COTA Line Review: 71 Hilliard
this bus also suffers from grove city syndrome
This route is yet another express rush-hour route that runs on I-70 between Hilliard and Downtown Columbus. Let’s dive deeper into what this route has to offer!
okay, where does it go
We started our trip at the COTA Transit Terminal, running north on 4th then turning west onto Spring. By the time we left downtown, this bus was largely full. It’s always nice to see high ridership on these rush-hour routes!
We traveled west on I-70 through Franklinton and Hilltop before getting off at Hilliard Rome Road, stopping at the Renner Road Park & Ride. Interchange here is available to the 5 and, with a short walk, the 21. About half of the bus emptied out here.
We left the park and ride and turned north onto Tanglewood Park, then back onto Hilliard Rome, heading north alongside the 21. Stopping at the Hilliard United Methodist Church Park & Ride (that’s a mouthful), we neared the terminus of this route at Heritage Club & Main about a few blocks away. After the park and ride, I was the only person onboard.
As of June 2025, this bus becomes an Easton-bound 32 North Broadway after its run, however this operation does not seem likely to continue given the fact that the 32 will be truncated to solely the portion between Upper Arlington and Easton. The section of the route between Upper Arlington and Hilliard will be served by a part of route 30 (article coming soon!).
so what
There are a few pros and a few cons with this route. The main issue that I take with this route is its frequency. It runs once towards downtown in the morning and once back in the evening. The bus felt busy enough to run it more often.
On the other hand, I really like how this route serves Hilliard. Getting off on I-71 all the way south at the Renner Road P&R and then making local stops along the main corridor of Hilliard is a great way to serve the suburb, and I would love for similar service patterns to be put in place on other routes (51 Reynoldsburg and 61 Grove City, I’m looking at you guys).
final rating
The 71 Hilliard will get a 5/10 because, similar to the 61, it has some really good aspects but also some really not good aspects. The service pattern (not the frequency but how it runs) brings it up, while the frequency brings it down.
how would i improve this
Frequency, frequency, frequency! Give this bus at least two trips in peak direction and one in reverse peak direction. That’s the main thing holding this bus route back from being a really great line.
A second thing I would do is run it from its current endpoint at Heritage Club & Main to at least the Griggs Dam Park & Ride, if not further into Upper Arlington. There is a lot of Hilliard that is left out of this line, and most of that population largely lies between Hilliard Rome and the Scioto River.