The Central Ohio Transit Authority was awarded a $42 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help fund the construction of a bus rapid transit corridor on West Broad Street.
COTA is looking to build a $400 million, 9.3 mile bus corridor on Broad Street with 17 stations along the route. The proposed bus route runs between North Washington Avenue in downtown Columbus to Rockbrook Crossing Avenue.
Much of the route closer to downtown would have a raised platform in the median for pedestrians to stand on to wait for buses. The buses would mix in with regular traffic about five miles down Broad Street.
COTA spokesman Patrick Harris told WOSU funding will primarily come from a sales tax increase that COTA hopes to put on the ballot this November. Harris said this is needed as Central Ohio grows rapidly.
"There's 725,000 new residents expected over the next couple of decades. If you put that in perspective of 725,000 new private passenger vehicles on the road, you can you can imagine what kind of congestion that would look like. So investing in rapid transit is a solution to help us grow sustainably," Harris said
The DOT announced the award Tuesday as part of the $3.3 billion Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant with projects in 131 other communities.
COTA said on its website that the project will also integrate bike lanes, sidewalks and other amenities to increase the walkability of the surrounding area.
The regional transportation system also plans other bus rapid transit corridors on East Main Street to Reynoldsburg and a third that runs from downtown to the Ohio State campus and northwest towards Dublin. All three projects are part of the LinkUS partnership between COTA, the city of Columbus, Franklin Count and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
Harris said the sales tax increase is expected to raise about $6 billion, which will in part be used to fund the $8 billion projects for bus rapid transit. He said the increased sales tax revenue will also help leverage more grants potentially to reach that $8 billion mark.
Harris said if the sales tax passes and all goes as planned, service would start on the West Broad Street route in 2028. He said construction would start in 2025 on that route and the East Main Street route would start soon after the first route opens..
Harris said other transportation options like light passenger rail are not as widely planned as bus rapid transit because of cost to build and lack of density in the region compared to other cities that have light rail. He called bus rapid transit "light rail on wheels."
"It's important to point out there's no loss in amenities when it comes to comparing light rail and bus rapid transit. It essentially works the exact same way," Harris said.
