Explanation
1. BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Director of Public Service to enter into multiple agreements with the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) relative to the FRA-COTA Cleveland Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, to accept payments from COTA to the Department of Public Service for performing various services during and after the completion of said project, and to execute agreement modifications as necessary.
COTA intends to construct or cause to be constructed a 15.6-mile high capacity transit project comprised of a combination of BRT services operating in mixed traffic primarily along Cleveland Avenue between downtown Columbus and SR-161, with enhanced bus service continuing north to Polaris Parkway and Africa Road, connecting commuters with various land uses along the corridor through the City of Columbus, Clinton Township, and the Village of Minerva Park in Franklin County, terminating in the City of Westerville in Delaware County. The BRT line will utilize “an operational strategy that facilitates the movement of in-service transit vehicles through traffic-signal controlled intersections” known as the Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) System, which endeavors to reduce transit vehicle travel times and transit schedule variability while minimizing the impact to “conventional” traffic using the same road network.
COTA, the City of Columbus, the City of Westerville, the Village of Minerva Park, Blendon Township, the Franklin County Engineer’s Office, and the Ohio Department of Transportation previously executed a Memorandum of Understanding, describing the general roles and responsibilities of the aforementioned parties concerning the BRT project, in August 2014. COTA, the City of Columbus, the City of Westerville, and the Franklin County Engineer’s Office later entered into an Inter-local Agency Agreement, effective November 13, 2015, certifying the roles and responsibilities to be assumed by each entity relative to the construction ...
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