Find bus rides stressful? New COTA phone app aims to lessen the fear

First-time bus riders often tense up, not sure how to pay, where to sit or whether they'll miss their stop.

For those on the autism spectrum or with broad-based neurodiverse disorders, the trepidation can be worse.

That's why the Central Ohio Transit Authority on Wednesday began offering a phone app to make the process easier.

COTA is partnering with Magnusmode, a Toronto-based company that supports autistic and neurodiverse people in activities of daily living and life skill development.

The MagnusCards life skills app has a series of tips and lessons on planning trips, paying fares, boarding buses, riding and transferring. The app is free to download.

“We are excited to introduce this digital tool to make COTA more accessible for anyone who needs to get to jobs, school, healthcare, food or entertainment across Central Ohio,” said Sophia Mohr, COTA’s chief innovation and technology officer. “MagnusCards is a new step toward bringing transit to our neurodiverse customers but also an ideal way to enable new customers to use COTA’s service, regardless of their abilities.”

The MagnusCards app uses visual cues, step-by-step instructions and optional audio in either English orSpanish to guide users through the transit process. Though the decks are geared toward those with autism-like conditions, they can those simply unfamiliar with COTA, from teens to seniors to new Americans.

"COTA is among the first transit agencies in the United States to introduce MagnusCards to its ridership and serves as a leader in making Columbus an inclusive place to live and a model city for how communities, companies and services can improve access to services," said Nadia Hamilton, Magnusmode founder and president.

Bridgeway Academy, a Columbus-based private school for children and young adults with autism and other developmental disabilities, helped COTA test the app.

"COTA really wanted to make sure they were making everything as acceptable as it could be," said Janelle Maur, the academy's director of advancement. "Our students served as kind of a test group."

"We are hopeful to be able to expand this further — for parks, public places, anywhere someone could go," she said.

dnarciso@dispatch.com