Polis

There are a plethora of improvements and fixes that need to be made to COTA, problem is the staffing is just not there. COTA has the luxury of serving a fairly large area on a limited budget; well up until this year when the levy was passed. The website is being addressed fairly slowly and the GIS files used for the shelter info is way out of date. Also, shelters can only be put in stops that have a minimum number of boardings a day. The statehouse has a ton of boardings but I bet there is an issue with putting a shelter there. Practically the whole system is focused on downtown, a very traditional way of route planning, which does not fit on top of the suburban employment centers that currently exist. Certainly COTA has its issues but the imput from the public overall is usually limited to the "crazies" that want to be heard. What needs to exist is a platform for transit supporters to voice their concerns and suggestions to COTA. Of course COTA does have a way to voice your opinoin but it is in the form of a customer service rep taking down your words via phone. A website would do the trick but would get flak for not being accessible to all :-P A non-COTA ran site/organization/platform would be a great idea. Maybe a public transit supporters organization, something like that, a miniature APTA for columbus. As far as the driver issues go, the drivers get to pick what routes they want to run every 4 months; some change some do not. COTA administration/management cannot keep a driver on the same route if the driver wishes to move and has the ability (seniority) to pick. All these problems snowball over time but public transit authorities struggle to stay in a positive public light in midwestern cities. It is the unfortunate state of public transit at the moment.

Well... they are. You only go about 10 mph in NYC :P. Anyways, I really hope the next administration pours money into public transit infrastructure and alternative modes research. I like Columbus, but I'll admit I am looking for a job elsewhere because it is so spread out. We need more cohesion to save money, regional governments anyone?

My guess is funding and I believe the whole project is going to be done in various phases, creating multiple branches. Where did you find out that it would take 4 years?

The trolley buses COTA used in the past were at a very different time population wise and executed poorly. I'll be glad if the trolley works but I still think it costs society more than it will make and the research against bus trolleys are still bunk. They are used more often and quoted as "failing more" because of it, coupled with terrible studies on public opinion of buses being tagged onto trolley buses. I guess I just don't understand the desire for a trolley line, I have ridden them, felt that they were, if anything, way to slow and restrictive. Seems that people don't like buses because that is what they see all the time. However trolleys have been tried and are occasionally true, I hope Columbus has the density for it and changes the way traffic flows to downtown.

Apply anyways, it cannot hurt. The marketing VP is being fairly picky at the moment but a native Columbus(ite??) may fare better. As long as you have a degree in marketing or equivelent experience and a bachelors in something go ahead and apply.

Actually I don't believe it will make that big of an impact, here is why. The trolly is designed to serve only a certain length of high street and downtown (the first phase anyways); it is attempting to attract people that do not normally use public transit and some people that currently do use public transit. However, during peak hour bus service, much of the #2 riders will be coming from areas that will not receive trolly service; since it is not going north of campus (per the current plan). The buses and trolley will reach maximum capacity during peak hours, this is where the problems will arise. The #2 still must service the same length of high street to prevent transfers, since transfers are the bane of public transit, and COTA's customers will complain if it doesn't. Along with the #2 is the #31 worthington, rerouting this around high street may be possible but very difficult. Some Circulators, such as the OSU-Arlington that serve Lennox, will overlap with the trolly line but this will not prove an issue since it is in an area next to campus that has plenty of street space. I am hearing that the city wants COTA to run the trolley now and they would pay for construction. I prefer a trolley bus and believe the arguments against it are primarily bunk. I was wondering if the city itself voiced any opinions about the buses running down the same section of high st. Since, if they do not plan on rerouting traffic, the area will be extremely crowded at peak times.

Does anyone know what the attitude is towards Buses using High Street while the Streetcar is in place?

It is a really satisfying to hear someone compliment COTA. On the down low I will tell you that the Smart Card is farther off than anticipated at the moment, most likely due to the extra staff needed in the marketing department. If anyone knows of someone qualified to be a marketing director or a PR person COTA has openings. Public transit has a fairly negative blanket of opinions attached to it in Columbus; most of them without any grounding. Frequency is the most important factor in riders; however the lack of marketing and information dissemination limits the ability of improved routes to increase their ridership! Non-riders are constantly complaining about the lack of convenience due to wait times, but in many cases it is the refusal to change their lifestyle to accomodate transit. Then again on the other hand some routes do have hour wait times. Columbus's lack of density in much of its metro areas do not accomodote bus transit very well and this also hurts COTA's service. Certainly COTA needs to change but so do the lifestyles of Columbus residents (not all of them of course) AND the development practices that promote long transportation times. Sorry for rambling but, as you can tell, I am a COTA advocate. If anyone else wants to leave their impression of COTA I could maybe pass some along to people who matter ;)

52 Only functions during the beginning and end of the OSU quarter. The 92 goes to the Airport but it is only crosstown that serves James road area, from Eastland to the airport. The plan is to provide better serive to the airport, but as far as marketing goes COTA is still looking for a marketing director. On top of that Port Columbus sometimes has issues with the bus coming down

Hi, I was wondering if there was a meetup group to discuss all issues related to planning in Columbus? If not would anyone be interested in helping create one? I had an idea for a meetup group (www.meetup.com) that would help promote informal discussion of planning related issues in hopes of figuring out a way to assist in remedies personally or providing information to residents on what they can do. Also, we need to have fun doing it! This would not be a forum for debate but rather discussion. I would be willing to pay for the meetup group for a bit but I would like to guage interest first. I was thinking of meeting once a month and choosing a topic based upon forum discussions. Nothing to specific, topics such as neighborhood characteristics, public transportation in your community, zoning issues, etc. This idea stems from my experience and belief that the general public has lost interest and lacks the know how to influence how their cities and communities develop. Any thoughts, opinions, etc?

Glutmax: About a half mile north is Short North, which is a happening place. Mainly younger people and lots of restaurants, bars, art galleries and the like. The area is fairly dense although it is difficult to live a non-car lifestyle in C-bus, but as far as I can tell parking is really cheap compared to other cities.

Hi Jerry, Two questions again from a COTA guy, does the GCRTA have any programs that attempt to "Improve the view of public transit in the eyes of the public"? Also, does GCRTA have any programs to promote any sort of forward, innovative thinking to push GCRTA towards the future? I am attempting to run an innovation meeting with COTA to see how the agency can be pushed into a more forward thinking mode so I was wondering if any similar agencies have done this before.

While I agree that we need to re-structure our transportation infrastructure I do not feel it is fair for states such as Ohio to be subject to the full 40 cents. Our public transportation infrastructure is not able to supply residence with a form of transportation that is reliable and convenient. Without major changes to the public transportation system FIRST or at least at the same time of the gas tax increase, Ohioans will be forced to spend more and more of their income on transportation with little alternatives. I know that car sharing exists, biking, etc ; however the majority of residence do not live in areas where they can bike to work or car share even exists or even useful public transit. Also, I do not put the blame soley on the gov't, in general the public looks down on public transit and alternative transportation sources because of historical use. Potential future use of public transportation is great, it just has not been realized by the public, yet.

COTA seems to rarely be a topic on these forums ( I know there was a fairly lengthy post on the Levy LAST year), odd since Columbus is the ONLY city in Ohio that has the ability and support to develop sustainably with little resistance and public transportation is a key to this growth. If Columbus wants to become competitive in the sustainable city market, which is starting to take off with speed in "progressive" (a.k.a. wealthier both monetarily and good policy) cities, public transportation has to be a forerunner.

This project looks decent, sort of bland IMO but I like alot of decoration. Is anyone else worried that sidewalks seem to be continously shrinking even though Columbus is attempting to build more units like this one.

Hi JMasek, I have a few quesitons about stops. 1 Does the RTA utilize any digitalized stops for buses? Maybe ones that include information on real time bus location and estimated time of arrival. 2 Does the RTA have any stops that are specific to any areas? If so do they contain any form of public art? 3 What do you find makes a more than acceptable stop for riders? I ask these questions because COTA (Central Ohio Transit Authority in Columbus) will be in build mode next year and we will be looking at possibly rebranding and stop design. Thanks

I don't really believe that an urban growth boundary is a solution to anything. Oregon has enough problems with it as it is, ugly court fights. Really its not where we live and what we live in but how we live. We live too far from work in places with no walkability and public transit. I don't particularly like suburbs but I am not one for restricting people's options of housing, its their choice and a freedom not available in many other countries and should be preserved. Lets build better suburbs instead of forcing people into higher density urban areas. I'm not saying don't encourage a certain level of density but many times the view points are urban or bust. The suburbs once provided a valuable asset of less business but today, in many places, this is untrue due to poor design and society clutching to highly auto dependant lifestyles.

An auction is a very different way of selling a condo. I wonder how true the issue with selling a condo downtown being linked to being able to sell the suburban home, really is. If this is the case and the condo builders along with many "urbanaut" groups want people to move downtown maybe they should buy up those homes with a non-profit and re-sell them to get people moving into the condos. This might increase the excitement, or buzz, level of this neo-traditional life style. Also, does anyone know if this development will have any affordable housing? I notice that many condo builders promote downtown living as a way to live more eco-friendly and what not but there always seems to be a lack of affordable housing. I know the property is of prime value but as all good urban promoters know disperal of income leads to better results, of course I over generalize here.

Hmmmm... *scratches chin* Well that would make an interesting anti-road rage measure. Have to put a blood pressure cuff on to drive if you have been in trouble with the law due to road rage. When it builds to high you are warned!

Not only that but our time to travel to any shopping destination has nearly doubled. 40 mins to work + 40 mins back + 20 mins to the store + 20 mins back + 15 mins to soccer practice + 15 mins back + 10 mins here and there = A long frigging time to sit in your car every day. On top of that you have to squeeze in any chores for the day, eating, prep time, etc. We wonder why people are more stressed out they lost their free time to travel time! It would make an interesting study to have people make trave logs to see how long they travel each day compared to their stress level.

I noticed some suggestions of coloring buses. There is an inherent problem with coloring buses that ties into federal funding. In general, federal funding, and this possibly is a general FTA requirement, requires that any individual bus must be used on as many routes as it can serve in any single year. This means that coloring a bus one color is not feasible since a "blue" bus would have to be used on a "red" route eventually. I know at COTA the buses switch routes all the time. The government does this to make sure there is no favoritism in the type of bus that is being used in any individual area, i.e. promote equality. Temporary coloring would be a pain (such as using magnets), but I suppose it could be built into some sort of display system.

I liked the ideas that the top three provided with transit stations downtown serving the suburbs and major corridors. From what I have read I feel that they really captured the idea of transit as the blood stream of a city, designing the rail to run through neighborhoods and shopping/entertainment areas. Also realizing that transit stations should also be visually appealing was another major point. While I support the idea of light rail in Columbus I do not feel that it can be constructed without some strong government interference. Obtaining the right of way for the rail so that it follows the most optimal paths would take forever but maybe they can do it over a long year period, maybe 15 years??

COTA now has enough bus drivers to staff its current fleet requirements. This means that we will be able to expand bus service in the upcoming service changes for 08. COTA hopes to retain more and more drivers since the work schedule is more acceptable because drivers do not have to cover extra hours due to under staffing. Also COTA is starting the process of analyzing our existing routes in order to improve their functionality. The staff necessary to conduct this process, numbers that were not available in the past due to large budget cuts, is growing. Future routes will also be added according to the short range and long range plans created by COTA.

Hello Jerry, Question from a fellow transit advocate. I was reading the 06 financial statement for the RTA and noticed that your ridership pretty much blows away COTA's, for obvious reason having a larger population in the Cleveland MSA but COTA covers nearly 100 more square miles of service area that the RTA. What do you feel are some of the defining qualities that contributes to what success the RTA does have? Also, if you know anything about COTA or Columbus please comment on any differences you feel are important contributors. Overall Columbus's MSA is alot less dense that Cleveland's, and I feel that this may be a main contributor to the vast differences in % of population that utilizes COTA. Income may also play a large factor however I feel that the Rapid may draw the suburban crowds, somethign we have trouble drawing. I noticed that the rapid's ridership actually rose about 20% from 1997 to 2006 while the overall ridership dropped.

JMasek, welcome to the thread (although I'm not a frequent poster). I work for COTA, as a planning intern, although I'm not an official public representative, but I fully support your dive for information. I am a supporter of public transportation and find the limitations of using it in Ohio and the midwest in general a great challenge but perhaps one that can be faced and slowly conquored. One thing that both the GCRTA and COTA face is the negative imagery of bus use. Nevermind the issues with route design, to get someone to ride the freaking bus you basically have to convince them its not filled with heorine addicted, insane, derelicts that just try to steal their things. People see buses and just think shuttles for the poor, of course there are those that love using the bus especially park and ride express services, but even some of those lie primarily empty (Dublins :P) because of negative imagery.