COTA Service Changes - 6 January 2025
CMAX is good!
what is this
As of time of publishing, COTA’s January 2025 service changes have gone into effect. COTA revamps their service three times per year, on the first Monday of January, May, and September. Sometimes these contain large changes, sometimes they just are slight tweaks to some schedules.
so what’s changing?
The most important service change (in my opinion) is the introduction of 15-minute headways on CMAX 7 days a week. This is great news, and hopefully more highly used routes will follow suit in future service changes. Note that the headway between the Northland Transit Center and the northern terminus of the line at Polaris & Africa will still be 30 minutes.
Another major change in service is occurring on many downtown routes. Due to Front Street being bi-directional now, many COTA routes are changing their southbound alignment. Routes 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 72, and 74 will shift their southbound route from Marconi Blvd to Front St. In addition, route 9 is changing its northbound route as well, running along Long St instead of Nationwide Blvd and Naghten.
The third major change in service that is worth mentioning is the change in late-night and Sunday line-up locations. COTA runs these line-ups to provide easy transfers between high-frequency lines. The map below can explain the changes better than I can, but the routes affected are the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 102, and CMAX.
Some smaller minor changes are occurring on other routes as well, mostly just small tweaks to the schedule to allow for better transfer times and on-time performance. These changes will be going into effect on the following routes: 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 21, 31, 33, and 72. Double-check your schedules before you go!
A last note - the long-term detours on the 11 and the 31 along Hudson Street have now ended, and buses will begin to use Hudson Street instead of Weber Road.
my thoughts
The 15-minute frequency on CMAX 7 days per week is really fantastic and should be expanded upon by other lines. I have no real opinion on any of the other changes. Anything that makes COTA service better is better in my book.
other news
Columbus Without Cars has an Instagram now! I post more pictures on my transit adventures and just more content in general! If you want, follow here! I know it’s set to private, but Instagram isn't letting me change that. I’ll approve any requests as soon as I can!
Another note - COTA is free during level 2 or 3 snow emergencies, and with Winter Storm Blair impacting travel across the country, it’s never been a better time to try out the bus on your morning commute! Go ahead and give it a try!
CMAX is truly a useful route - not only does it connect people easily with downtown, but also Columbus State Community College. There's a stop right on campus that I've used frequently. In the past the only criticism I've had is that it hasn't been running consistently, but hopefully the changes will fix some of that.