COTA

Faculty, staff and students who are eligible will be able to scan a digital pass in the Ohio State app to ride COTA buses. See below for more information about who is eligible. 

How to Use the Digital Pass

• Make sure you have the Ohio State app downloaded and updated to the latest version.
• Sign in with your Ohio State username and password. 
• Find the tile on the For You screen that says “COTA Pass.” 
• Tap the tile to bring up a QR code.
• Scan this QR code by holding your phone screen up to the validator located to your right when boarding a COTA bus. 

Thanks to the OSU/COTA partnership, undergraduate, graduate and professional students have unlimited access to COTA’s entire bus system just by scanning their digital COTA pass on the Ohio State app. 

Requirements:

• You must be enrolled in the current semester for a class that occurs on main campus.
• You must have COTA fee on your statement of account.

Summer

Are you sticking around the city when you’re not enrolled in classes? Then consider taking advantage of COTA's Summer Student Pass Program, which runs from May to September, and costs only $62 for the entire summer.

To purchase a Summer Student Pass, visit the COTA Pass Sales Office (33 N. High Street). To qualify, you must bring your BuckID and have been enrolled in the previous semester. COTA will use Ohio State University enrollment data to determine your eligibility.

Visit COTA for information about routes and schedules.

The Ohio State University offers a COTA Bus Pass Payroll Deduction Program for all faculty and staff members who are eligible for pre-tax payroll deduction. Under the program, employees may elect to have unlimited monthly COTA bus access through a pre-tax payroll deduction taken from their pay each month. Once enrolled and the first payment/deduction is complete, the program works by having participating employees use the digital COTA pass in the Ohio State app. The app displays a QR code that is scanned on the validator when boarding the bus. Faculty and staff receive a $4 discount through payroll deduction which will also be assessed pre-tax.

Faculty and staff may enroll in the COTA bus pass payroll deduction program through Workday. Eligible employees must sign up for this voluntary deduction to participate. COTA bus access will begin the month following the deduction being withheld from the employee’s paycheck. For example, if the deduction is withdrawn from the March paycheck, COTA bus access will begin April 1.

Please view the enrollment instructions that include information on starting and stopping COTA deductions.  Please note: Tax laws do not permit any refund of a pre-tax deduction once deducted.

For questions regarding the COTA pass payroll deduction program, please contact Transportation and Traffic Management at ttminfo@osu.edu. For questions related to COTA service, please visit COTA’s website.