation options in Columbus has more than doubled.

What�s new? App-based ride-sharing programs. A free circulator bus that travels from the Brewery District to the Short North. Bicycle-sharing. Car-sharing.

We wanted to know how they stack up against one another and against more traditional methods of getting around and enlisted nine Dispatch interns to test various methods.

At noon on Wednesday, we sent them from The Dispatch to a restaurant in the Short North, about 1.5 miles away.

Here�swhat they found.

UberX

In a lot of ways, UberX is like having a personal driver.

It�s also the quickest and easiest transportation mode I�ve taken around Downtown.

I opened the Uber app and clicked �set pickup location� and �request uberX.� It said the driver would be there in approximately seven minutes, gave me his first name (Ebenezer), his average rating (4.8 out of 5) and a picture of him, his license-plate number and the type of car he was driving (Pontiac Vibe).

Then I watched the car approach on a map.

Ebenezer pulled up, and I hopped in. We chatted about his experiences driving for Uber, and then we were at the restaurant. I didn�t have to fumble with cash or sign a receipt because Uber had stored my credit-card information from when I enrolled online.

I was the first to arrive at Melt Bar & Grilled.

There, I reopened the Uber app, which prompted me to give a rating, so I did � five out of five stars.

For more information, go to www.uber.com/cities/columbus.

� Liz Young??

Lyft

There�s a certain panache to jumping in the front seat of a car that wears a pink mustache. I was afraid I couldn�t match such free-spirited coolness. Still, I opened the Lyft app and requested a ride.

Three minutes later, my driver, Mary Brown, pulled up with a clean-shaven car. (She said the pink mustache � a Lyft staple � was in the back because the forecast called for rain.)

Once she and I completed the mandatory Lyft driver-to-passenger fist-bump, we took off. It took only 11 minutes to arrive at the restaurant.

As for the cost, my first three rides through July 29 are free. Typically, Mary said, the fare is about $1.50 base plus 30 cents per minute.

I used the app to rate Mary on a five-star scale and to leave a $5 tip. No cash was exchanged � all was paid via credit card on the app.

On her side of the app, Mary rated me and put my initial fears to rest. She gave me five stars and wrote, �She was awesome!�

For more information, go to www.lyft.com.

� Danielle Seamon??

Car2Go

I felt confident that the Car2Go option would be one of the easiest, quickest modes of transportation, but I found out there is a learning curve.

First, Car2Go requires a membership, so I rode along with Dispatch photographer Kyle Robertson, who is a member.

A Car2Go app, which shows members the locations of available cars, told us there was one around the corner from the Dispatch building.

But I�m bad at reading maps, and we walked in the wrong direction. Twice.

Once at the car, Robertson scanned his membership card over a reader on the windshield. A tiny screen told us that we were good to go. But we couldn�t get into the car.

On our fourth try, we got in.

Once inside, Car2Go is easy to use. A screen shows where you are and how long you are in the car (you pay 41 cents a minute).

Once we got to the Short North, we found an open parking meter, which users don�t have to pay for, parked and walked to lunch.

For more information, go to http://columbus.car2go.com.

� Devan Filchak??

CoGo bikes

Straightforward instructions and easy-to-find docking stations made my trip to the Short North as simple as, well, riding a bike.

I walked to the CoGo parking station at Broad and High streets, breezed through the touch-screen commands, unlocked my bike and set off for the Short North.

I bought a helmet just for the trip, so I was covered on top.

Traffic didn�t present any trouble, and my 10-minute ride to a docking station at Lincoln and High streets was completed without incident. Drivers, pedestrians and fellow bicyclists respected my space on the road.

Each docking station I passed had available slots. (If one is full, you must find one with open slots.)

You have 30 minutes to use a CoGo bicycle before the cost increases, so I had plenty of time to spare.

From my perspective � in the correct lane � CoGo is an enjoyable, worry-free way to ride.

For more information, go to www.cogobikeshare.com.

� Jim Ryan??

Cbus

I was interested in seeing how easy the Downtown circulator would be to figure out.

I walked along Broad Street toward Front Street but couldn�t find the red-and-blue Cbus marker. I asked four passers-by if they knew where the free buses stopped. None did.

So I walked to Gay and Front and waited at the stop there.

Four minutes later, a bus stopped at the marker, and I got on. There is no fare: The bus service is free.

Although it was lunch hour, the bus was not crowded � maybe eight passengers.

I sat in one of the blue plastic seats and put my tote bag on the one next to me.

The bus made several stops on the way along Front, then along High Street before I exited at W. Hubbard Avenue and walked a few steps to the restaurant.

If you know where you�re going, Cbus is pretty easy to use.

For more information, go to www.cota.com/CBUS.aspx.

� Madeleine Winer??

COTA

I stood on the curb at Broad and High streets for about five minutes before my bus rolled up. I got on, smiled at the bus driver, inserted $2 and found a seat. There were plenty.

A minute or two was lost at traffic lights and bus stops along the route. The ride would have taken longer had there been more people boarding at each stop along High. At several stops, there was no one.

Minutes later, I was in the Short North.

COTA isn�t the fastest � or cheapest � way to get from Downtown to the Short North. But it is reliable.

Buses run about every 10 minutes around lunchtime, and there are multiple stops to choose from.

A word of caution: It�s a good idea to check the bus schedule and know which route number to use. Buses stack up quickly in front of the Statehouse, and it can be difficult to figure out which bus is yours.

The bus was clean, the driver was friendly, and there were plenty of open seats.

For two bucks, taking COTA was well worth the cost.

For more information, go to www.cota.com.

� Will Drabold??

Taxi

The Dispatch building is close to the Ohio Theatre, where a few taxis park during the day.

We got into the first one we saw, a Blue Cab. Inside, I told the driver where I wanted to go, but he didn�t know the restaurant. Instead, I gave him an intersection.

The drive was fine, and I was sure that I would be one of the first to arrive.

But then it was time to pay. After fiddling with the credit-card reader for several minutes, the driver finally said it didn�t appear to be working. That�s when I looked out the window and saw Liz, the intern who used UberX, walk into the restaurant.

Fortunately, a Dispatch photo intern who rode with me had cash on hand and paid the fare and tip.

Seeing as my meal was only about $10, taking a taxi is a pricey option. I would rather have spent that on dessert.

Add in the trouble with the credit-card reader, and the trip was less than convenient.

Taking a taxi is definitely one of the faster options, but it comes at a steep price.

� Kristen Mitchell?

Personal car

I was told to use a Dispatch staff car; they are parked in a lot next to the newspaper office, so that was easy.

But my optimism waned when I had to stop at the third-straight red light at Broad and High streets.

As pedestrians dashed through the crosswalks in front of the car, I concluded that walking would have gotten me to the Short North faster.

Luckily, that was the end of my red-light woes, and the rest of the trip down High Street went smoothly � until I looked for a place to park.

The Short North is notorious for parking, and not in a good way.

Along High Street, there was no open meter, and as the �distance remaining� on my phone�s GPS dropped to 0.1 miles, I started to look for other parking options.

But as I pulled in front of the restaurant, I couldn�t believe my eyes � an open meter.

If you can get to your car easily, and your parking lot or garage lets you come and go, driving to lunch is not a bad option. And good luck finding a meter.

� Dominic Binkley?

Walking

When I started my walk to the Short North, I knew I wasn�t going to be the first to arrive at the restaurant.

But I also know there would be no struggle to find parking, and no fees.

As I walked along 3rd Street and was crossing Broad, I overheard a woman talking on her cellphone. She said she had to walk somewhere to meet a client. That seemed to cause some stress.

�We have to walk because of the parking around here,� she said.

I wasn�t nearly as stressed.

There were some clouds, so I carried an umbrella. But after I turned onto Long Street, the sun peeked out, and my worries faded.

I kept a steady pace and had to stop at only two red lights on High Street.

I saw two jaywalkers, but traffic was not that heavy.

In all, the walk took a little over 25 minutes. I barely broke a sweat. (The temperature was cool, hovering near 70.)

If time is not an issue, walking is easy and, because it is good exercise, beneficial.

� Josh North?