Bus System Overhaul Coming to Columbus May 1

Kimball Perry reports on the May 1 launch of redesigned bus service in Columbus, Ohio.

According to Perry, the newly redesigned bus service for the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) reflects a "new philosophy of how COTA views its riders and service," focusing on delivering "more riders to destinations faster and more directly."

Perry devotes a lot of ink to the opinion of one resident who opposes the changes, but Josh Sikich, director of COTA's Transit System Redesign, also makes the case for locating frequent lines near population densities.

More riders will be near routes that run more often, Sikich said. Now, 116,000 riders are within a quarter-mile of a bus route that runs every 15 minutes. After May 1, that number will rise to 219,000 riders, an 89 percent increase.

According to the article, COTA is expecting ridership to decline initially, before increasing by 10 percent by 2020. The city is offering an interactive map to compare existing and future routes. The city can also point to the example of Houston, where the bus system has experienced large increases in ridership since undertaking a similar redesign in August 2015.