The Columbus metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States.
The Central Ohio Transit Authority, better known as COTA, has many projects underway to make getting around the area easier.
We're talking with COTA President and CEO Monica Téllez-Fowler to find out about those initiatives on this hour of All Sides.
Guest:
- Monica Tellez-Fowler, president and chief executive officer, Central Ohio Transit Authority
Transcript
This transcript is generated with AI. To ensure its accuracy, review the audio file.
Amy Juravich: Welcome to All Sides with Amy Juravich. Columbus is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. With more people expected to move or visit the region, infrastructure and transit are two parts of the urban landscape needing to keep pace.
The Central Ohio Transit Authority, better known as CODA, has many projects underway to make getting around town easier. Plus, voter approved sales taxes. Are helping to pay for billions of dollars in improvements over the next 25 years.
Joining this hour to talk about these projects and the impact they will have on the region is Monica Taez Fowler, President and CEO of Coda. Welcome back to All Sides, Monica. Thank you, thanks for having me back. So just yesterday, you broke ground on the first project funded by the Link Us sales tax levy. You broke ground in Grove City on a pedestrian bridge. Tell me more about this project.
Monica Téllez-Fowler: We're very excited to celebrate our first transit-supportive infrastructure project within the communities. We broke ground on the Hoover Road pedestrian bridge in Grove City, which ultimately is meant to create a safer walking path for students, residents, and visitors over the state 71 starting this fall.
Juravich: Okay, so the Link Us money, this is the first project, the first groundbreaking. You've been collecting the money for about a year. And before the show started, we were talking about that.
So the sales tax went into effect in April and you saw your first dollars in June of last year. So we're talking a whole year. So we were at the one year anniversary of you receiving sales tax money, is that correct?
Téllez-Fowler: That's correct. We are at one year.
Juravich: So some people listening may be wondering why the first project to have a groundbreaking, like why Grove City, right? Why not, I don't know, maybe someone might be thinking, why not a groundbreaking right in the middle of downtown? So why Grove city project?
Téllez-Fowler: You know, last year, actually, our COTA Board of Trustees approved funding for 83 different transit supportive projects over the next five years. And it's ultimately set out to build 150 miles of sidewalks, bikeways, shared use trails. 37 are funded for 2026 for design and or construction.
And ultimately, this is all about, you know, where they are in their process. So design for some of these projects is being funded. You won't actually see any construction on those until they get through the design. And it just depends on where the project is and how prepared they are.
What we do know is we have several other projects that are underway. A second project is underway on Cook Road in Clinton Township to build and repair sidewalks and a shared use path near our CMAX line on Cleveland Avenue. But ultimately, we should see another five more sidewalk or trail projects to break ground just this year.
Juravich: Okay, so people in Grove City would say, why not Grove City be first for the big groundbreaking, right? But then other people would say my neighborhood next, my neighborhood, next. So how is it just that Grove City's project happened to be ready, and that's why...
Téllez-Fowler: They're very ready, they're very aggressive. Yeah, and I think, you know, it's all about that being prepared, similar to any other project. It's about how quickly you can move things along. And we know projects, construction projects often take some challenges. They've got to work with their community, there's a process. But ultimately, Grove City just moved fast enough. They were ready for this. They had kind of been lining this up.
Yesterday was very exciting because we also had some, the business community out there who shared their own experiences, as well as some sharing stories about, hey, we live on this side of Interstate 71 and my son goes to school on the other side and this is what this means for him. Now he can ride his bike to school. So, I'm excited about Grove City's groundbreaking yesterday. But it wouldn't matter what community it is, because ultimately what this means is the dollars that were made for the region are already being spent. They're being put to good use. And that's ultimately what we wanna see.
Juravich: And since it's a sales tax, so you've been collecting sales tax money for about a year, and so from June to June, does it vary each month just because of how much people buy? Like do you have, do you know, can you predict how much money you're going to be getting? Sure, yeah.
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, it fluctuates. Absolutely. You know, we see it we see a difference during the holidays We see difference during sales tax holidays that we that we get in and the state of Ohio for you know Back to school stuff. So yeah, you see a fluctuation
But what I will say is that the region continues to perform extremely. Well, we have been very fortunate We are coming in with what we expected to see, which allows us to continue. To use those dollars and be able to share with the TSI committees, which are the Transit Supportive Infrastructure Committees. These are the expected dollars to be spent in 2027. So right now we're already working on bringing something to our board in July for 2027 projects that will be slated to be funded.
Juravich: Okay, yeah, so you can you're trying to predict what money will come in and have it slated to be spent as it comes in. Yes. So Broad Street, let's use Broad Street as an example, because I think that a lot of people, you know, Grove City will be very excited about their sidewalks and their bike path that you're adding. But what people really want is these bus rapid transit lines up and running. And the one I think that we're closest with is Broad Street right because I read that it is 90% designed. So when will we have a groundbreaking and get started on the first bus rapid transit line?
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, well, very excited. Yeah, we're at 90% design. We're really trying to push to get to that 100% design, we continue to move forward and make lots of good progress. But it is a major project, infrastructure project. It's also federally funded.
And with any kind of federally-funded infrastructure project, timeline shift, a lot of that can depend on federal review, It can depend on... Decisions about funding it can depend on ultimately the project complexity, you know, you have a design But until you're down, you're you know in the at the 90% in further you really don't understand You know, what are the complexities and what do I have to deal with? So we're working through some of those but we continue to make progress
Right now we continue push We what is going to really determine the timeline is this federal grant that we're going after So remember we went out for the levy and link us is an $8 billion initiative. What I want to remind everyone that doesn't mean that we're getting $8 billion that we have $8 million sitting around. What we're doing is we're using the sales tax dollars, the local dollars that we are receiving to then go to the federal government and leverage those dollars and say, we have this portion, help us finish the rest of this out.
And that's going to happen with each corridor. So we do have to work very closely with our federal partners and they have their own risk tolerance. So they'll add additional timelines in our timeline. This will be our schedule, but the federal government's schedule will have some contingency in there because they wanna ensure that if they're funding any projects, that those projects come in on schedule, which is a reasonable expectation, right? When you're asking for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Juravich: Can you get started, though, while you wait for the federal money? I mean, I feel like if the federal government takes forever, we could get started here locally.
Téllez-Fowler: There is a portion that we can get started on, and we are working on that. A lot of that still requires a risk on COTA's behalf, and that will be up to our board to decide how much risk we accept. They have already approved some things, right?
One of the things we know is in order to procure busses for this bus rapid transit line, we're looking at 60-foot busses. Well, The procurement for those busses is quite lengthy. And takes some time. We had to go to our board and say, we want to start this procurement now. That's a risk, because what happens if we don't get this funding? And the question was asked, so our board is asking the right questions and trying to understand the risk behind it. But they're very supportive, and they're doing everything they can to support us so that we can do the work that we can accomplish before we receive that federal funding.
Juravich: Now, the Columbus Dispatch reported that the Broad Street Project is delayed by 16 months. And then the CODA spokesperson, your spokesperson, told WOSU the timeline is fluid. I'm putting the word fluid in quotes. So is it delayed? Is it fluid? What word would you use?
Téllez-Fowler: You know, like I said, the timeline shift, and a lot of that just depends on the review. What we know is we continue to work with the FTA, the Federal Transportation Administration, and you know, the schedule that we have worked out with them is agreed upon. We just have had to communicate some of those timelines that maybe had not been communicated previously.
So, it may look like a delay to some. Again, I will say the timeline that we are given by the FTA does not necessarily mean that's the timeline that this will actually be built on. We still have our own internal schedule, we still have commitments to get three corridors done with bus rapid transit within a very short period of time.
And really, recognizing that we're at 90% with West Broad, East Main is right behind that corridor. At 60% and pushing. And so we know that we'll be able to beat the timelines that are set out there, but this is something, again, that we have to work very closely with our partners and we have accept the contingency in schedule and in cost in order to continue to move forward in a positive light with the FTA.
Juravich: The date that I saw was that bus rapid transit would be up and running on Broad Street by December of 2028. Can we still say yes to that?
Téllez-Fowler: I can't say yes to that because a lot of it depends on when we actually break ground.
Juravich: Okay, so. But we are, we are. I'm gonna push a little more, because yeah, so I mean, people are paying the sales tax and I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not a very patient person. I got into a little disagreement on this show whenever we did a show about passenger rail, because I think that getting a passenger train here in Columbus is taking too long. So tell me how you're gonna keep me patient waiting till if December of 2028 doesn't happen. Now I have to say 2029 and that just seems like a long time to wait.
Téllez-Fowler: When we do receive the federal grant, and we can say, notice to proceed on construction, because that is the big piece that we're holding off on, is that grant. Once we break ground, once we start moving, then we have a better idea of what that schedule is. And then you can hold me to that schedule, Amy. OK.
Juravich: Okay, I'll hold you to a date after, but we have to wait till we get the federal grant. All right. This is All Sides on 89.7 NPR News, and we are talking about central Ohio transit plans with Monica Taez Fowler, president and CEO of CODA. The person that you had in charge of the Link Us program, Dorinda McCombs, I'm not sure if I'm saying her first name right, she left her job after only seven months. Is this causing any delays in planning?
Téllez-Fowler: No plans whatsoever have been delayed because of any personnel changes. What I will say is I am the CEO, and ultimately the buck stops with me. I'm engaged in all facets of the Link Us initiative and continue to move things forward as scheduled.
Juravich: Well, the quote that I read about her leaving said that there was a misalignment in how LinkUs should be delivered and now McCombs is no longer with the organization. So what does that mean? What happened with having this link us program coordinator.
Téllez-Fowler: That's a personnel issue and I prefer not to speak on personnel issues.
Juravich: Okay. What I understand is that you are now taking over that position. So are you going to hire a number, another number two, or are you just going to put yourself in charge of Blinkus planning?
Téllez-Fowler: So we continue to work to outfit our link us capital delivery program team. We do have a position open. But ultimately, I have always been involved, Amy, and will continue even when we hire someone else to be involved. The complexity and the crucialness of this project to this community. Is something that I would not take my eyes off of for anything.
So it doesn't matter that I have someone in there who I 100% trust. It is a matter of, you know, this has to happen for our community. And I wanna meet the expectations with regard to schedule for some people. You're right, we're collecting sales tax dollars. People want to see the outcome of LinkUs, and I'm committed to making sure we're doing that. And as is the rest of the COTA team.
Juravich: Okay, so you are hiring a new link us program coordinator though.
Téllez-Fowler: We are hiring a Chief of Capital Delivery, so it will be all things, including link us.
Juravich: Yeah, because I was wondering if, you know, I read that you were going to take over, you know, take the helm of the link us planning. But do you really do you have time to run code as day to day operations and do the future planning to
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, like I said, I have always been involved. So this is not really a shift for me. It's not a shift in anything we're doing within COTA. And it will not be a shift when we have a Chief of Capital Delivery. I am very involved, as I am with many other facets of COTA, I continue to be involved. And I'll continue to do that. That's just how I feel like this initiative needs to be managed.
Juravich: Okay, are you close to hiring this new person or did you just start the process?
Téllez-Fowler: The job's been posted for some time, and so we're using a service and a recruiter.
Juravich: I also, I read that you have seven projects breaking ground in 2026, so I'm putting another date on things for you, but we still have six more months in 20 26. So maybe don't list all seven projects you have planned, but what are some of the ones that we can expect to break ground that are similar to the Grove City one? In the next couple of months.
Téllez-Fowler: I kind of mentioned the Cook Road in Clinton Township and some of them are just other, whether they be sidewalks or trails, shared use paths, those types of things.
Juravich: So the Cook Road one, did you have, because like yesterday you had a ceremony and there was like, there were shovels and there were pictures taken. Are you doing that for all of them? Did the Cook road one have a shovel ceremony with pictures?
Téllez-Fowler: We, it hasn't happened yet, but we will be doing a ceremony. Yes. These are, these are link us dollars being put to use. We want to make sure that everyone in the community recognizes. These are your dollars, your self-tax dollars at work.
Juravich: Okay, so Cook Road and then what's the other one you mentioned is coming up?
Téllez-Fowler: Oh, I don't have an example, but yeah, there are several others coming this year.
Juravich: Okay, and just one more time. So the Broad Street one, the bus rapid transit one, when we can have one of those ceremonies with the fanfare and the shovels into the dirt, you don't know exactly when.
Téllez-Fowler: We don't have a date yet.
Juravich: Okay, do you hope maybe it can be one of those for this year?
Téllez-Fowler: We do hope that it could be one this year, and a lot of that, again, will depend on where we are with the federal grant.
Juravich: Okay, and the federal grant might not want you to put a shovel in the ground until they approve it. Is that what you're saying that you kind of like, it's like a chicken or an egg thing. Like if you use some of your money, the federal government might, I don't wanna say get mad at you. Like, is that the wrong word?
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, it's not getting mad, but there is a process that they prefer to stay with. And again, a lot of this will be us not trying to get ahead of the FTA. And so, yeah, we look to our partners for guidance on timing.
Juravich: This is All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. We're talking about plans for central Ohio transit, and we're talking with the president and CEO of CODA, Monica Theis Fowler. And in just a moment when we come back, we're gonna talk more about short-range transit plans, things that are happening very soon to improve and expand bus service. That's when All Sides continues on 89.7 NPR News.
You're listening to All Sides. I'm your host, Amy Juravich. Infrastructure and transit are two parts of the urban landscape needing to keep pace with the growth happening in Columbus in the coming years. From link us to bus rapid transit lines, we're talking about the impact these projects could have on central Ohio, as the region's population is expected to increase by about a million people in the upcoming decades.
LinkUs is COTA's $8 billion plan to build bus rapid transit corridors, improve services, and invest in over 500 miles of sidewalks, bikeways, and trails by 2050. Central Ohio voters approved a half percent sales tax increase to fund the LinkUs plans. And still with us is Monica Taez Fowler, president and CEO of COTA. Thanks again for being here today. Let's get your mic on. Thanks again. For being here today. Yeah.
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, happy.
Juravich: Okay, so I wanted to pivot from long-term planning to some of the short-term plans that are happening right now. CODE has been holding a series of public meetings on its short-range transit plan. Can you remind listeners of some of the goals of this plan?
Téllez-Fowler: So our short-range transit plan is really COTA's year-by-year service investment plan, and it's really set out for the next five years. It really helps us determine where we should add service, improve frequency, expand our hours, really realign routes, and invest resources that would meet the community needs.
Currently, the plan is really being designed to guide our near-term implementation of some of the set us up for that larger link us vision by identifying how do we make moves now that are fiscally responsible improvements that can be made between 2027 and 2031 that will incorporate the bus rapid transits when they're up and running.
Juravich: These public meetings, I mean, do people come to them? Do they give their opinions? I mean what happens at these public meetings?
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, absolutely. We've had a lot of engagement, whether that be at the public meetings. We've also met with a lot the jurisdictions to discuss. This is what this is shaping up to look like. We adjust some of the plans based on feedback we receive. When there's concerns, we want to make sure we understand what that is.
Ultimately, it's about figuring out what resources we can use. And leverage and really kind of pivot to provide the best service to the community. The plan is typically goes through this entire public process. It goes to different working groups as well. And then ultimately this all comes back to our board and our board has to approve it.
Juravich: Do you attend the public meetings to hear what people have to say?
Téllez-Fowler: From time to time, I can't make every public meeting. I'm sure you can imagine, I get pulled in many different directions. I think this go around, I've attended one public meeting, and then we've had multiple meetings with just our leadership team to understand what's the feedback we're receiving, what the alignments that are being developed kind of look like, and why, what's rationale behind it. So yeah, we we have our own opportunity to provide feedback as well
Juravich: And I read that it's supposed to be a 30% service increase over the next five years. Is that still the number?
Téllez-Fowler: You know, it is, we have just since the Linkus levy passed in November of 2024, we've already added 8.5% service back to, or increased our service. But ultimately, the short-range transit plan, which is just a five-year plan again, has an increase in 25% for weekdays service. Okay. And then it has a 54% for Saturday service. And a 74% increase in service on Sundays.
Juravich: That's a big percentage. So does that mean that, yeah. Does that mean there's not much service on Sunday or are you going to.
Téllez-Fowler: We have we have had a very like slender service on on service that does not serve people's purpose and that's what something we're finding out. When we are all done with this, Amy, we the proposed network would operate more trips on Sunday than our current network operates on a weekday today. Hmm. Wow.
Juravich: Okay. Tell me about increases you've seen in ridership in the past couple of years. I know you've been on the job for about two-ish years, is that right? As CEO, yes. Yes. So what have you seen with ridership? Is ridership increasing? Because I know we're talking about population increasing. So is your ridership increase? Absolutely. I guess it's like a chicken or an egg conversation. If you have more roots or do you have people first, which one do you need?
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, no, it's it, you know, I think that old approach in transit in the transit industry because remember, I've been in transit for over two decades now was maybe a little bit of that, you wait till you have the ridership and then you add the service. What we have recognized is that's not really a reasonable approach because people will use a service if it doesn't serve their purposes.
When we immediately, after the levy, we started making improvements to our service, whether that be increasing frequency on some of our lines or expanding hours, we expanded our hours just in the May of 2025. So we tried to be very quick about making these improvements. In 2025, we saw a 5% increase in service. We hit 12 million rides, which is the most we've seen since pre-pandemic. So...
Ridership continues to increase. We know, you know, as we, anytime we add frequency, those weekend services, when we've expanded those hours, when we've increased frequency on those, on some of the routes, you see those ridership boost. And that is just a matter of, this now serves my purpose. I can get somewhere and get back and have reliable transportation. And so people will take that.
Juravich: This is All Sides on 89.7 NPR News, and we're talking about central Ohio transit plans with Monica Taez Fowler, President and CEO of CODA. Listeners, if you have any questions about the future plans for CODA in central Ohio, we'd love for you to give us a call. What would you like to see in the future? 614-292-8513. Email us at allsides at www.osu.org. Again, that's 614 292 8513.
A couple of months ago, I interviewed the superintendent of Columbus City Schools, Angela Chapman, and she was talking about the changes that they're making to their bus system, the school bus system to save money. And she told me that Columbus City schools operates a larger transit system than COTA. Now, I'm not sure if she meant the number of routes or like I'm sure exactly what she meant by saying that her system was larger than CODA's. But is that true? Does a school district have a bigger bus system than the city? I can't speak to I don't know how many busses they have. How many routes?
Téllez-Fowler: They run.
Juravich: Okay, yeah, I didn't push back on that. She just said it. And I was like, really? I don't know about that. So, but that conversation led me to be thinking about, like, Columbus City schools and bussing, right?
So there was talk of Columbus City Schools eliminating bussing for high school students, and they decided to table that issue while they studied it to see, you know, how to serve high school student and still get them to school. And I think CCS was hoping that high schoolers could use CODA to get to the high schools. But as it stands now, does CODA have enough direct bus routes to Columbus City High Schools? Have you been in talks with the superintendent about this?
Téllez-Fowler: Absolutely. I think we've been in very regular contact and one of the things you know that we spoke about Dr. Chapman and I talked about it you know I wanted to make sure there was an understanding that when we talk about this shift this is not just a shift about busses this is also a shift about the infrastructure that's out there. We need to make that her students can walk to bus stops. That there's proper shelter in place, that there is a safety surrounding these students.
You cannot create an environment where you're now gonna catch the bus and they don't have a safe way to get to those bus stops. So there is very concerted effort to have those conversations. We have working groups. COTA is a part of that working group, as is CCS, and many other community partners to ensure that when and if this move were to happen. That we're all prepared and we can make sure that the young people in our community are safe and they have the correct transportation.
Juravich: Could you see a year or so from now? Every Columbus City Schools High School having a bus stop at it Amy a code a code of bus stop rather
Téllez-Fowler: Amy, I am originally from Dallas, Texas, where I rode the bus from middle school all the way to high school.
Juravich: The public bus.
Téllez-Fowler: The public city bus and so I absolutely see it. I think it's not unreasonable to have that as an option. There were many students who rode the bus, maybe not as far as I did because I went to a magnet scope, but you know I think that should always be an option. It is freedom for our young people as well, but I absolutely a world where that happens.
In Washington where I also I've spent some time. You know, the state house actually dedicated dollars to ensure that all students could ride transit for free. They foot the bill for all students' fares across the state. And what that did was, you know, it really forced the transit agencies to ensure that all student had access to transit.
So, you now, I think there's already been some initial work. We are pretty near every CCS school as it is, high school. We can probably pick that up. The concern, again, is the infrastructure to support those students and make sure that they can get to and from school and the bus stops in a safe manner.
Juravich: Okay. And would there need, I mean, there would need to be money involved. Cause that's a part of the issue. Columbus city schools is trying to reduce bussing to save money, but then that would like, you're not you as Coda, you not going to just spend money to help Columbus city school because that's that probably wouldn't fit into your business plan, right?
Téllez-Fowler: Well, I can't spend dollars on the school stuff, but there are dollars being set aside for infrastructure such as sidewalks and trails. There are certainly avenues that the link as dollars are committed to helping with this type of stuff. That would have to go through the jurisdictions in which the schools are near.
So for instance, and this is why there's a working group. Because the City of Columbus can say, how can we work on these? They can go through the TSI, the Transit Supportive Infrastructure Committees that I mentioned previously, to say, we've identified some projects that need to be prioritized, why those are priority, and they can put their projects in for grant funding.
Juravich: This is Listener Supported, 89.7 NPR News, and we are talking about central Ohio transportation plans with President and CEO of COTA, Monica Teyes Fowler. And Listeners, if you have a question about the future of CODA, give us a call, 614-292-8513. We have Rick in Columbus. Rick, what's your question?
Rick: Yes, I noticed recently a really nice facility opened up out in the Rickenbacker area. I wonder how that figured in. Okay. Well, also, while I'm waiting, I'm watching a lot of busses go by, powered by CNG, curious if renewable natural gas would ever be in the mix for those vehicles. Okay. So two things.
Juravich: All right. Thanks, Rick. That's all right. Okay, let's start with the new CODA facility near Rickenbacker. What's he talking about?
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, we have a facility at Rickenbacker. It's our mobility center at Rikenbacker, yeah. So we move some bus routes there. It allows for some better facilities and a stopping point for some of our operators, but it's also got space for some shared space for other things.
So we are working with Columbus State to provide some space for learning opportunities there. We've also worked to try to identify. Opportunities to work with the Mid-Ohio Food Bank to provide some, maybe some of the lockers for food there to see if that would work. We've also are looking for opportunities to maybe find some other partners. I think there may be some financial or even some daycare. We have space that we've built out there so that we can create more of a... All-stop kind of one-stop place for everyone, people commuting back and forth from work in that area specifically.
Juravich: Well, and then Rick brought up something I was gonna ask you about later, but we might as well ask about it now, and that is electric busses. Is that what he was talking about? I'm not sure, yeah. I think he asked about.
Téllez-Fowler: I think he asked about the CNG, compressed natural gas. And I think his question was, do we use renewable, or is there opportunity to use renewable compressed natural gas in there? And actually, all of our compressed natural gas is renewable. We do not do it. So everything is renewable compressed natural gas, so it is a very low emission vehicle.
Juravich: Okay, so he was just sitting there watching busses go by and did he see the letters on the side of the bus?
Téllez-Fowler: It says powered by CNG.
Juravich: Oh, I see. Okay, I didn't know what he meant. Okay. Well, then we will pause right there and we'll hold the electric bus question for just a moment because we're going to take a break. Listeners, if you have a question about the future planning of COTA, give us a call 614-292-8513 or email us at allsides at www.osu.org.
Coming up, we're going to ask the CEO of CODA what she would like to see in the future for COTA and we can take your calls. That's when all sides continues on 89.7 NPR news.
You're listening to All Sides. I'm your host, Amy Juravich. Much has been said about the continued growth of Columbus and how it will impact the region. This will mean more riders placing strain on the transit system. Is it ready for them? We're talking about the latest transit insights and innovations straight from COTA's leadership. Still with us is Monica Taez-Fowler, president and CEO of COTA. Thanks again for being here today, Monica. Yeah.
Listeners, you can join us. What would you like to see in the future for central Ohio Transit 614-292-8513? Email us at allsides at wosu.org. So I tease this. There's been recalls and there were a range of issues that were, there's like range issues that have resulted in COTA placing a pause on buying more electric busses. So can you tell us what was the recall issue? What's the range issue? Does that mean like how far the bus can go? Like what are you experiencing with these electric busses?
Téllez-Fowler: Well, first, I want to start with saying COTA remains committed to being a sustainable organization. But we did have to take a pause on the purchasing of electric busses. We did purchase 50 BEB vehicles. And since we've had them, I think when we first purchased them, the commitment by the manufacturer was that we would receive 150,000 miles. 150,000 miles for the range 150 miles. I'm sorry
Juravich: Okay, so the bus could go 150 miles without having to be recharged. Okay got it that didn't happen
Téllez-Fowler: We're not seeing that particularly in inclement weather, right? And we knew inclement whether requires more taxing on the batteries themselves. So we knew that would be a thing, but we're not seen close to what we anticipated. Now, when you bring in those vehicles, you have to have a very clear idea of where can I use these vehicles? Because When you have to take a vehicle out to charge it, you're not switching a vehicle one for one.
We can have C and G busses out there all day, it can be out there for a 10, 12 hour shift, and it never has to come back, right? A battery electric vehicle, if it's only doing 150 miles, you can see how, and then if we're using the AC, or we're usin' the heater, all of those different things take energy from that battery, it has to com in. So that's been a challenge. We've also seen some recalls on the batteries themselves in particular.
And I think that the big thing to say is this is not something that Columbus alone, COTA alone, is experiencing. This is a industry-wide challenge that we're seeing across the country with many different transit authorities. Actually, when we go to our industry. Conferences, APTA conferences, that is a very big topic of conversation. What are you doing about your battery electric busses? What is the manufacturer doing? How can we help move this along?
The technology is just woefully behind, unfortunately. And until the technology kind of catches up, we had to put a pause on that. Did you return the busses you bought or do we still have them? We still have the busses. Are they on the road? Sometimes they are on the road, and we are very intentional about what routes we put those busses on. We are also working to install pantographs, which would allow in-route charging.
That would mean, so for instance at the Mobility Center at Rickenbacker, we're putting pinnagraphs there what that would mean is if a bus goes out there they could go to that transit center, they can charge while they're there waiting. And then they have, you can see, then they can stay out a little longer. So we are looking for how do we do this in a way where those busses can actually stay out little longer and get the range that we really need in order to keep our service moving in the way we need it to.
Juravich: Okay, so is COTA purchasing more? Because I'm assuming you always need to be, you know, cycling in new busses, cycling out old busses. Are you going to be purchasing gas-powered busses then? Thank you.
Téllez-Fowler: So what we are doing is we have purchased 38 new CNG busses. We purchased, our board approved that purchase last year. We're beginning to receive those here this month, all the way through September. And then we should be able to see them in full circulation in our service by September, by the September service change. We will stay with CNG until we can figure out the BEB question. And that is really having technology that is not just known, but reliable. Because reliability is where the challenge is with BEBs.
Juravich: So, gas prices are on the rise for everyone. Are you impacted by this or no, because you're not using gas at the pump like we all are talking about who drive cars. You're using this natural... Renewable. Yeah.
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah we use renewable CNG. Did your cost go up though? Our costs have we have seen an increase in cost but it is managed through we do hedging on some of that so so we we manage it as best we can particularly with regard to a budget.
Juravich: Okay, so it might your cost to go up six months from now if ours goes down. Listeners, you can give us a call 614-292-8513. And we have a question from Sharon in Columbus. Sharon, what's your question?
Sharon: Yes, good morning. I have a question. One of the major routes in town route three, its northern endpoint is Kingsdale shopping center. And then Kingsdale used to allow people to park there now for a park and ride. And recently all of, well, more than I think it's been several years now, the sites are all over the place here parking only for shopping center customers.
Do you have any plans? Are you in negotiations or at least talking to the folks at Kingsdale? Because that's such a major endpoint and many people ride the bus and I think right now they're parking in the neighborhoods, which also isn't great.
Juravich: Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Sharon. OK, so people are riding the bus to Kingsdale, or they want to park their car and then ride the bus. Is that what she's saying? You don't have a park and ride over there.
Téllez-Fowler: Yeah, I'm not aware of any parking ride and you know, she kind of said it's been going on for several years, I am not aware any prior agreement that was there either, I'd have to go back and look into the records to see if there was an agreement with one of the shopping centers there to allow people to park. I just don't have that, again. Or maybe people were just parking there and there wasn't actually. Agreement. Right, so I don't really have the background on that.
Juravich: Okay, yeah. We have Frederick in Columbus. Frederick, what was your question? Oh, I think that Frederick is not there. That's OK. All right, so now we can go to Francis. Francis in Columbus, what's your question?
Francis: Uh... My question or comment is about the reliability uh... Mainstream i've used it now for a few years and i've noticed in the last six or seven months that the reliability isn't there that used to be there and also about getting incorrect information uh... I called one time when i was about waiting for the bus to come to my home and I called to see if the bus was on its way.
And the person told me that it was three miles away. And I looked up from the telephone and the bus pulled up in the back. So it couldn't have possibly have been three miles away. So the information that I'm getting is incorrect. And also, there's been a lot of delay and times when I've had to actually cancel doctor's appointments because the bus wasn't going to be here for like an hour. And I'm just wondering about the reliability of mainstream.
Juravich: Thank you, Frances. OK, so first, let's talk about what mainstream is. Yeah.
Téllez-Fowler: Mainstream, so Mainstream is our paratransit service. It is really put out to help, to serve people with mobility challenges. So there's really kind of a door-to-door kind of handling with that versus fixed route. You go out to the stop and you get off and you kind of make it.
Juravich: Those places on your own. So Francis can request a ride? Is that what you mean?
Téllez-Fowler: That's right. Well, request a ride and someone actually helps, you know, whether they have a wheelchair, whether they have, you know, a walker, whatever the case is. So we always have vehicles that are equipped with mobility functions. So that's really what our mainstream is. It's really for people with mobility challenges.
Juravich: Okay, and so the issues with reliability that Frances was mentioning, have you had that experience? Do you feel like this could be just a one-off instance where the bus happened to be late, or is it a frequent issue you hear about?
Téllez-Fowler: I have noticed some challenges with regard to a pickup or drop-off timing. So we have very high requirements. What I will say is that is a third party that actually does the service for us. We have been really pushing them. What I was made aware of is they were having trouble hiring, but they have made some significant changes. They've gotten their numbers up. And Frances, I hope you'll see improved service in the coming months.
Juravich: Okay, so you're not surprised to hear that there were some problems, but hopefully it's been fixed. That's right. Okay. We also have an email from Steve asking if you can clarify what recycled CNG means when you talk about powering the busses. Steve doesn't believe it was possible to burn natural gas twice. That's what, I mean, that's what the email says. I don't know enough about recycle adventure.
Téllez-Fowler: I appreciate that. I also don't know enough to know how that's recycled. I just know that when you go out to purchase it, you can either purchase compressed natural gas and you can actually do that yourself at your station or you can purchase it and it comes through the pipeline and that's what you receive. All I can say is what we purchase is renewable compressed natural. I guess. Okay. All right.
Juravich: Sorry Steve, we're not natural gas experts here. And then another thing I wanted to ask you about is whenever we talk about transit and development changes downtown, a transit request that we often hear about is an express route to John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Maybe something that runs from Ohio State University, has a stop downtown, head straight to the airport. Is that something that's on your radar?
Téllez-Fowler: That's something that's in our short-range transit plan. Okay, so I'm sorry. I didn't touch on that. But yeah, absolutely That's a huge need and I think you know as we continue to grow as a region You know having regular service to Glongin John Glenn and to the Ohio State University is A necessity. I think if we want to really kind of mature as a Region That's Something that is as we have to do it
Juravich: Okay, can you put I'm going to ask you to give me a date. Can you put a date on it?
Téllez-Fowler: I can't put a date, but it'll be within five years, because that's in the short-range transit plan. Okay. Within five years.
Juravich: Okay, so is there anything else in the short-range transit plan? I feel like we ended up pivoting away from the short range transit plan quickly that you wanted to touch on. I know that we briefly mentioned increasing frequency of busses. Talk to me about the difference between adding a route and adding more. Is it you're adding like more busses like that comes more frequently? Is that what that frequency means?
Téllez-Fowler: Frequency yes, that's exactly
Juravich: That's exactly what it means.
Téllez-Fowler: So let's say, and what I'll say is we had, we still had several lines that were running on a 60 minute frequency. Which means one bus an hour. One bus an an hour, yeah, see? So you can kind of see, somebody misses that bus, they would have to wait an entire hour before another bus comes.
That's not really usable or, you know, that doesn't serve anyone's purpose. And so we really are trying to completely do away with 60. Our hope is that we will have no lines that are on a 60 minute frequency. We have some frequencies that are still 30 minutes that's still improvement from the 60 minutes, but what we're really looking for is that sweet spot is that 15 minute frequency and any of our very busy corridors, we have really focused on that.
We've already increased frequency on eight different lines already. And so we want to continue to see that, because we believe that's what serves people's purposes. It allows them to move, and it gives them more options. Go ahead and continue. Because you asked more, like, what's going on? I did also want to share the short-range transit plan also identifies five additional zones of Coda Plus.
And Coda plus is our micro transit service. So that kind of works very similar to the Uber and Lyft. We have an app for it. You call a car. It's a point-to-point service. So pick me up on the corner of High and Shentendale or drop me off at High and Broad. That's kind of, you can't get it downtown by the way because we have a lot of service there. But it's in particular zones where we don't have a fix route service. That's the intention is kind of cover and also create that first last mile connection.
Juravich: Okay, so this is to help expand COTA outside of where you have the most busses, which is downtown, right? Yes, yeah. And you said that's a part of the short-range transit plan, so what increase... Did you say? Five new zones. So right now we have we serve Grove City, we serve Westerville, and we serve Southside Columbus.
Juravich: Okay, those three are active. Those three are active already. And you want to add five additional. Five more. Can you tell me which areas or are you studying?
Téllez-Fowler: We will be studying but we will be announcing one later this year and not to be shared yet.
Juravich: Okay. But it's going to be so okay. So you said you have Grove City, Westerville. So I'm assuming it'll be, you know, a suburb of Columbus, right? Okay. Well, we're out of time, but I want to thank you so much for joining us for the hour. Our guest has been the president and CEO of Coda, Monica Taez Fowler. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. And you've been listening to All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. I'm Amy Juravich. Thanks for joining us.