See what upgraded rapid bus service in Columbus could look like

View a previous report on efforts to pass a transit sales tax levy that would fund LinkUS in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — You can use your phone to see what Columbus’ bus rapid transit system could look like if a sales tax increase is approved by voters in November.

It’s part of a push from local leaders to garner support for the 0.5% tax, put forward by the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), that would increase Franklin County’s rate to 8%, one of the highest in the state. It would be used to fund a $2 billion initiative to add dedicated bus lanes, in addition to wider bike and pedestrian lanes, along multiple Columbus thoroughfares.

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Called BRT, it would mark major progress toward bringing mass transportation to the city, Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla said.

“I will say to the folks who are really interested in light rail, this is the baby steps for light rail,” Barroso de Padilla said. “We don’t have the density for light rail. That’s why we could never have pulled down the federal dollars for it. This is our first step at providing a mass transportation system for the City of Columbus.”

A self-guided “augmented reality tour” is available through the LinkUS Columbus site. You can scan QR codes from certain locations along the West Broad BRT route, and an app will use your phone’s camera to give you a glimpse at what the completed project would look like. City leaders, including Mayor Andrew Ginther, took the tour themselves recently.

The $314 million West Broad Street corridor is just one under a proposal that received partial funding in April. Others include an East Main Street corridor running from Downtown to Reynoldsburg, and a Northwest Corridor with an undetermined route from Downtown to the Dublin area. The West Broad corridor would include 17 stops along a 9.3-mile route:

• Doctors Hospital

• Hollywood Casino

• Wilson Road Park

• Hilltop Branch Library

• Ohio Department of Transportation

• Ohio Department of Public Safety

• Mount Carmel Franklinton

• COSI

• National Veterans Memorial and Museum

• Scioto Mile

• Palace Theatre

• Ohio Statehouse

• Capital University Law School

• Grant Medical Center

• Columbus Metropolitan Library

• Columbus State Community College

• Columbus College of Art & Design

• Columbus Museum of Art

The augmented reality tour includes visualizations from three points along the route.

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“I think it’s really important for people to realize how this is going to improve their quality of life,” Ginther said. “It’s going to connect our entire community, whether you live in Dublin, Grove City, the Near East Side, in a township, all over the COTA service area.”

One stop on the tour was at the former Westland Mall site near Hollywood Casino. It would be turned into a BRT activity center. Two other stops included a station by the Third Way Cafe, near Wilson Road Park, and a station by COSI, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum and the Scioto Mile.

Fred Brothers, CEO of Fortuity, a customer service company along the corridor, spoke in favor of the project after taking the tour.

“Tax increase in any form, no one jumps up and down and is excited about it; let’s be honest,” Brothers said. “But we’ve got to invest in our community. We’ve got to invest in our workforces.”

He said half of his employees take the bus to work and thought BRT could help improve their commutes.

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“We’re using a very urban core and inner-city labor force,” Brothers said. “They rely on public transportation every day, and they don’t want to change. We are incredibly excited about the West Broad Street corridor.”

Columbus is the largest city in the country without a mass transit system, and that’s one reason that Council President Shannon Hardin said he’s in favor of the sales tax.

“We do not believe that we’ve been serving our population the best,” Hardin said. “In Columbus, you almost have to have a car.”

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