A Columbus transit advocacy organization wants voters to decide whether to pump millions of dollars into high-capacity mass transit such as passenger-rail or bus rapid-transit service with dedicated lanes.

TransitColumbus calls for a 2020 ballot measure to pay for construction and operations of high-capacity transit while also creating “a more fast, frequent and reliable service network.” The independent advocacy group lists the tax proposal among its most pressing ideas in a new policy agenda released last week.

“We understand there is a real demand for high-capacity transit in Columbus, and we have to find a way to pay for it. We believe the public support is there to fund that,” said Josh Lapp, chairman of TransitColumbus.

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Lapp said the group envisions the ballot measure taking the form of an increase in the sales tax, which is how the Central Ohio Transit Authority is funded. The authority has two 0.25% sales tax levies — one permanent, and one that voters must regularly reauthorize — that generated $131 million in 2018.

The authority can put those levies before voters without the consent of other agencies.

“We don’t have any immediate plans to go to the ballot at this time. That sentiment could change, should the community want to have that discussion,” said Patrick Harris, COTA’s director of government affairs. “We would never move forward on a taxing proposal without the support of our community as a whole.”

If COTA is unwilling to put the issue before voters, Lapp said, TransitColumbus could explore other options for getting it on the ballot.

TransitColumbus is trying to capitalize on renewed energy around mass transit that stems in part from an Insight2050 study that examined five corridors for high-capacity transit and denser development. The group has zeroed in on the West Broad Street and East Main Street corridors as priorities for light rail and bus rapid transit.

“I believe we will need to go to the people with a bold plan for COTA and mass transit; the Insight 2050 data can’t be read any other way," council President Shannon G. Hardin said in an email. "Winning at the ballot takes heavy lifting and planning, and it is too early to say when that work will be done."

For decades, Columbus largely has had a bus-only public transportation network. In 2018, it opened its first bus rapid-transit line, the CMax, that runs from Downtown north to Polaris Parkway, mostly via Cleveland Avenue. The line has limited stops and uses wireless technology to alert traffic lights about oncoming buses to give them signal priority, helping the buses to run faster than those on local routes.

CMax differs from true bus rapid-transit lines in one significant way, though: Buses mingle with other vehicles; they do not have dedicated lanes.

In other parts of the world, most bus rapid-transit lines have dedicated rights of way that allow buses to travel much faster, and they have larger stations that resemble rail stops, said Robert Puentes, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Eno Center for Transportation.

Transit operators in the United States have been slower to adopt those measures, which Puentes said signal to developers a “permanence” that helps drive confidence in building around them.

Bus rapid transit is attractive because it is cheaper than building the infrastructure for new passenger rail lines, which can cost billions of dollars.

“There is a political problem in that some places may be gun-shy about it. These are extremely expensive endeavors. But when they’re done right, they can have a positive rate of return,” Puentes said. “The BRT is still kind of viewed as plan B. Everyone wants a large investment, but we can’t get that, so we go to plan B.”

Harris acknowledged that bus rapid-transit lines are more affordable, but he said, “I’ll never take any mode option out of the discussion. It all depends on what is the best fit for that corridor.”

Voters in Marion County, Indiana, approved a referendum in 2016 to raise the income tax and dedicate revenue for IndyGo, the transit organization serving Indianapolis. That will generate about $55 million a year for IndyGo to make a transition similar to the one that COTA has undergone, moving from a “hub and spoke” system where buses converge Downtown to a grid structure.

It also will help IndyGo pay for three new bus rapid-transit lines, all of which will run at least partially in dedicated rights of way, said Bryan Luellen, an IndyGo spokesman. The first is to open later this year.

Puentes said transit agencies increasingly are looking to sales tax increases to pay for major upgrades. In 2018, voters across the country approved sales taxes for transportation, including road projects, that totaled about $31.6 billion, according to an Eno Center report. It also found that 34 out of 39 transit measures on ballots in 2018 passed.

Harris said COTA could tap into other revenue sources, including federal grants and the transportation improvement district that Franklin County recently established.

Developer and former COTA board member Robert Weiler said he would rather see COTA generate additional revenue to make the system free for riders. He’s been pushing that idea for years. COTA generated about $19.2 million from passenger revenue last year.

“I’m all with TransitColumbus on anything that improves mobility,” he said. “I don’t think it makes sense for us to compete. We’re really all interested in improving mobility.”

The TransitColumbus agenda calls for several other transportation improvements, including a second circulator route that services the Arena District and Discovery District, increasing the frequency of service on COTA’s busiest lines, adopting a mobile payment system for buses, and building better pedestrian and bike accommodations.

“I don’t think that we want to be the one city that decided, 'Oh, well, we shouldn’t invest in these things because something else might come along.' The time is now,” Lapp said.

rrouan@dispatch.com

@RickRouan