COTA

Publicly-owned transit in Columbus traces its roots to 1971 when the local governments of Franklin County, threatened by the loss of bus service from the privately-owned Columbus Transit Company (CTC), came together to form the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA).

Today, COTA operates in a service area that includes all of Franklin County and incorporated areas of Columbus, Dublin, Reynoldsburg and Westerville in Delaware, Fairfield, Licking, and Union counties.

COTA has both a Short Range Transit Plan and a Long Range Transit Plan. It operates an extensive fixed-route system, accompanied by an on demand paratransit system called Mainstream.

Specific plans involving COTA may be covered under Other Transit Initiatives on this website or on COTA’s website.