POWELL — Delaware County Transit is laying out what expanded public transportation could look like in Powell and Liberty Township if voters approve a new sales tax levy in November.
The transportation agency’s executive director Andy Volenik presented expansion plans to Powell City Council on Tuesday, detailing services DCT could implement should voters pass a 0.2% sales and use tax levy.
Volenik said DCT has reached the limits of what it can provide under its current funding model. He previously told Delaware Source that additional local funding is necessary for the agency to expand.
If approved, the levy would fund service expansions throughout Delaware County, including several changes directly affecting Powell and Liberty Township.
According to DCT’s website, the agency would use the revenue from the proposed tax levy for:
- Expanding City of Delaware FLEX service to seven days per week
- Developing same-day countywide Demand Response service
- Expanding FLEX microtransit throughout Orange Township
- Establishing microtransit service in Powell and Liberty Township
- Improving connections among transit service areas in southern Delaware County
- Planning future commuter or express transportation service
- Purchasing and replacing transit vehicles
- Supporting the operation and maintenance of transit services
- Evaluating an expansion of the existing transit facility or a satellite facility in southern Delaware County
Volenik said demand for DCT services has grown significantly in recent years, with annual trips more than doubling from 104,000 in 2022 to a projected 225,000 this year.
“We were nationally recognized by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) for a 35% increase year over year in ridership,” he said.
If the levy passes, Volenik expects DCT to reach 750,000 trips in the future, he previously told Delaware Source.
What does this mean for Powell, specifically?
Looking at a population density map, Volenik showed how there is a high concentration of people living and working in Delaware County’s southern portion around Powell.
“In the city of Delaware, we see some in of the industrial sections that they have some jobs there. But we see the concentration between the communities of Powell, Liberty and Orange townships,” he said.
“For travel patterns, we know that 74% of the county leaves the county for work and we know that most of those are going towards Franklin County.”
Volenik explained that the Sawmill corridor is a hot spot for departing and arriving trips. However, DCT currently only extends its base dial-to-ride service, not its FLEX service, to the Powell area.
DCT’s base service is available throughout Delaware County and is typically used for trips across the county, including to communities such as Ashley and Harlem. Unlike a traditional fixed-route bus service, riders must call DCT at least a day in advance to schedule a trip.
“People [who use the base service] are paying at least $8 for these trips, $16 round trip,” Volenik said.
“If a trips starts and ends in [the FLEX] zones, they are $2 one way or $1 for elderly, youth and disabled people, and you can schedule it on our Delaware County Transit app.”
If voters approve the tax levy, DCT would create a FLEX service zone for the Powell/Liberty Township area with an additional Orange Township FLEX zone somewhat overlapping. DCT already operates FLEX service zones in the cities of Delaware and Sunbury.
“This what we are proposing: it gets people to jobs, it gets people to healthcare. I believe the northern periphery is the new Ohio State University medical facility that we’re capturing within this area,” Volenik said.
“It gets people to their community areas, to village spaces, to township spaces, to wherever they need to go.”
