Central Ohio leaders push for sales tax increase to fund $2 billion transit plan

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Elected officials and COTA came together Monday to kick off a campaign in support of a sales tax levy that would bring bus rapid transit to Columbus.

A transit sales tax levy to fund the $2 billion LinkUS Mobility Initiative was put on the November ballot after a COTA vote in May. LinkUS is a plan that would give Columbus fast and reliable public transportation, safe and expanded bike and pedestrian paths, walkable communities with improved accessibility to work and more. If passed, the levy would increase the COTA sales tax in all of its service areas from 0.5% to 1%, or an extra 50 cents on a $100 purchase.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty joined Mayor Andrew Ginther, City Council President Shannon Hardin, Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley, COTA CEO Monica Tellez-Fowler and other local leaders in Columbus to launch the city's campaign to pass the levy.

With at least one study showing Columbus is the fastest-growing city in the U.S., Beatty said it's important to see elected officials come together in support of infrastructure that will accommodate the city's projected growth.

"We know the rapid growth that we've had here in central Ohio," Beatty said. "But we don't have that infrastructure to support it. So, this will allow us to do that. And I'm excited because the whole community is engaged. We have labor, we have the business community, we have the religious community, and every leader in our elected officials are also here."

Speakers at the event said LinkUS wouldn't have been possible without the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, President Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that passed in November 2021. Beatty said it brought $77.7 million in infrastructure funds to Ohio.

"We're claiming a great victory because it passed," Beatty said. "President Biden signed the bill into law, and then we started to work. We've come a long way from passing that bill in 2021 to where we are today."

The LinkUS initiative would bring multiple bus rapid transit corridors to Columbus. Ginther has previously said that BRT offers an experience similar to light rail in feeling and movement, and explained Monday why the proposed corridors are a more practical option for Columbus.

"It is far more affordable to do the bus rapid transit," Ginther said. "And quite honestly, because we are not densely enough populated yet, we wouldn't be eligible for a lot of the federal funds we're going to draw down for light rail."

A proposed $314 million West Broad Street corridor, which was recently approved to receive $41.9 million, would be the first route. Additional corridors would be introduced along East Main Street and Olentangy River Road.

In addition to bus rapid transit, Ginther said the initiative would also introduce bikeways and paths stretching across hundreds of miles.

"We really think it's a great opportunity for us to invest in ourselves," Ginther said. "It isn't just about bus rapid transit, which will help folks get to jobs and healthcare and continue education, it's about also 500 miles of bikeways and paths. All over central Ohio, every community throughout central Ohio will benefit from this."

The hard work is still ahead for Ginther, Beatty, COTA and other city leaders. With less than five months to go until the election, the push to raise awareness is only just beginning, and Ginther called on residents to help spread the word.

"We're asking everybody in this community to lean in, to get educated, to share information with those that you know, maybe those that you work with, you worship with, that you associate with, get them educated about this," Ginther said.