Greater Columbus COTA News & Discussion

September 17, 200717 yr

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.

October 1, 200717 yr

From Dispatch reporter Tim Doulin's The Cranky Commuter blog.

Posted by Tim Doulin on September 27, 2007 - 2:19 PM

More Dublin for COTA?

Central Ohio Transit Authority is trying to add the entire city of Dublin to its service area. Currently, COTA provides service to the Franklin County portion of Dublin. The bus company wants to be able to extend service to the parts of Dublin in Union and Delaware counties. Franklin County, Columbus and 10 other municipalities were part of the original COTA agreement when the bus company was formed in 1970. Dublin, now the second largest city in Franklin County, didn’t exist at the time of the agreement, but the Franklin County portion of Dublin receives COTA bus service because the county is part of the agreement.

October 30, 200717 yr

The link below is to MORPC's inventory of freight operations and right-of-way for their study area. As stated in the report, it is meant to be a starting point for COTA/MORPC if rail transportation is explored again. Each corridor is examined for additional transportation modes (transit, bike paths, shared-use paths, etc). It would be nice to see if these corridors could be "optimized" to free up more space for light rail/commuter rail operations, especially those corridors with less than one train a day in the corridor.

http://www.morpc.org/web/transportation/freight/2007RailInventory_000.htm

November 17, 200717 yr

11-WEEK RISE IN BUS BOARDNGS

Gas prices help COTA attract riders

Saturday, November 17, 2007 3:40 AM

By Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Like the price of gasoline, the number of people taking the bus is up. COTA ridership has increased about 5.2 percent since Aug. 27, compared with the same period last year. The number of passenger boardings rose for 11 consecutive weeks during that time, compared with the previous year. "I would like to think it is because of some of the changes we are making in our service," said William Lhota, Central Ohio Transit Authority president and chief executive officer. "But I would have to say the main driver is gasoline over $3 a gallon."

November 29, 200717 yr

COTA plans another Fields Avenue facility

Garage would house fleet for disabled

Thursday, November 29, 2007 3:37 AM

By Tim Doulin, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

With ridership up and its bus fleet growing, the Central Ohio Transit Authority wants to build a garage on Fields Avenue to house vehicles used to transport the disabled. The 90,000-square-foot paratransit facility is tentatively expected to cost $18.6 million to design and build, and would be located across the street from an existing COTA vehicle facility at 1333 Fields Ave. Federal funds would cover at least half the cost of the project, with COTA paying the rest. The transit authority is pursuing additional federal funds. Federal law requires public transit agencies to operate paratransit vehicles.

December 13, 200717 yr

NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, December 13, 2007

COTA CONTACT

John Palmer, Public Relations Manager

614-275-5932 Phone

614-275-5933 Fax

COTA Ridership Increases in November

Weekday Ridership Up for the 15th Consecutive Week

COLUMBUS – The Central Ohio Transit Authority’s (COTA) ridership continued its upward

trend in November. 1.29 million trips were taken on COTA for the month, an increase of

1.6 percent, or 20,296 more passengers, than November 2006.

Ridership gains are continuing in December as well. For the week ending December 2,

COTA recorded ridership of 295,709, an increase of 1.2 percent when compared to the

same week in 2006. For the week ending December 9, ridership was above the prior year

week by 2 percent.

COTA’s weekday ridership (Monday through Friday) has posted gains for the last 15

consecutive weeks.

“We are pleased to welcome more customers to COTA as we focus on improving

operations and delivering quality customer service,” said Bill Lhota, COTA President/CEO.

“The opportunity to serve more customers and expand public transit in our community

comes at a time when central Ohio residents need greater transportation choices, and

we’re happy to fill the need.”

For more information about COTA, please log on to www.cota.com.

- - END - -

January 14, 200817 yr

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.

January 17, 200817 yr

Can someone explain the COTA airport service to me? The 92 seems to be a crosstown and the 52 seems to go to OSU certain days of the month. Also the COTA website makes me want to drive.

January 18, 200817 yr

COTA once had an airport shuttle (Airport to Downtown) with small buses, but due to a lack of marketing and no clear way to identify them as airport shuttle buses, the routes were discontinued. Now it is what you describe: You can ride it if you can find the right route.

Too bad, because COTA could be sharing in the success at Port Columbus, provided they offer better service and a decent marketing plan so that airline passengers actually know they can ride the bus.

January 18, 200817 yr

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

January 23, 200817 yr

From Tim Doulin's "Cranky Commuter" blog in the Columbus Dispatch

January 22, 2008

Mapquest, move over

Columbus and Cleveland have been added to PublicRoutes.com, a directions-based Web resource for public transportation. The service provides point-to-point directions for all modes of transportation available and also has information and directions to each city’s top points of interests such as restaurants, sports arenas and nightclubs. The company at www.publicroutes.com gives directions in more than 30 major cities in the U.S. and United Kingdom, and plans to expand to include more.

More at http://blog.dispatch.com/commuter/

February 12, 200817 yr

From Tim Doulin's "Cranky Commuter" blog in the Columbus Dispatch

COTA on the money

Central Ohio Transit Authority’s operating budget finished in the black in 2007, and will carry over about $3.3 million. And the bus company begins this year collection of the 10-year, 0.25 percent levy approved by voters in 2006. That is in addition to the money COTA receives from a long-standing permanent 0.25 percent levy. All that would seem to bode well for COTA finances. But COTA, like a lot of people, are keeping a close eye on the economy.

February 25, 200817 yr

Re-posted from my blog <A href="http://walker.columbusunderground.com/?p=465">located here</a>:

I'll be the first person to admit that I don't ride the bus as much as I should, even though I fancy myself as a staunch supporter of mass transit. In all fairness, I've lived in German Village for the past five years and I really didn't need to bus around much because I had a lot within walking distance of where I lived. Grocery store, coffee shops, stores, bars, restaurants. All walkable.

Now that my wife & I have said <A href="http://walker.columbusunderground.com/?p=331">goodbye to German Village and Hello to the KLD</a>, we're currently lacking in everyday walking options, and even though it's only a quick 20-30 minute walk to most places downtown, it's currently hard for me to make that trek on slippery sidewalks with sub-freezing temperatures.

So a few weeks ago, I decided to take the bus downtown for a lunchtime meeting, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I walked down to the corner stop near my house and stood outside for only three minutes. We have a stop that serves the 6, the 11, and the 16... all three of which will take me over to Broad & High (my destination) so during the day one of these three will pass through every 5-10 minutes. Easy enough.

I hopped on and dropped in my $1.50 in change and grabbed a seat. The first thing that I noticed was that the bus was very clean. I hear a lot of people complain that they don't ride the bus because it's "dirty" but I didn't find that was the case. At least not with this particular bus. I took a look around at my fellow riders and saw a mix of faces. Some people who looked like they were headed to work. Some people who were dressed a little more casually. No one looked overly dirty or smelly or crazy, as is often the negative stereotype associated with bus riders.

After a quick 10 minute ride I had reached my destination. It would have only taken me 5 minutes to drive, but probably another 5 minutes to find a spot to park, plus a buck or two at a meter or more in a surface lot. I had to walk a block from the corner of Broad & High to get to my final destination, but it was brisk and I actually bumped into someone I know and had a quick chat.

So there you have it. I know it sort of goes against the grain, but I'd describe my bus ride as clean, quick, easy, and cheap. And after being inspired last month by Jeff Johnson's <a href="http://wordpress.com/tag/im-taking-the-bus/">COTA Challenge</a> I plan on attempting something similar pretty soon. Monthly bus passes are $45 bucks, which is roughly equivalent to 15 gallons of gas for the car. I'm sure I could easily offset that, not to mention the additional wear and tear costs that go into using a car.

To be continued...

February 25, 200817 yr

Good post! One wish I have is that COTA would create a reloadable bus pass that didn't have a time limit: essentially a "smart card". I don't ride enough to justify a monthly pass, so it's just not cost-effective. But a "smart card" would make more sense and I have to believe it would reach out to a whole new audience of riders that don't use COTA because they just don't happen to have exact change ($1.50) in their pockets.

I've been told by sources at COTA that they are "working on" instituting this technology. It can come none to soon as far as I'm concerned. If COTA is going to grow ridership on what is currently a bus-only system, this would seem to be a smart way to do it.

BTW: I agree with your assessment of the cleanliness of the buses. I ride the #2 (North High) and #4 (Indianola) and I rarely see anything worse than a left-behind newspaper. I'm sure there are examples of worse, but by and large I think the image of dirty buses (if not a myth) is at least exaggerated.

February 27, 200817 yr

Great thread topic Walker! Looking forward to any COTA updates either here or at your blog - which, by the way, is wonderful.

February 27, 200817 yr

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I highly recommend reading Jeff Johnson's Urban In-Fill blog too:

http://urbaninfill.wordpress.com

His COTA posts are quite inspiring. ;)

February 27, 200817 yr

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 ;)

February 27, 200817 yr

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.

I actually had thought about applying one of those positions with COTA. My background is a bit geared more towards online marketing than traditional marketing though, so I wasn't really too sure what they had in mind. ;)

February 28, 200817 yr

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.

March 13, 200817 yr

COPING WITH NEARLY $3.45 A GALLON

Save on gas: Park your car

Many people turn to COTA, ride sharing

Thursday, March 13, 2008 3:31 AM

By Tim Doulin

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

With gas prices heading toward $4 a gallon, some commuters are looking at alternatives to their gas-powered cars and trucks, and more are turning toward public transportation. COTA ridership is up 3 percent during the past 12 months. In January, the bus company provided 1.29 million rides, up 4.7 percent compared with January 2007. "We are seeing increases, and I am confident we are going to continue to see increases as gas prices go up," said William Lhota, president and chief executive officer of the Central Ohio Transit Authority.

March 14, 200817 yr

In my (somewhat limited) experience:

- COTA buses are clean

- The drivers and riders, on the whole, are friendly and helpful

- Stick to High St. and North/South routes and you're golden

However:

- The entire system breaks down when you need to transfer

- It only gets worse the further you venture from downtown

From speaking with various other riders, unanimous opinions include:

- Customer care is non-existent

- Buses are seldom on time

- Any one driver seldom remains on the same route for any period of time, including a report of a new driver assigned to the Polaris shuttle who had no idea what her actual route was and had to ask the passengers where to turn and stop.

And a smackerel of parting observations:

- Signage/wayfinding is generally loathsome

- There are a total of zero shelters for the riders who board the High Street buses in front of the State House

- The website is kind of all over the place

- The GPS real time Google route maps don't seem to be online

- The web-based COTA TripPro route planner produces great fiction

March 14, 200817 yr

According to the COTA Trip Planner... the main offices for the Ohio DOT... where there is actually a sheltered bus stop on the grounds.... does not exist. I have actually entered the address of ODOT on several occasions and no such address exists in their system.

Seriously, it's always the seemingly small details that will sink an organization or business's customer relations.

March 14, 200817 yr

^Absolutely.

March 14, 200817 yr

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.

March 14, 200817 yr

Also unfortunate is the level of funding devoted to transit & rail by both our federal and state governments.

March 17, 200817 yr

I rode the busses during last week's snow days and was really disappointed.

First, I live near S. High St., and I'm continually amazed that the two busses that run to downtown (#7 and #16) aren't the least bit staggered. They both come at roughly the same times, and have 20 minute headways during rush hour. If they simply staggered these times, it would cut my average waiting time in half, and I'd ride much more frequently. I don't think this would cost them a dime.

On top of that, both busses must have hit my stop early, b/c I was out at the stop 1 minute before they were supposed to pass. After 10 minutes went by, I contemplated just walking the 1+ mile downtown in the cold, but I held out hope. All in all, I waited 23 minutes for a bus to pick me up on the busiest street in Columbus. COTA should be embarassed.

March 17, 200817 yr

Running during snow times slows COTA's service alot, probably up to 50%. Also making sure two routes hit the same area at staggered 10 min times might indeed cost money in the form of adding another bus to the 16# since it is sheduled at 25 minute intervals and the #7 at 20; also there might be an issue with layover downtown and deadhead time. It's not as simple as adjusting the schedules. If you want this change to take place you need to call up customer service to tell them, they will send it to planning or scheduling.

Snow delays buses just like it delays cars, you cannot expect a bus to be on time when there is snow on the road, just like you don't drive like you normally do when there is snow on the road. When you ride the bus on a busy street during rush hour (which, by the way, South high street is not nearly the same as north that is why the #2 doesn't serve much of it), you have to expect delays it is unreasonable not to. When you ride public transportation in the US you have to expect to sacrifice time. It's how it is currently. If this was a normal day during rush hour, with no snow, and the bus was really late you should report it. The driver management is fairly quick at fixing driver problems like that.

As far as being embarassed, the authority actually functions fairly well for its necessary coverage and tight budget. Our society should be embarassed we don't push for funding more vigorously, but there are few well known avenues to do so. As noozer said the level of funding for transit and rail is unfortunate. EDIT: I would also like to note that many public transit employees do not feel motivated to serve society the best they can; COTA, for example, in my opinion, is ran fairly poorly. The internal barriers cause massive issues with providing better service, it's rediculous. Employees do not want ot put the effort to overcome barriers, there is no incentive.

Simply complaining about COTA will do nothing, you have to tell COTA. This wasn't meant to be aggressive toward Brewmaster, so I hope it did not come out that way; it's just that the way transit works (operations and schedule planning wise) is unknown to many people.

March 17, 200817 yr

Thanks for the well thought out post!

It was last Monday and Tuesday, so the roads were perfectly well plowed. It was the sidewalks (my normal transportation infrastructure) that were still in bad shape and drove me to take the bus. I actually think both the #7 and #16 hit my stop early, and that was the problem.

I will suggest the staggered approach to COTA, but it still won't address my key concern. That is, YOU HAVE TO MEMORIZE A BUS SCHEDULE TO RIDE! Even me, a reasonably savvy transit user is stimied by COTA's scheduling. The headways are all jumbled up depending on the time of day, so I can't just walk out to a stop and know how long I might wait. I could end up standing at the corner of High and Hoster for an hour just to get across Downtown to the Short North!

If COTA has any objections to the proposed streetcar, it only will have itself to blame for not offering bus routes that offer the same level of service and convenience.

I'm not a transit engineer, but it would seem that a route structure shaped like a spine with ribs would work much better. For people who live near the spines (High, Broad, Neil, Livingston, Cleveland, etc...) , they could have the luxury of just walking out to thier local stops and know that they'll be waiting an average of 5 minutes. Similarly, rib routes could come in 20 or 30 minute intervals so the locals could easily memorize things. Add a little slick advertising, and ridership would go through the roof.

March 17, 200817 yr

I actually spoke to a regular rider of the #4 who said the bus service was better than usual during the snow, which I suppose is about as backhanded a compliment as you'll ever get.

All the waiting around for the bus is laughable in a downtown as compact as Columbus. An able-bodied person walking an average speed of four miles an hour could crisscross the area without breaking a sweat.

In truth, it's the elderly, handicapped and kid-saddled that suffer.

Polis is right: complaining about it here will get us nowhere (ha ha), but it seems like COTA is incapable of change, and the only folks who ride do it out of last-resort necessity; historically not the most influential constituency.

A slick ad campaign will only help COTA if they get their house in order. Otherwise, to paraphrase the great Bill Bernbach, good advertising will only help a bad product fail even faster.

March 23, 200817 yr

COTA bus ridership continues upswing

Suburban News Publications

Published: Saturday, March 22, 2008 3:05 PM EDT

As gasoline prices are the highest Central Ohio residents have seen in recent memory, and more cyclists hit the road and trails, COTA ridership continues to increase.

More below:

http://www.snponline.com/articles/2008/03/23/multiple_papers/news/allcotarid_20080322_1225pm_2.txt

March 24, 200817 yr

COTA has been trapped in a tight fiscal situation for the past 10 years. This is the first year in a LONG time (at least for a transit agency) that there has been money for growth. Truthfully COTA does a decent job of serving what is it mandated to serve by the federal and state government (low income, elderly, hopsitals). The high frequency routes are successful (1,2,10) and the rest are sub-par.

Changes have already been made to some express routes, but no one knows about them because of lack of marketing. The 67/57 now run two trips in the AM and PM and serve a new park and ride, that's 4 chances to hop on a bus and head downtown in the morning. Again no one knows about it because there is no marketing.

The route structure of COTA is the typical radial system focused on downtown, it's old and very traditional. The agency does not hint towards changing the overall structure but rather adding service to areas of employment outside of downtown (Dublin, for example). The route schedules have more trips during peak hours and less during off peak, just like most other transit systems. It can be confusing at times, especially since routes like the #2 and #1 southbounds have 2 different locations for each route, so you may end up switching from a #2 to a different #2. Same goes for northbound #2, one ends in graceland, one ends in colonial hills, one in crossroads :O.

As far as snow goes more buses are put on routes when it snows, thus increasing service so people aren't stuck in the snow. That type of service cannot function normally because of budget issues, UNION issues (big hinderance at times), and lack of buses at the moment.

There is no miracle cure for fixing a transit agency and persistant misunderstandings about how public transit functions and it's benefits/drawbacks cripple the chances of it ever changing.

It will take a while for COTA to recouperate from the past 10 years of shrinking service.

I know that there are transit enthusiasts in Columbus that are just begging to be heard, but there is no real public forum to do so. Would anyone be interested in creating a meetup group to discuss transit in Columbus? Sort of a citizen's group. meetup.com offers a platform to schedule meetings and what not.

Edit: Almost forgot, the mentioned that if COTA is against the trolley they should serve the area with the same frequency as the proposed trolley. Well, guess what, it does; at least on High St. The #2 during peak times has a 7 min headway at all stops south of Graceland to downtown. The problem is the weekend service is terrible on the #2 and the trolley would, assumingly, serve the weekends with higher frequency.

March 24, 200817 yr

If COTA can't communicate a bus route through simple signage, I'd hate to see how they'd implement a full-blown marketing campaign.

March 24, 200817 yr

As a regular (almost daily) COTA rider for nearly 13 years, I can echo some of the criticisms -- particularly the lack of a 10-ride (or whatever) pass, which I've brought to the attention of top COTA officials. (You can call it a "smart card" and wait for the technology to be sorted out, or you can call it a "dumb card" and give the drivers a paper punch to use every time one of the 10 rides is used up -- a technology mastered by any mom-and-pop lunch place, and once mastered by COTA drivers in the days of paper transfers.)

But the real problems with COTA are a lack of support for transit in this town. I live a couple blocks from the No. 2 -- which is the ONLY route in central Ohio with a schedule that runs frequently enough to offer people a truly viable choice -- as long as they don't stay out later than midnight (or 6 p.m. on Sundays).

But the No. 2 won't improve, and the rest of the system will never be viable, until civic leaders make real transportation choice a priority and build a rail system (the "spine" that Brewmaster mentioned) with extended service on the feeder bus lines (Brewmaster's "ribs.") Keep in mind also that a short streetcar line is NOT a rail system. I'm not opposed to the streetcar plan, but I can't get excited about it until the civic leaders pushing it explain how it would be fully integrated into a broader regional rail and transit system, without which Columbus will falter.

March 24, 200817 yr

You are right on the money. There needs to be a much broader discussion and an equally broad and deep commitment by the key leaders in Columbus and Central Ohio about rail-based transit alternatives and how each will integrate with existing (buses) and planned systems (streetcars, light rail, intercity passenger rail).

March 25, 200817 yr

Exactly, public support from the citizenry and the political bodies is just not present, in the open. Sure there is support on these forums and the levy did pass but there is no public discussion, only behind the doors discussions. If this existed COTA would be forced to kick into high gear.

UrbanSurfin smart cards are frequently discussed within COTA; however they are never brought into discussion at the appropriate times, that and COTA is way understaffed at the moment. (at least the planning and scheduling department). Smart cards would be a great asset but there is just no one to take over this initiative, yet that is ;).

Just to explain something when a route is changed it can (usually) only happen when a service change happens; January, May, Sept. The amount of time and effort it takes to change a route time is tremendous. The schedules have to be just so, so the drivers can have the mandatory amount of downtime and rest stops, etc. On top of that the buses have to be at a end of line rest area to transfer shifts. The Trapeze database needs to be altered, all the signs need to be altered, and COTA needs to make sure the buses can legally go into certain private areas at the new times (ie Graceland for the #2).

Feeder routes, ala circulators, cost and arm and a leg to run and keep running. For those to be successful their ridership has to be phenominal or have another source assist in funding. Plus feeder routes would force a transfer, the death knell of public transit. Of course the feeders could be "timed" to meet up with the main route, but if one is running late then wait times will happen anyways. If COTA had a BRT then that might work but as of now the standards for stop location is to have a stop every 1/4 of a mile and closer downtown, if possible. COTA assumes that people will walk up to 1/4 of a mile to a bus stop.

Kingfish the issue with the signage and what not is an important one; however the planning department has been in charge of that for a long time now. Marketing has just expanded and should be more involved. COTA has suffered almost a decade with a reduced marketing department (at least as far as I can tell). The current thoughts are not a full blown marketing campaign, but rather campaigns that revolve around improved route service primarily on the expresses. The efforts so far have been mediocre at best, the organization that COTA uses for advertising is pathetic and comes up with boring ideas. Hopefully the new hires in the marketing department will be more progressive.

What are some ideas for creating this public interest? I know Mayor Coleman wants to beef up public transit, I'm not sure how though no news of discussion between COTA and the city has reached my ears so far. Any ideas?

April 15, 200817 yr

From here: http://walker.columbusunderground.com/?p=572

The COTA Challenge: Day One

Posted on April 11th, 2008

If you’ve read this blog before, then you’re probably aware that I’m a mass transit enthusiast. I really want to see Columbus develop a multi-faceted rail transit system over the next decade or so. It would be a huge economic boon for our region and would also help to alleviate some of the problems we’re going to be facing in another 10 years as gas prices continue to rise and our city continues to grow.

In the meantime though, the only thing we’ve currently got is the COTA bus system. I mentioned recently that I wanted to put my money where my mouth is and ride more frequently now that our new neighborhood doesn’t have quite as much within immediate walking distance. Well, yesterday we finally made the jump and picked up our first monthly bus pass. Right now Anne & I are opting to share a single pass, as we have a single car that we share and just one pass should work just well to supplement our transportation needs.

Let me preface my overly-detailed and boring anecdote by saying that I know COTA isn’t perfect. Everyone has at least one bad story to tell about busses running late. Everyone probably also has stories to tell about their cars breaking down. No machinery is perfect, so I don’t expect the bus system to be either. And neither should you.

So anyway, last night I had a meeting up at the South Campus Gateway to get to. Normally not a bad drive. Six mile round trip from home. 15 minutes up, 15 minutes back. Parking isn’t much of an issue there either with the large parking garage costing only a single dollar. Instead I decided to try out the new pass and see how it worked (I’ve only ever used change or BuckID before to ride the bus, so this was sort of a new toy for me).

I set out from home giving myself about 40 minutes to get to my destination (not really knowing how long it would take) and walked down to the bus stop near my house to wait for the #16 to come by. I used the timetables they have listed online to find out when it would be coming by, so I only had to wait outside for 2 minutes. It was right on time. The bus was maybe 25% full and the ride to High Street went quickly as nobody got on or off between my stop and High.

The bus dropped me off right in front of the Elevator and I crossed the street to catch the next #2 heading north on High. The #2 runs in 10-20 minute headways around 6-7pm on weekdays, but I lucked out and only had to wait about a minute to hop on. If I had missed that one it would have cost me an extra 20 minutes of waiting. That’s seriously way too long for the most heavily used route in the city. I can already anticipate that happening in the future. I better make sure to always have my Nintendo DS with me.

Anyway, the ride up High street was quick. Lots of people watching through the Short North on a nice spring evening. I hopped off at the Gateway with a total travel time of 20 minutes. Not bad at all.

My meeting went fairly quick, and I walked across the street to the classy bus stop in front of the 7-11 to catch a ride headed back downtown. The #2 was running 2-3 minutes late, so I had to wait a total of maybe 4-5 minutes. Still not bad. Especially when it’s so nice out. After I boarded I consulted my timetables to see the best way to get home. My situation is a bit weird since I have three lines that run past my house, but two of them travel east on Long while another starts off at Nationwide before cutting down to Long at Cleveland Ave. Should I get off the #2 at Nationwide or at Long? After some calcuations I figured that my wait would be shortest getting off at Nationwide and waiting for the #11. The lines running down Long Street would result in an extra 15 minute wait.

So I hopped off at Nationwide, crossed the street and waited on the #11. It arrived on time after a 3 minute wait. A quick ride delivered me back at home. Total ride back was 23 minutes. Again, pretty speedy.

Luckily for you, I’m not going to go into this much detail with future reports of mass transit ridership. But I did want to provide as descriptive of a picture as possible for something that is an alien concept for many people in our city. COTA retains a somewhat negative public image, but it’s really not as bad as the hearsay. It’s a bit intimidating at first to have to figure out the routes and times, but so was learning how to drive when I was sixteen.

I’d encourage anyone to give the bus a fair shot if they’re up for the challenge. It was actually sort of fun too. I expect both the fun and the challenge to wear off quickly, but I’ll still report back with more as the month continues.

April 15, 200817 yr

From here: http://walker.columbusunderground.com/?p=580

The COTA Challenge: Day Two

Posted in Transportation on April 11th, 2008

I wasn’t planning on writing again so quickly about my bus adventures, but today’s trip was a bit different than yesterday’s even though I rode nearly the exact same route from home to the South Campus Gateway and back. (Plus I’ve got to try to make Jeff Johnson proud!)

For starters, several buses were running late. Some by as much as 10 minutes. Which normally wouldn’t be a big deal by myself, but I decided to cart Desi along for the ride. At 7 months old, he’s getting heavier, which makes standing around aimlessly drag longer than it feels like it should.

The rides were otherwise pleasant, and people were very talkative since I had the kiddo with me. Who doesn’t like seeing a happy baby?

The other problem was the off-and-on rain today. Some of the stops have adequate shelters while others have nothing. I can’t imagine these are expensive structures to erect. Some of the shelters don’t include system maps or timetables either which can be confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the system. Why the discrepancy? I’d assume this simple infrastructure update would be a worthwhile investment for COTA that would bolster ridership.

Oh, and slightly off topic… While on the bus today I did have a conversation with a woman about the Streetcar line. She said she didn’t see the point. I explained the benefits that I personally see with it (economic development, environmental impact, public transit stigma), but it didn’t seem to change her mind. She was telling me there was “nothing to do downtown” but also telling me I should go to a show at the Palace Theater. That she was helping to promote. Downtown. Huh. Strange.

April 15, 200817 yr

From here: http://walker.columbusunderground.com/?p=583

The COTA Challenge: Day Three

Posted on April 15th, 2008

Today I had several errands to run and thought it might be a good idea to test out the effectiveness of making multiple stops with the bus. Afterall, this was during the day and my stops were all either downtown or in the Short North, and I’d have to pay to park at meters three times for three stops, which would quickly add up.

All the routes I rode today ran on time which made the overall experience pleasant. The only problem was that my downtown stop was on a street where the routes came in 20 minutes headways. So a quick 5-minute stop resulted in a 15-minute wait for the next bus to come by. But since it was a nice day, and I was only a 10-minute walk from High Street, I opted to just take the stroll over to catch a bus there instead.

I was afraid while out that I’d encounter some timing issues as I decided to take a detour to Tigertree to check out their new space and chat for awhile. But the #2 pulled up as soon as I walked outside, so it really didn’t delay me at all.

Oh, and as I mentioned on Friday, we have three routes that take us home, the 6, 11, and 16. I was a bit confused that day and trying to get off at either Nationwide or Long to catch one of these buses on the different routes they run, but today I figured out that I was overcomplicating things. I can just hop off on High Street at the stop between Long & Gay and all three of these buses will pick us up from here. I knew that I’d quickly be figuring out some of the challenges. For anyone intimidated by the maze of COTA routes… it gets easier after a couple rides.

All in all I spent about an hour and a half running around today. Probably the same amount of time I would have spent if I had drove when you consider the extra time finding meters, parking the car, and getting Desi in and out of his car seat (which he has grown to dislike). I got to save myself about $5 in parking fees and gasoline usage to boot.

April 15, 200817 yr

<A href="http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13532">COTA Service Expansion Plans for Fall 2008</a>

HOORAY! :D

April 15, 200817 yr

http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13554

COTA Proposes Fare Increase for Summer 2009

Don't be surprised, this came across that COTA is thinking about proposing a fare increase in Summer of 2009 to help support the new double fleet buses that can be able to support the new expandision. What are the fares they are changing?

Local/Crosstown - Current: $1.50 Proposed: $1.75

Express Current: $2.00 Proposed: $2.25

Transfer: Current: Free Proposed: 15 Cents

LINK: Current: 50 Cents Proposed: 75 Cents

ADA Cardholders: Current: Free Proposed: Free

The people who are senior, disabled or kids with Key ID card will remain the same.

Monthly passes:

Local Current: $45.00 Proposed: $50.00

Express Current: $62.00 Proposed: $65.00

DayPass Current: $3.50 Proposed: $3.65

Discount Daypass Current: $1.75 Proposed: $1.85

7 Day Pass Current: $18.00 Proposed: $20.00

NEW:

3 Day Pass Proposed $10.00

What you think?

April 15, 200817 yr

Again, I would rather have a reloadable pass ("smart card") rather than a pass that expires. I think this would open up a whole new level of riders for COTA who currently don't ride or ride infrequently.

There's another advantage. If COTA is to be running the downtown streetcar and (hopefully) running light rail in the future, wouldn't be a good idea to have "smart card" technology in place and the bugs worked out before a new mode comes on line?

I've got no problem with the proposed fare increases. It's still very reasonable and we have to be willing to pay our share to support new and better services.

April 15, 200817 yr

I agree Noozer. And it should be rechargeable online so I can make use of my employer's COTA subsidies.

April 16, 200817 yr

I got a phone call today from Marty Stutz, VP of Marketing, Communications and Public Relations at COTA, who requested that I make sure people are aware that this information is speculation/rumor only and is not an official announcement from COTA. They've gotten quite a few phone calls about these announcements on ColumbusUnderground, and were surprised to see them here themselves, as they watch the site to keep up with public opinion about the bus system.

FYI, I moved this topic out of "transportation news" to hopefully settle some of the confusion and keep people from mistaking this information as official or confirmed.

May 14, 200817 yr

COTA ridership grows as gas prices rise :clap:

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 6:59 PM

By TIM DOULIN

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The more gas prices rise, so does bus ridership and carpooling. From January through May 4, COTA recorded about 5.2 million rides, up 7.2 percent compared with the same period last year. Ridership in April alone was up 17.5 percent over the same month in 2007.

May 28, 200817 yr

COTA's president to retire in 2010

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 2:57 PM

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

William Lhota plans to step down as president and chief executive officer of the Central Ohio Transit Authority in two years. The COTA board of trustees is expected to approve a new contract Wednesday for Lhota that will expire June 30, 2010. It’s expected his base salary will remain at $136,590. Lhota, 68, has led COTA since 2004. Lhota was a retired American Electric Power executive when he was hired Sept. 13, 2004, to run the then-struggling bus authority, which faced financial and ethics problems left by the previous COTA president.

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