Foursquare ITP is helping Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) prepare organizationally for implementation of LinkUS, an $8 billion transit expansion plan. LinkUS will be transformative for COTA. It is the largest capital initiative ever undertaken by the agency and will result in the build-out of a regional bus-rapid transit (BRT) network. LinkUS will expand the role COTA plays in the Columbus region and require new staff, expertise, and resources to implement. The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded COTA a Regional Infrastructure Accelerator (RIA) grant which will fund strategic planning around the governance and implementation of LinkUS.
As part of RIA, Foursquare ITP is evaluating COTA’s organizational capacity for LinkUS. Our team interviewed several transit agencies across the country that have undertaken similar system expansion efforts to learn about their experience and lessons learned. We conducted extensive engagement with COTA staff and leadership to identify internal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to LinkUS.
Our research and engagement culminated in a playbook of strategies for how COTA can build its internal capacity to deliver LinkUS. Our recommendations ranged from organizational structure changes to the adoption of new processes and hiring of new staff. The playbook presents a timeline for recommendations, to help agency leadership prioritize actions. Voters passed LinkUS in November 2024 and the agency is already addressing many of Foursquare ITP’s findings.
Solutions and Outcomes
- Research and identify the organizational impacts of large capital expansion efforts.
- Develop recommendations to build internal capacity to support transformative change.