Applications now being accepted for the spring 2023 COMET Academy
February 22, 2023
The Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (The COMET) announced that applications are now being accepted for The COMET Academy, a leadership development program for those interested in understanding how public transit works. The COMET hosts the program at no charge to attendees. Because of the tremendous positive response from the public, the program is back for Spring 2023.
Most of The COMET Academy sessions will be held virtually for a duration of 60-minutes. Classes will meet once a week on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. beginning March 6 through April 3, with graduation on April 17. The first meeting will be an in-person introduction at COMET headquarters at 3613 Lucius Road.
The five-week intensive will provide an in-depth, behind the scenes look at The COMET transit system. The purpose of The COMET Academy is to develop and equip allies of public transit by arming them with information to be strong advocates on transit’s behalf and to possibly take active leadership roles as potential members of The COMET Board of Directors or to serve in other public service capacities.
“It is our plan to empower community and business leaders with knowledge of the inner workings, history and future goals of public transit in the Midlands,” said LeRoy DesChamps, COO of The COMET. “Our past sessions received an overwhelming response. We are grateful and excited to again be able to present this program to the community.”
The curriculum includes such topics as history, financing, program partnerships and organizational structure. Space is limited. The deadline to apply is March 2. Applications for The COMET Academy Spring 2023 session can be found on the website here: https://catchthecometsc.gov/comet-academy/.
About The COMET
The COMET is a service of the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority and provides countywide public transit services on 47 fixed routes, USC Transit powered by The COMET, OnDemand/ReFlex services, vanpool service for commuters, subsidy programs with Uber and Lyft and DART for transportation to grocery stores and at night, ADA complementary paratransit service throughout Richland and portions of Lexington Counties and eight Blue Bike bikeshare stations in Downtown Columbia. The COMET transports approximately 2.4 million passenger trips a year on a fleet of more than 90 buses, vans, and trolleys. Transit services are provided under contract with RATP Dev USA, Enterprise Holdings, Lyft, Uber and Bewegen. For additional The COMET information, please call (803) 255-7100, TDD/TTY: 711 through the relay service, email: [email protected] or visit www.catchthecomet.org.
Catch The COMET…We Will Take You There!
