Topic: Greater Columbus COTA News & Discussion

[Columbo]

COTA dedicates first passenger shelters on Capitol Square

COLUMBUS—Friday, Feb. 17, at 11 a.m., COTA will join local leaders, community stakeholders, customers and project partners to celebrate its first passenger shelters built on Capitol Square.  The state-of-the-art shelters will be dedicated with a short ribbon-cutting ceremony at the South High Street shelter in front of the Statehouse.

These high-capacity shelters, located on East Broad Street and South High Street, will support approximately 5,000 boardings each day and serve 35 lines.  The capacity of the High Street shelter is approximately 40 people inside and 70 people outside under the extended roof.  The Broad Street shelter can accommodate approximately 30 people inside and 50 people outside.

MORE: http://www.cota.com/News-Releases.aspx?id=201


Photo of the Capitol Square bus shelter provided by Columbus Underground

[KJP]

If you want to make sure things like streetcars, light rail and regional rail services to outlying communities like Delaware and Newark are part of the long-range plans for COTA, these meetings are important to make sure your voices are heard....
 
http://www.cota.com/Public_Comment_Meetings.aspx
 
2012 Long-Range Transit Plan
 
The Long-Range Transit Plan (LRTP) is a comprehensive strategy for enhancing significantly the public transit system for the central Ohio region over the next 23 years. Utilizing a variety of methods to ensure public participation, the LRTP has been developed to respond to the growing transportation needs of the central Ohio region by providing an expanded, reliable, and safe transit system.

COTA is seeking public input about the update to the Long-Range Transit Plan (LRTP) for the 2012-2035 time span. 

Below are the dates, times and locations of the LRTP public meetings:

Tuesday, Feb. 28
6 p.m.
Calvary Baptist Church
3865 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43214

Thursday, March 1
6 p.m.
MLK Branch-Columbus Metropolitan Library
1600 E. Long
Columbus, OH 43203

Monday, March 5
6 p.m.
Franklinton Branch-Columbus Metropolitan Library
1061 W. Town St.
Columbus, OH 43222

Thursday, March 8
6 p.m.
Parsons Branch-Columbus Metropolitan Library
845 Parsons Ave.
Columbus, OH 43206

Thursday, March 15
6 p.m.
William G. Porter Board Room
33 N. High St
Columbus, OH 43215

For information about the LRTP, public meeting dates, times and to submit comments, visit www.cota.com or call Customer Service at (614) 228-1776 (TTY/TTD 614-275-5878).

[noozer]

COTA posts nation's largest bus ridership increase
By  Robert Vitale
The Columbus Dispatch Monday March 12, 2012 2:04 PM

The Central Ohio Transit Authority posted the nation’s largest increase in bus ridership in 2011 among big-city agencies.

Figures released this morning by the American Public Transportation Association show that central Ohio was one of two major markets where bus ridership grew by more than 10 percent.

There were 1.7 million more trips on COTA buses last year than in 2010. The 10.15 percent increase brought ridership to almost 18.8 million, the highest in more than a decade.

After scaling back operations during a string of difficult budget years in the last decade, COTA has been expanding routes and updating its fleet.
Read more at: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/12/COTA-ridership-increases-highest-in-nation.html

[osu4brutus03]

looks like Columbus is heading in the right direction but has a long way to go

[Columbo]

One more article about the COTA's new Statehouse bus shelter from the Dispatch:

Dispatch: Chic shelters designed to revitalize neighborhoods - Advocates of fancier bike racks and bus stops say design matters and good looks are worth the higher cost

[Columbo]

Still more about COTA's search for a new bus turnaround location in the Clintonville area to replace its existing turnaround in the Graceland Shopping Center.  Article from the Dispatch linked below:

Dispatch: COTA has new plan for bus turnaround on N. High

[Columbo]

And more about COTA and High Street in the Downtown.  Previously downtown groups struck out on an attempt to shift COTA buses off High Street and onto other downtown streets (see previous page in this thread).  Now they are taking a swing at permitting curbside parking, while keeping COTA bus service on High Street.  Below is an excerpt and link to the full article about this from the Dispatch:

COTA might take compromise on High St. parking Downtown
Group wants to let drivers stop in curb lanes from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
By Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch
Monday, April 16, 2012 - 7:32 AM

Six months after COTA refused to move a bus route off High Street to allow curbside parking, officials are seeking a way to accommodate buses and cars Downtown.  Recommendations are likely by the end of the month from a panel of Downtown overseers, business representatives and others that would bring back on-street parking along a stretch of High Street where traffic rules have favored buses since the late 1980s.
 
The group seems ready to suggest parking during non-rush hours — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — in areas not needed by COTA buses to pick up and drop off passengers.  The panel has looked at traffic patterns along the street between I-670 on the north end of Downtown and I-70/71 south of the Franklin County Courthouse.

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/04/16/cota-might-take-compromise-on-parking.html

[noozer]

Report: Columbus public transit ranks near bottom
Business First
Date: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 11:21am EDT

Columbus’ public transportation picture relative to its big-city counterparts can’t get much worse, according to a recent ranking.

The capital city was ranked 24th out of 25 cities based on its residents’ access to public transportation in a study by Walk Score, which rates neighborhoods for apartment renters and homebuyers.

Only Raleigh, N.C., was ranked worse than Columbus on the company’s list. Cleveland was ranked No. 14.
Read more at: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2012/04/26/report-columbus-public-transit-ranks.html

[Columbo]

More about COTA's bus rapid-transit line proposal for Cleveland Avenue from the Columbus Dispatch:

DISPATCH: Cleveland Ave. could get bus upgrade - COTA will seek federal funds for rapid-transit line

[Columbo]

Walker Evans at Columbus Underground recently had a lengthy and informative interview with the new head of COTA, Curtis Stitt.  Below is an excerpt and link to the full interview at Columbus Underground:

Curtis Stitt Discusses the Future of Public Transit in Columbus
By: Walker Evans, Columbus Underground
Published on June 11, 2012 - 1:00 pm

In January of 2012, Curtis Stitt was named the new CEO at the Central Ohio Transit Authority.  After six months on the job, we had the opportunity to sit down and discuss the current state of public transit services in Columbus, and what Stitt has in mind for the future of the region.

FULL INTERVIEW: http://www.columbusunderground.com/curtis-stitt-discusses-the-future-of-public-transit-in-columbus

[Columbo]

Wouldn't this be something for Red, White and Boom!  As much as we like to criticize COTA's bus service, there is something worse.  No service.

COTA might strike with a ‘Boom’
Union’s possible walkout is day before fireworks
By Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch
Saturday, June 23, 2012 - 6:13 AM

More than 600 Central Ohio Transit Authority bus drivers and maintenance workers could walk off the job on July 2, the day before Columbus’ Red, White & Boom celebration.
 
At least 26,000 people took COTA buses to and from Downtown for the annual fireworks show last year.  COTA has scheduled 200 extra buses, advertised special shuttles and planned more-frequent local service for this year.
 
President and CEO W. Curtis Stitt said bus service would shut down — for Red, White & Boom and everyday routes — if a strike takes place. “We can’t provide some type of skeleton service,” Stitt said.  COTA would continue only its service for disabled passengers, officials said.

The union’s notice to the State Employment Relations Board that it intends to go on strike doesn’t mean a strike is definite.

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/23/cota-might-strike-with-a-boom.html

[GCrites80s]

Man, that would be nuclear.

[Columbo]

This might just be negotiating rhetoric - but it sounds ominous.

COTA workers set to strike on Monday
Outcome of Sunday’s talks not expected to alter union’s plans
By Spencer Hunt, The Columbus Dispatch
Saturday, June 30, 2012 - 10:56 AM

More than 600 COTA bus drivers and mechanics plan to go on strike on Monday, even if there is a tentative agreement on a new contract reached this weekend.  A last-ditch negotiating session set for 1:30 p.m. Sunday would come too late for workers to avoid following through on a threat to stop working at 3 a.m. Monday, said Andrew Jordan, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 208.

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/06/30/cota-workers-set-to-strike-on-monday.html

[Columbo]

Bus strike goes ahead despite tentative agreement
COTA, union reach deal early today, but riders forced to make other plans until workers approve pact
By Josh Jarman, The Columbus Dispatch
Monday, July 2, 2012 - 10:02 AM

More than 600 COTA bus drivers and mechanics kept their word this morning and went on strike at 3 after reaching a tentative agreement hours earlier with authority officials.
 
About 30 Central Ohio Transit Authority workers stood outside COTA headquarters on N. High Street and waved signs and shouted at passing cars.  Workers also are marching at two COTA facilities, on McKinley and Fields avenues.
 
Some cars honked in support of the workers Downtown.  Some car drivers, however, made other, less positive, gestures to striking workers.

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/07/02/cota-union-push-strike-deadline.html

[Columbo]

Bus strike continues as drivers and mechanics reject agreement tonight
No buses for Red, White & Boom
By Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch
Monday, July 2, 2012 - 11:16 PM

Central Ohio Transit Authority bus drivers and mechanics will remain off their jobs Tuesday morning, after rejecting a tentative agreement with authority officials tonight that would have given them 7 percent raises but decreased their benefits over three years.
 
Union members began voting about 6 p.m. and continued until 10:30 p.m. at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 union hall on Kinnear Road on the Northwest Side.  That union hall was used because it’s larger than COTA’s South Side lodge.
 
The contract was rejected by a vote of 270 to 238, according to COTA spokesman Marty Stutz.

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/07/02/cota-union-push-strike-deadline.html

[UrbanSurfin]

I believe in unions and the right to strike, and that in these days of growing inequality, unions are more necessary than they've been in decades. But I also believe unions need to be reasonable and realistic and to promote high standards among their own ranks. And I believe that being realistic in 2012 is to realize that this is not the time for COTA workers to ask so much. They're not doing themselves or other unions any favors right now.

Words from Dispatch columnist Joe Blundo, a regular COTA rider, great writer and all-around good guy:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2012/07/03/timing-makes-it-hard-to-identify-with-strikers.html

[Columbo]

Well, at least the strike was brief.

COTA Strike Ends, Service Resumes Tomorrow
By: Walker Evans, Columbus Underground
Published on July 4, 2012 - 5:45 pm

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) bus strike officially ended today after just three days of service disruption.  The Transport Workers Union Local 208 gathered this morning to revote on the same contract that was rejected Monday night, causing yesterday’s continued disruption.  Today’s revote approved the contract the second time around, 353 to 158 votes.

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/cota-bus-drivers-approve-contract-during-revote

COTA union, management agree to end strike
By Laura Arenschield, The Columbus Dispatch
Wednesday, July 4, 2012 - 5:36 PM

Central Ohio Transit Authority bus drivers, mechanics and maintenance workers who have been on strike since Monday voted 353 to 158 to accept a deal that will put them back to work - and return buses to the streets.  COTA's board of trustees then voted to ratify the agreement, which will send buses out Thursday morning.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/07/04/union-will-vote-again-on-deal.html

[Columbo]

An interesting look from the Dispatch about what might have led up to the three-day COTA strike:

Dispatch: COTA strike had been brewing since 2005

[Columbo]

COTA Launches Late Night Bus Service on West Broad Street
By: Walker Evans, Columbus Underground
Published on October 12, 2012 - 3:25 pm

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) continues to add new service late into the weekend hours with the introduction of a new late night route on West Broad Street.  Route number #222 is a new bus line launching tonight that connects Downtown Columbus with the Columbus Hollywood Casino from 7pm to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights.

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/cota-launches-late-night-bus-service-on-west-broad-street

[Columbo]

Transit Authority Plans Elimination Of Diesel-Powered Buses
By Tom Borgerding, 89.7FM NPR News Managing Editor
WOSU 89.7FM NPR News

The Central Ohio Transit Authority is making a long term bet on stable prices for natural gas.  In 2013, COTA will begin replacing its diesel-powered bus fleet with new coaches powered by compressed natural gas.

Behind COTA’s McKinley Avenue bus garage, workers are installing new pipelines and pumps.  Not diesel, not gasoline, but compressed natural gas or CNG fueling stations.  COTA President and Chief executive, Curtis Stitt, says the $21 million project is part of a bus fleet transition.

READ MORE: http://wosu.org/2012/news/2012/12/19/transit-authority-plans-elimination-of-diesel-powered-buses/

[Columbo]

More about COTA's transition of its bus fleet from diesel to CNG:

COTA citing another benefit to CNG buses – they’re far quieter
Business First by Rick Rouan, Staff reporter
Date: Friday, November 16, 2012, 2:21pm EST

The Central Ohio Transit Authority expects its conversion to a compressed natural gas fleet to be easier on the environment and its budget.  It’s also expecting those new buses to be easier on the ears.
 
COTA officials told me that it would take 10 CNG buses to create the same noise level a single diesel-powered bus generates.  As I wrote about in this week’s paper, COTA will take delivery on about 30 new CNG vehicles in late April, the first wave of a total fleet changeover it expects to take place over more than a decade.

READ MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/blog/2012/11/cota-citing-another-benefit-to-cng.html

[GCrites80s]

So, in other words, they are quieter by 10dB?

[Columbo]

^ Is that what "it would take 10 CNG buses to create the same noise level a single diesel-powered bus" means? 

It sounds much more impressive the way COTA says it.   Even though it is still an improvement.  I'd also imagine the tailpipe emissions are greatly reduced with the CNG buses too.

[noozer]

COTA’s CEO recruits bus buddies
He rides with other community leaders
 
By  Jeb Phillips
The Columbus Dispatch Saturday January 26, 2013 6:39 AM
 
Two men stepped on the No. 2 bus at E. Main Street and S. Roosevelt Avenue early yesterday.

To the apparent surprise of other passengers riding at 7:27 a.m., one of the men made an announcement.

“Good morning, everybody. My name is Curtis Stitt, and I am the president and CEO of COTA. I am riding this morning with Mike. Mike is the president and CEO of PNC Bank Downtown.”

They were on board to gauge the experience of riders, Stitt said. He invited anyone to ask questions along the route and said he would have some questions for them, too.

Read more at:  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/01/26/cotas-ceo-recruits-bus-buddies.html

[Columbo]

^ Good to see the current COTA President continuing what his predecessor, Bill Lhota, started.  It's not good PR if the head of COTA doesn't actually use the COTA buses (like in the 90's when one COTA President drove around the city in a COTA-subsidized SUV).  But I think my favorite part of the feel-good story was this:

They were on board to gauge the experience of riders, Stitt said.  He invited anyone to ask questions along the route and said he would have some questions for them, too.
 
A man in the back piped up: “I want to know if PNC Bank is giving out any loans to poor people.” 

Though not quite the kind of question Stitt had sought, Mike Gonsiorowski answered that, yes, PNC does do that.  The man said he’d be in later in the day to get one.

You stay classy COTA riders.  Stay classy.

[GCrites80s]

Commerce!

[KJP]

Remarks by COTA President and CEO Curtis Stitt at the TransitColubus annual meeting today....
http://vimeo.com/m/59178138

[KJP]

Kasich declares war on Ohio transit?

The proposal also will impact county and transit authority sales tax rates. To ensure those taxes do not generate an additional 30-percent revenue increase as the tax base expands, Kasich is proposing to reduce those rates and guarantee a 10-percent growth rate. Locals would not be allowed to change their sales tax rates for three years.

The change means counties and transit authorities would get a $120 million increase over two years, instead of the $700 million if rates were left alone.

More Here:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/02/12/Income-tax-cut-sales-tax-expansion-debated.html