Packed COTA buses passing by waiting riders
More people using public transit amid higher gas prices
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 10:52 PM
By Tim Doulin
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH“That happens to me all the time,” said Laverne Morris, a longtime COTA rider from Gahanna who works at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as a secretary.She said the No. 1 Cleveland Avenue bus regularly passes her by, including one morning last week at 5th Avenue, where she was waiting to transfer.“I had to wait for the next bus,” she said. “They run every 10 minutes, but it made me late for work.”
High gasoline prices are leading more people to use COTA, which four years ago was in financial trouble and soon began to cut its budget and services.
William Lhota, Central Oho Transit Authority president and chief executive, said buses sometimes have to pass by passengers.
“The big local lines — the Cleveland Avenue, the High Street, the East and West Broad Street, the Livingston Avenue and Main Street — at the peak time, it is just a matter of more customers than we have capacity on the bus,” Lhota said.
It will be interesting to see what COTA comes up with for its September service changes after the new buses arrive this summer. When ridership is up 17.5%, there are plenty of needs and a lot of options to grow. It’s definitely an exciting time for the transit industry.
[...] good is greater than the supply, the price is too low. An increase could help thin out some of the overcrowding on buses, raise some money to offset diesel prices, and allow COTA to continue with the service [...]
[...] #2 route, which should reduce travel times markedly. The larger vehicle would help to relieve the overcrowding that has become common on the #2, and could allow COTA to run the existing #2 as an express route [...]
COTA ridership spikes 18 percent for July
Suburban News Publications
Published: Friday, August 15, 2008 10:45 AM EDT
The Central Ohio Transit Authority experienced an 18 percent increase in bus ridership on its fixed routes for the month of July.
Passenger boardings exceeded 1.4 million for the month, an increase of nearly 220,000 boardings during July 2007, COTA Media and Public Relations Manager Dan Liggett said in an information release.
So far in 2008, ridership on COTA’s local, express and crosstown lines has exceeded 92 million, compared with 8.4 million boardings for the same time frame in 2007.
Higher gasoline prices have led to increased ridership on public transportation systems nationwide, and COTA officials said they believe the trend is being repeated in Central Ohio, Liggett said.
Another factor, officials said, is the transit authority’s ongoing service expansion plan started in 2007, with more than 60,000 service hours added so far this year.
COTA will introduce a new express bus line, No. 50 Rickenbacker Express, serving the Rickenbacker area industrial parks, Sept. 1, Liggett said.
For more information, call COTA at 614-228-1776 or visit cota.com.
http://www.snponline.com/articles/2008/08/15/multiple_papers/news/allcota%208-_20080815_1035am_2.txt