Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting - 52

2010 Annual Meeting

COTA Attracts Young Professionals to Public Transit
BY BETH BERKEMER Public and Media Relations Manager Central Ohio Transit Authority Columbus, OH

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hat is one of the best ways for public transit to go greener? Attract more customers! Sharing a ride to travel around town is an excellent way to lower your carbon footprint, and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) has worked hard this past year to introduce potential customers to the transit lifestyle. With 78 bus lines that cover over 1,120 miles, a fleet of 300 transit coaches, and nearly 800 employees, COTA is here to provide reliable and efficient public transit. The agency’s ridership soared by 11 percent in 2008,

due in part to the rise in gas prices, and Columbus Crew Major League Soccer the upward trend continues along with team, and Columbus Clippers, the AAA consistent increases in service hours and baseball farm team in the Cleveland new vehicle purchases. Its Long Range Indians organization. Columbus is also Transit Plan includes adding 40 new Ohio’s capital city and seat of federal, buses to its fleet and 30,000 service state, and local governments. hours on the street annually. The agency recently relocated its COTA discovered that administrative the greater Columbus area headquarters to has a vast, untapped coma historic buildmunity of potential riders ing in the heart in a young demographic. of downtown, at Beyond being an attractive the hub of transit town for those newly enteroperations. The ing the professional worknew COTA offices force, it is home to one of are surrounded by the largest college populamajor employment tions in the U.S., as well as centers such as the Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide InsurParticipants in YPCOTA’s inaugural professional hockey team, ance, American challenge to log many bus trips.

Electric Power, and Huntington National Bank.

Youth Outreach Projects
Two main projects are at the core of COTA’s effort to capture more riders in the 20-to-40-year-old demographic: a partnership with the Young Professionals of Columbus (YPC) to create YPCOTA and the introduction of the #21 Night Owl route. The purpose of YPCOTA—launched this summer in conjunction with APTA’s Fifth Annual Dump the Pump Day—is to open people’s eyes, change lifestyles, and make the community a little bit “greener.” YPCOTA kicked off the summer with a friendly local competition to “ditch the keys and ride the bus”: the YPCOTA Bus Challenge 2010, which ran from June 17 to July 15. Dump the Pump Day was the perfect time to jumpstart a sustainable event since the observance encourages people to try riding public transportation for a day instead of driving, to protect the environment and save money. People from all over central Ohio’s diverse community participated in the inaugural challenge, a social competition to see who could log the most trips made on greater Columbus’ public transit system—the bus. Two lucky participants were given the right to be known as the YPCOTA Bus Master and Social Media Darling for the year. Three other contestants received recognition for Funniest Pic, Most Artistic photo and YsPy—champion of the bus scavenger hunt. Challenge participants displayed their transit adventures through YPCOTA’s Facebook page and Twitter account, where they also logged their trips for the competition. YPCOTA provides a yearround opportunity for prospective riders to experience a fresh perspective on a transit lifestyle, meet new people, attend great events and spontaneous meet-ups, race through a unique bus scavenger hunt, receive great giveaways, win prizes, and more. In mid-2009, COTA introduced the Night Owl: Route 21, which runs late into the weekend night on one of the system’s busiest routes. As of 2010, the Night Owl flock often includes some of COTA’s six new hybrid-electric buses. From 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the Night Owl bus transports customers up and down High Street from the Ohio State University campus to the Short North Arts District, running through the historic Victorian and Italian Village

Modernization + Community + Mobility =

The Right Total Solution

The power of integration
CDM is helping the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority improve regional public transit while reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution. New and upgraded passenger rail lines are connecting communities, enhancing regional mobility, easing trafﬁc overcrowding, and greening the county for nearly 10 million residents.

Listen to our Cities of the Future podcast series at www.cdm.com/podcasts/cities.

COTA CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
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Passenger Transport 2010 APTA Annual Meeting

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