The former Westland Mall may look like a demolition site now, but the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) reimagines it as a mixed-use development with shops.
Pull up the inCitu AR app and turn your phone toward the site and you can not only see the buildings but walk right “inside.”
Westland Mall is one of three stops where COTA is using augmented reality to show what West Broad Street might look like with a rapid bus transit line.
Further south near South Westgate Avenue, the app shows a dedicated center lane for bus travel and a large, concrete bus station. There’s also a protected bike lane and a big wall where public art might go.
Another augmented reality stop shows the bus station at Belle Street in Franklinton. With an interactive feature, you can move the station from the middle of the road to the greenspace and walk right up to the ticketing kiosks.
A rapid transit corridor
The West Broad Street bus rapid transit corridor would span 9.3 miles from Rockbrook Crossing Avenue to Long Street, with 17 stops. South of Westgate Avenue, the line would have a dedicated bus lane.
A 60-foot bus with an accordion-like joint would travel the route.
“Bus rapid transit – I liken it to a subway aboveground,” said COTA Senior Director of Regional Strategic Partnerships Aslyne Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said rapid bus transit stations would be level with the bus so strollers, bikes, and wheelchairs could easily roll onto the vehicle. Ticketing would be done ahead of time by cash or phone app.
The rapid route would function as an express line, with a different local bus still serving all of the normal stops along the 10 Line.
Rodriguez expects that the transit line would help spur development along West Broad Street.
“When you build something like a bus rapid transit corridor, people want to build things around here,” Rodriguez said. “And so, what we want to do is have a very thoughtful way in which we build along this corridor.”
She said that means thinking about how to keep people in their houses while also building opportunities for new folks and businesses to move into the neighborhoods “in an equitable way.”
Transit for a growing region
Five more rapid bus transit corridors are planned, including one on East Main Street and another from downtown Columbus to Dublin. The final two have yet to be decided.
Rapid bud transit is just one part of the larger LinkUS plan, which also includes improvements to sidewalks, bikeways and trails, as well as the expansion of COTA’s rideshare program, COTA Plus. The plan is a collaboration between COTA, Columbus, Franklin County Commissioners and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
Columbus Councilwoman Lourdes Barroso de Padilla said millions of people are expected to move into Central Ohio in the coming years – and rapid transit and infrastructure improvements will benefit everyone.
“If you don't like traffic now, you're really not going to like it with two more million more people,” Barroso de Padilla said. “And if two million more people are driving, think about the congestion. Think about what it does to our environment."
“If you don't like traffic now, you're really not going to like it with two more million more people."- Columbus Councilwoman Lourdes Barroso de Padilla
Going to the voters
But the rapid transit routes and LinkUS likely won’t be possible without the passage of a planned ballot issue. COTA intends to ask voters to double it’s current 0.5% sales tax to 1%. Rodriguez said that’s a penny on a dollar.
She said that’s percentage is similar to Cleveland and Cincinnati. By state law, it’s also the highest sales tax COTA can seek.
The sales tax increase would help COTA generate an additional $2 billion by 2023 and around $8 billion total by 2025. That’s in part because some money would serve as a local match for federal funds. If the sales tax was increased, COTA anticipates it could get up to $657 million in federal grants by 2025.
Around 2.75% of the sales tax itself would be put toward roadway improvements, protected bike lanes, and connections to existing trails, Rodriguez said.
“So, when you ask us, why should people, who don't maybe ride the bus care, it's because a lot of people care about their trail systems. They want that connectivity,” Rodriguez said.
The ballot measure hasn’t officially been submitted yet, but it’s likely voters will see it in November.
