COTA’s top priority in 2023 was to grow our workforce of hard-working frontline employees to better serve our community. While these efforts will continue in 2024, measurable progress was made last year. The national labor shortage that has impacted all industries hit public transit particularly hard. But thanks to aggressive recruitment, including two of the largest hiring events in COTA history, we were able to add enough new Operators to improve service for the first time since 2020.

Service improvements included:

• An additional hour of weekday frequent late-night service
• Increased frequency on high-ridership Lines 1, 2, 10 and CMAX
• Fall service for Zoo Bus

The timing of this restoration has been fortuitous, coming just as COTA began to experience a steady increase in customers. Ridership momentum that was halted in 2020 began to pick up for COTA in 2023, as more than 900,000 additional trips were recorded across all transit lines compared to one year earlier. Team COTA is committed to doing everything possible to continue these trends in 2024 because more people using transit service creates a more sustainable and connected community.

LinkUS is Central Ohio’s growth and transportation initiative. Our 15-county region is on track to reach 3.15 million residents by 2050! That amounts to 726,000 more people in about 25 years. LinkUS is our region’s proactive plan to bring rapid transit solutions and transportation options to accommodate major population growth, and it includes:

• Faster, more reliable public transportation
• Safe and expanded bike and pedestrian paths
• Walkable communities with more affordable access to work, home and entertainment

After a successful pilot program in 2022, COTA continued to deliver equitable, accessible public transit services through our Income Assistance Program. This provides a 50% discount for customers who participate in several countywide programs, including SNAP, cash assistance, Medicaid, publicly funded childcare and other programs.

Those receiving Income Assistance have their fares capped at $2.25 per day and $31 per month. In 2023, Income Assistance Program customers took 120,650 trips. Customers can apply for the program at the COTA Customer Experience Center at 33 N. High Street in downtown Columbus.

Expanding COTA access to Downtown and Short North residents, C-pass provides eligible workers and community residents with no cost, unlimited rides on any COTA fixed-route service at any time for work, play or to help get them to vital services across the region.

Following a successful pilot in 2022, the Short North C-pass program was renewed in June 2023 and saw more than 1,350 customers — many of them area restaurant and service workers from employers such as the Hilton Hotel and the Greater Columbus Convention Center — and more than 37,000 trips in the second half of the year. All told, the COTA Short North and Downtown C-pass provided nearly half a million trips for area residents.

COTA broke ground in October 2023 on a new $24.3 million COTA Mobility Center, aimed at boosting economic development throughout the region by connecting Central Ohio residents to job opportunities in and around Rickenbacker.

Providing more than a meeting point for transit vehicles from COTA and other agencies across multiple counties, the innovative center will also offer space for:

• Education
• Childcare and family support
• Community gathering space
• Food access through the Mid-Ohio Food Collective

This will provide much-needed services to improve quality of life for Rickenbacker-area workers, employers and residents. We are excited to bring this state-of-the-art facility to Southern Franklin County in 2025.

The Strategic Response Specialist Team provides security support for customers and employees and connects COTA’s most vulnerable customers to resources they may desperately need. The team deploys trained personnel to immediately respond to any incident in which an individual is either causing or experiencing distress on or around a transit vehicle. The program is gaining state and national attention for its success in improving safety and providing a more compassionate response in tense situations.

In 2023, the Strategic Response Specialist Team responded to 2,052 requests for outreach and support. Many of the requests for assistance came from unsheltered, mental health impacted and vulnerable individuals. The team is so crucial to our community, it received the Community Impact Award by the Ohio Public Transportation Association.

In 2023, more than 18,500 COTA customers each month utilized onboard complimentary COTA Wi-Fi to start their workday, access entertainment or chat and text with friends and family on their commutes. COTA is always pushing to add innovative technology that better serves customers and improves COTA performance, so in 2023, we began installing 5G-enabled hardware on all fixed-route and Mainstream vehicles.

In 2024, COTA will be the first transit agency in the nation to deliver advanced 5G Wi-Fi service across its fleet. While the new Wi-Fi will improve customers’ browsing, download and video speeds, these buses are truly “rolling data centers” and help COTA improve safety, service and performance with more accurate and real-time information.

Since 2019, COTA has added 145 shelters to our transit stops and improved nearly 165 transit stops overall. By the end of 2023, 65% of our customers board at stops with transit shelters, which greatly reduces their exposure to the elements. By comparison, only 41 percent of our customers had access to shelters in 2018. COTA continues to improve pedestrian accessibility and ADA access at our stops through our ongoing Transit Stop Improvement Program.