Amanda Lindie thought she was ready for COTA's redesigned routes and schedules when she woke up Monday morning.

A few hours later, though, she wasn't so sure.

"It's crazy. It's hectic," Lindie said as she wandered confused at 7:30 a.m. at a COTA stop immediately north of Broad and High streets, trying to get to work at the Ohio Department of Transportation.

"I got up for the first bus so I wouldn't be late. It's been a couple of hours. I got lost. They told me to go on one side (of the street) and I was on the wrong side. It's very aggravating."

Lindie's problems occurred even though COTA sent out dozens of workers Monday morning to help riders adjust. Curtis Stitt, COTA CEO and president, and other members of the COTA administration were out early helping riders find their correct buses.

The route, time and stop changes are part of COTA's Transit Schedule Redesign, a program COTA calls the most significant change in its history. It has spent almost $10 million since 2013 planning for and implementing the new routes.

COTA is providing more routes to the outer edges of Franklin County more frequently and expanding weekend hours. The goal is to increase the frequency of buses on main arteries to get people to work and other destinations faster. The cost is more walking to more stops for many —and adjusting to the changes.

For months, COTA has been providing information on its website, at stops and with a cadre of workers to tell riders about the changes. Some COTA workers walked riders several blocks Monday to their correct bus stop. The timing was tight: The recorded voices COTA uses on its buses to tell riders what route they are on weren't completely reprogrammed until 3:30 a.m. Monday, just before buses rolled out to start picking up and delivering riders.

"I'm kind of upset that my bus runs every hour when it used to run every half hour," said Lori Bailey, 53, of Olde Towne East.

Bailey was on her way to GED classes and got off the bus at Front and Broad streets, a new stop aimed to alleviate the "bus bunching" that saw many routes begin or end at the intersection of Broad and High streets. Other added Downtown stops were at Fourth and State streets and in front of the Ohio Statehouse on Third and Broad streets.

"I've never been here before," Paula Edwards, 41, of the Far East Side, said as she stood at the new stop at Fourth and State streets.

She used to take one bus to work but the redesign changed that. "It looks like I'm going to have to take three buses," Edwards said. "It's not a part of my happiness. I have to do it."

There were expected problems on the first day of change. A few drivers, likely out of habit, took the correct turn for the old route but the wrong one for new routes, causing a few delays. Some riders were frustrated. Some were excited, especially those who are taking advantage of the free fares COTA is offering this week as riders adjust.

The free fares were popular. The #10 bus Katherine Southworth, 39, rode to get Downtown on her way to her airport-area job was so crowded, she said, "they had to turn people away."

The redesign is implemented as COTA ridership fell by 500,000 trips per year from 2014 to 2016 to 18.8 million trips. COTA's goal is 25 million trips by 2025.

"It's a sudden change," Eric Crabtree, 40, said Monday at the Front and High streets stop, "but they gave everyone time to adjust."

kperry@dispatch.com

@kimballperry