Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Will remove 71 bus stops, including three close to Ohio State University. The move is part of the agency’s Bus Stop Service Improvement Project. The project evaluated COTA bus stops and the spacing between them to improve efficiency.

Operators from Ohio, Maryland and Arizona tell us about the relationships that help them run their services.

A Student Safety Service representative from Ohio State Police will also be on the bus during the extended hours. Part of a new $20,000 undergraduate student government-funded pilot project.

Focusing on transportation alternatives, such as its Campus Area Bus Service buses, which run on biodiesel and bicycling.

Central Ohio Transit Authority installed a new ID reader system on its buses to assess student ridership for future planning, requiring students to get replacement IDs.

The Central Ohio Transit Authority will soon upgrade bus fare collection technology, adding magnetic strips to student identification and requiring students to swipe their BuckIDs at the fare box as they board.

The University budgeted almost $772,000 in 2010 for fuel costs, but in 2011 that number jumped to almost $829,000. As part of their preparation, they partnered with the Central Ohio Transit Authority, which allows students to ride city buses by showing their BuckID at a cost to the student of $9 every quarter.

The grant's focus combines company's existing lightweight chassis and robust, mature hybrid-drive train system with an advanced Ballard fuel cell, further chassis mass improvement research and next generation component development.

More than 850 students, faculty and staff at OSU in Columbus supplied their input on possible changes to campus-related service provided by COTA.