CASE
JULY/AUGUST 2018 | MassTransitmag.com | Mass Transit | 33
Advertorial
The fare management system overhaul
that the Central Ohio Transit Authority
(COTA) underwent recently was not your
DYHUDJHWHFKQRORJ\UHIUHVK7KHȴQDOVROX-
tion, a Genfare Link implementation which
was engineered and implemented by Genfare,
is in fact a revolutionary system that
is fully integrated and serves as the back-
ERQHIRUDȴUVWRILWVNLQGSURJUDPWRRHU
free travel systemwide for all Downtown
Columbus employers and their employees.
“We wanted to be sure that Downtown
Columbus would be competitive in
the market for employers — to truly be a
‘Smart Columbus’ — and we also needed
to help address the growing lack of parking
and increased congestion,” said Joanna
Pinkerton, COTA President and CEO. When
COTA developed the requirements for its
new fare management program, the executive
team knew that they needed to take
advantage of as many new technologies
as possible so it could be convenient for
every passenger and serve to attract and
grow ridership.
“The result is a secure, fully integrated
VROXWLRQZLWKRWKHVKHOIDSSOLFDWLRQSUR-
gram interfaces (APIs) using an open-technology
stack,” said Vijay Balan, Genfare’s
&KLHI7HFKQRORJ\2ɝFHUȊ7KHVROXWLRQLV
completely unique, because it allows for
the use of all fare media types, is device agnostic,
has minimal touchpoints, and most
importantly, facilitates integration among
multiple stakeholder organizations.”
This adaptability was key, because COTA’s
executive team knew that this solution
would ultimately provide far more than
just an updated fare payment system – it
needed to serve as the cornerstone for
C-pass, a uniquely collaborative program
WRRHUFRPSOHPHQWDU\WUDQVLWXVHIRUDOO
participating employers in Downtown Columbus
and their employees.
C-pass was developed jointly by COTA,
the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
(MORPC), the Capital Crossroads
Special Improvement District (SID) and the
Downtown Columbus business community
and property owners. The C-pass program
gives eligible downtown employees access
to ride any COTA bus, anytime, regardless
RIWKHVLHRIWKHFRPSDQ\&SDVVRHUV
unlimited bus access because it was purchased
by property owners within the SID
with additional funding from MORPC. “The
business community and property owners
NQHZWKDWWUDQVLWDVDQHPSOR\HHEHQHȴW
was critical to maintain Columbus’ competitive
position, so they essentially agreed to
tax themselves to fund the C-pass program
for their employees,” said Pinkerton.
“Unfortunately, public transit is not
usually high on business’ radar,” said Cleve
Ricksecker, Executive Director of the SID.
“But the Columbus business community
has decided to stop viewing transit as a
social service and consider it to be more
like the economic driver that it truly is. I
am so proud of this community.”
Eligible employees can use a wide
variety of media to board COTA’s buses,
LQFOXGLQJHPSOR\HHLGHQWLȴFDWLRQEDGJHV
and access cards, because of the state-ofthe
art, adaptable design of the Genfare
solution. In total, there are more than
45,000 potential C-pass program participants,
representing approximately 1,200
employers of every size.
With the Genfare fare management
system fully implemented in December
2017, the C-pass program was promoted to
businesses beginning in early 2018, with a
VLJQLȴFDQWPDUNHWLQJHRUWLQ0D\DKHDGRI
the June 1 launch of the program. According
to Balan, there have already been more
than 5,000 downloads of the C-pass mobile
application, with more than 15,000 employees
taking advantage of the free COTA trips
LQMXVWWKHȴUVWIHZZHHNVRIWKHSURJUDP
For more information on COTA’s C-pass
program, visit https://www.cota.com/
cpass.
C-pass a Game-Changer for
Downtown Columbus
COTA Uses Technology and Unprecedented
Business Community Collaboration to Offer Free
Transit for DT Columbus Employees
STUDY
Downtown Columbus employees receive free travel via COTA.
More than 45,000 downtown
employees are eligible for free rides.
/MassTransitmag.com
/cpass
/cpass