I should have posted this a week ago. I finished my report and anlalysis of the OSU & COTA "partnership" which charges every student $9 per quarter in exchange for unlimited use of the COTA system. You can read the entire report here (PDF).
In summary, OSU has done a horrible job monitoring this contract. They put the task of monitoring performance in the hands of a loosely allied group of students and administrators. The group rarely meets and has difficulty reaching quorum at every meeting. Despite the University's vast resources in statistics, urban planning, economics and GIS it seems that none of these departments were tapped to take an honest look at COTA's performance of the contract. COTA has failed to attract sufficient student use to justify even on a basic utilitarian level the total expenditure. Despite being COTA's largest single customer, OSU is paying on average $1.29 per ride when the public fare is only $1.25 (though the public fare will rise next year). By purchasing in bulk OSU has significantly reduced the transaction costs for COTA but OSU is not benefiting from a reduction in fees.
This program should be ended. The 3,400 (< 10% of the population) or so students who use COTA can pay for their own bus services.
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