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COTA Service Changes/Updates/Additions in 2012

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Started 5 months ago by News
Latest reply from Walker

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News
Columbus Underground
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COTA budget adds buses, drivers, runs for 2012
By Robert Vitale
The Columbus Dispatch
Thursday December 22, 2011 5:28 AM

The Central Ohio Transit Authority plans to add 11 buses, 20 drivers and 40,000 service hours in 2012. A new budget approved yesterday by the agency’s trustees continues an expansion of bus service for the sixth straight year. But after posting the nation’s biggest increase in ridership during the third quarter, officials expect a Jan. 1 fare increase to put a damper on growth in the coming year.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/12/22/cota-budget-adds-buses-drivers-runs-for-2012.html

Posted 5 months ago #
heresthecasey
OSU
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I'm not sure the now seemingly-regular fare increases by cota are warranted. It now costs the same or is more expensive to ride cota than it is to ride far more developed transit systems in other cities and countries.

So what do we get in return for forking over more in fares every year?

Ugly new grey color and paint scheme on the buses.

Ugly new cota logo.

Service offered in 2011 that is equal to the amount of service offered in 2001 (when you guessed it, fares were much lower).

No smart cards or other ways to pay fares besides exact change on the bus.

No real-time bus arrival information.

No light rail, no streetcars, no rapid transit, no nothing. Just Buses.

Ugly, cluttered, too-close-together stops on High Street that kill retail downtown (with no plans to change).

No 24-hour service.

No direct airport service.

Etc, etc, etc... Pretty damn disappointing.

Posted 5 months ago #
NerosNeptune
Goodale Park
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Cards would definitely be nice. I've seen quite a few people just have to pay $2 lately anyway because they didn't have exact change.

Imagine if stops had a kiosk with google maps set up. It knows where you are.. you touch on the map where you want to go and it tells you what bus will get you there and when it will come, then offers to sell you a ticket or a pass if you want. All this technology exists and I imagine wouldn't cost that much relative to COTAs budget to get set up at at least some major stops.

Posted 5 months ago #
BCNation
Franklin Park
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Since it's Festivus, the Costanzas (if they were real people) would want me to yelp my COTA grievances...some of which were just mentioned above...

No local/crosstown service along Sawmill Rd.*, Hilliard, Polaris; No PM service (after 6) to Grove City

Buses run every 45, 60 minutes in non-peak times for some routes; You have to wait 45/60 minutes to catch a transferring bus in non-peak times

Buses show up 30 minutes late, or not at all

The marketing/PR is not completely effective, and average people who ride COTA still don't know the changes and what is going on

The buses stop running at Midnight (six days a week), and unless you live in Clintonville/Campus Area/Short North/RiverSouth/Brewery District on a Friday/Saturday night, you're screwed. (But, there may be another # 21-type line for Broad Street, whence the Casino opens)

*- This was supposed to have been done for the upcoming changes, but COTA needed more time to find a turnaround

Posted 5 months ago #
News
Columbus Underground
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New chief vows to continue COTA’s turnaround
By Robert Vitale
The Columbus Dispatch
Thursday January 26, 2012 4:16 AM

W. Curtis Stitt had a summer job aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Great Lakes freighter that sank a few years later, in 1975, during a storm on Lake Superior. More recently, he has worked for more than a decade at the Central Ohio Transit Authority. Both jobs, he said, have shown him what it takes to turn around literal and figurative big ships.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/26/new-chief-vows-to-continue-cotas-turnaround.html

Posted 4 months ago #
Cole
Hilltop
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heresthecasey said:

No smart cards or other ways to pay fares besides exact change on the bus.

Ugly, cluttered, too-close-together stops on High Street that kill retail downtown (with no plans to change).

I won't argue with the rest of that. But COTA has recently released trip tickets which should help. Overall, you can buy 1, or 2-trip tickets ahead of time from the main COTA office on High Street.

As a rider, I don't know if I agree that the stops are too-close-together. Instead, with 15 non-express buses and 26 total buses serving the downtown area, the real problem is too many routes. More should be diverted to Broad Street or other north/south streets.

Posted 4 months ago #
Cole
Hilltop
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The main reason I posted was that the COTA 2012 map looks like it borrows some of the ideas of the unofficial COTA map made by Xing Columbus. There's no high-frequency routes outed by the new map but low frequency maps are displayed by dashed lines. That's kind of cool.

Posted 4 months ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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Cole said:
I won't argue with the rest of that. But COTA has recently released trip tickets which should help. Overall, you can buy 1, or 2-trip tickets ahead of time from the main COTA office on High Street.

As a rider, I don't know if I agree that the stops are too-close-together. Instead, with 15 non-express buses and 26 total buses serving the downtown area, the real problem is too many routes. More should be diverted to Broad Street or other north/south streets.

In an age of plastic it's ridiculous our transit system is still a cash only business. At the very least outfit the 10, 2, Night Owl and 1 with the technology for the smart card and see where it goes in 6 months to a year.

Posted 4 months ago #
bjones7
Worthington Ohio
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To be honest, I'm happy for COTA and how they got back on their feet, but now its time to act! Mr Stitts needs to cut back on new routes for a year or so and focus on the technology aspect! Smartcards are a must, as well as real time displays.

The newest Express route, the #26 makes NO SENSE at all. Its a non-stop service to Downtown from Morse Rd/Indianola via Indianola/Summit/4th. They could of easily brought the #34 down,which gets on the free way 500 ft from the #26 stop Then run the #34 down Indianola and get back on the original #34 rt at Cook. It would save them a lot money. Really what is the point of the #26 with one stop before downtown (and no highway access)? Why doesn't the #26 have two stops, Graceland and Morse/Indianola? This is the mess I am talking about!

Posted 4 months ago #
bjones7
Worthington Ohio
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lifeontwowheels said:
In an age of plastic it's ridiculous our transit system is still a cash only business. At the very least outfit the 10, 2, Night Owl and 1 with the technology for the smart card and see where it goes in 6 months to a year.

Because that would make too much sense, and who wants a business in today's world to make too much sense?

Posted 4 months ago #
columbusmike

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I've always wondered if you could run a new type of transit system in Columbus. Why not limit the number of bus routes to about 7 or 8 main routes, all color-coded, very high frequency, with fewer bus stops (basically a BRT). Run smaller buses or even small golf-cart type vehicles throughout the neighborhoods to feed the main bus lines. Basically, you would end up with multiple transit stations. Plus, then it might make a case to build light rail in the future.

I'm not sure there is a system like this in place anywhere in the world, and I'm guessing it could have drawbacks (harder to serve cross-town routes), potentially more staff and buses to pay for, etc.

Posted 3 months ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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columbusmike said:
I've always wondered if you could run a new type of transit system in Columbus. Why not limit the number of bus routes to about 7 or 8 main routes, all color-coded, very high frequency, with fewer bus stops (basically a BRT). Run smaller buses or even small golf-cart type vehicles throughout the neighborhoods to feed the main bus lines. Basically, you would end up with multiple transit stations. Plus, then it might make a case to build light rail in the future.

I'm not sure there is a system like this in place anywhere in the world, and I'm guessing it could have drawbacks (harder to serve cross-town routes), potentially more staff and buses to pay for, etc.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, we could certainly keep it a bus only transit system and draw some inspiration from the cities that do it right. Many South American cities run bus only pretty well.

Posted 3 months ago #
Analogue Kid
5th by West-Northwest
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Cole said:
As a rider, I don't know if I agree that the stops are too-close-together. Instead, with 15 non-express buses and 26 total buses serving the downtown area, the real problem is too many routes. More should be diverted to Broad Street or other north/south streets.

Some of the stops on 5th ave in 5XNW are literally 100 ft apart, so you can imagine my frustration when we stop at every one. On good days, my bus is right on time but when it has to stop every 15 seconds it makes me not want to ride at all.
Also I would also like to see contactless smart cards, as it would really speed boarding.

Posted 3 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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lifeontwowheels said:
In an age of plastic it's ridiculous our transit system is still a cash only business.

Any type of pre-purchased pass can be paid for with credit cards. I've never used cash for COTA when I buy monthly passes.

Posted 3 months ago #
bjones7
Worthington Ohio
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lifeontwowheels said:
Rather than reinvent the wheel, we could certainly keep it a bus only transit system and draw some inspiration from the cities that do it right. Many South American cities run bus only pretty well.

+1 . I agree. Also, COTA has the tools to make our bus system a great one. The local, crosstown, express, and link routes (under used) are great ways of distinguishing where each route does/goes. Add technology and COTA will be good to go!

To all the Lightrail people, Columbus is financially and physically not ready for such a investment/build. I do believe however if Columbus wants to bring more people into the city a commuter train from Marion to Delaware, through LewisCenter/Powell and maybe two or three stops in Columbus (like Polaris), would be their best bet. During rush hour they could have an express/limited service route for faster commute. Yet a commuter train is even "way down the road".

Posted 3 months ago #
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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Walker said:
Any type of pre-purchased pass can be paid for with credit cards. I've never used cash for COTA when I buy monthly passes.

But the paid passes are daily increments. I know I (and I'm sure others) am talking about having a pass like a gift card that you could simple add value to, is durable and reusable. Provide that and develop an app to add value from your smart phone and a spot on the COTA web to add from and you could probably see ridership increase.

Posted 3 months ago #
mrpoppinzs
Arena District
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Walker said:
Any type of pre-purchased pass can be paid for with credit cards. I've never used cash for COTA when I buy monthly passes.

I think lifeontwowheels sums it up. I also want to say that the new 2 trip prepaid pass is only available for purchase at the Cota HQ and the woman I bought it from said it was unadvertised and as if COTA was making it hard to buy.

Posted 3 months ago #
swinzo1010
Upper Arlington
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I would like to see the option to buy passes online. The reusable card idea makes the most sense because you could potentially reload it from an web browser (desktop, tablet, mobile smartphones, etc.).

Posted 3 months ago #
johnwirtz
Evanston, IL
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mrpoppinzs said:
I think lifeontwowheels sums it up. I also want to say that the new 2 trip prepaid pass is only available for purchase at the Cota HQ and the woman I bought it from said it was unadvertised and as if COTA was making it hard to buy.

...or it can re-load automatically when it drops below a certain value.

These types of systems are starting to go away though. Transit is moving towards open fare payment. You would just use your credit or debit card directly on the bus.

Posted 3 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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bjones7 said:
To all the Lightrail people, Columbus is financially and physically not ready for such a investment/build.

Why not? Our city has maintained a triple-A bond rating for years. We easily have the means to sell bonds to finance the development of a variety of types of transit lines.

I do think we'd be better served to start with something affordable like the Music City Star (32 miles of heavy commuter lines for $41M) rather than with a light rail line like the proposed COTA North Corridor line that was around $1B to run from Polaris to Downtown.

Posted 3 months ago #