Columbia, Md (Map, News) - Columbia landowner General Growth Properties Inc. envisions a network of buses and a hub for transit riders as part of the redevelopment of downtown Columbia — but funding them remains up in the air.

“Public transportation simply has to be made a greater part of Town Center and made more attractive,” said Martin Wells, president of Wells and Associates, a transportation firm working with GGP on the downtown Columbia master plan.

However, as details for GGP’s plan have emerged, the complex funding needs haven’t been fully outlined.

“I suspect a lot of things will be cooperatively funded,” Wells said, speaking Tuesday morning at a meeting of the local advocacy group Transportation Advocates.

GGP officials have said they are considering partnerships with the Howard County government, such as a special taxing district, that would allow the company to take advantage of any future-generated taxes up front.

Barbara Nicklas, GGP’s vice president of marketing, told the group that funding is “part of what will be looked at now.”

As part of its plan, GGP wants:

n A local shuttle service;

n More frequent stops for Howard Transit buses;

nA Transportation Management Association, a nonprofit to manage the communities’ transit needs.

The public transportation options would complement road changes, such as a new street connecting Little Patuxent Parkway with Route 29.

The company also envisions improvements to the county’s Howard Transit system, including better connections to the surrounding villages and an enhanced transit center to replace the bus shelters at the Mall in Columbia, Wells said.

The center might have an indoor waiting area, electronic signs to alert drivers of approaching buses and, ideally, buses arriving every 15 minutes, he added.

The previous year, Howard Transit unveiled half-hour frequency on routes serving the mall, and any improvements mean more operating costs. The county already subsidizes two-thirds of the cost of the system, said Carl Balser, Howard’s transportation chief.

“If we doubled the frequency,

we would more than double the cost to the county,” he said in an interview, adding that an additional funding source would need to be found.

Capital costs also would rise, as Howard Transit would need to expand its fleet.

“It’s something in theory we’d love to do,” he said.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com