COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the third year in a row, Central Ohio Transit Authority teamed up with Columbus City Schools to offer unlimited transit access to high school students.
The supplemental transit access, known as the Educational Pass Program, will be offered to all CCS students in grades 9-12 for the upcoming school year.
Students will have access to COTA’s fixed-route transit lines, COTA Mainstream for qualifying students with special mobility needs and COTA//Plus On-Demand service at no charge.
CCS has 13,000 students who will now have unlimited access to the offer through COTA.
“We are proud of this continued collaboration to ensure Columbus City high school students have more mobility options,” said COTA President/CEO Monica Téllez-Fowler. “By having unlimited access to COTA services, students have an additional safe and efficient way to get to class or after-school activities. It also helps students understand how public transportation is another way to access opportunities in our region, opening more doors to access higher education or entering the workforce after graduation.”
Last school year, more than 6,800 students utilized the fixed-route service, which accounted for more than 397,896 trips.
“Some of our high school students don’t have the option to jump in a car and get to school, said Columbus City Schools Superintendent/CEO Dr. Angela Chapman. “These passes are critical to our high school students’ overall well-being. We have students that use these passes to go to and from work, to visit their grandparents, to pick up siblings, to stay involved in extra-curricular activities, and to buy groceries for their family!”
COTA says that students will have full access to the on-board complimentary Wi-Fi. Students can access the lines for free using their Student Success Cards.
When getting on a bus, students must tap their card on the validator. For more information, click here.
It's important to note that the bus will not make stops at schools. Students will instead be picked up and dropped off at existing COTA transit stops.
