The proposed jump would take effect on Jan. 1, pending approval by the COTA board as early as its Nov. 17 meeting, said Marty Stutz, authority spokesman.

Riders would see local, one-way fares jump from $1.50 to $1.75, or 17 percent, and express fares rise from $2 to $2.50, or 25 percent. Monthly express fares would increase the most, from $62 to $78, or 26 percent.

Riders 6 to 12 years old would get the smallest increase, from 75 cents to 85 cents, or 13 percent.

The increases would raise $2.1 million a year, Stutz said.

Local fares in comparable cities range from $1.50 in Cincinnati to $2.50 in Boston, according to COTA.

The public will have at least two chances to comment on the rate hikes, the soonest at noon on Tuesday in the lobby hearing room of the Rhodes Tower, 30 E. Broad St. Downtown.

Leroy Maddox, 61, had something to say as he stood Downtown one day last week, waiting for his bus and for a passer-by to donate $1 for his fare.

"They always want more, more," said Maddox, who has arthritis. "But service is getting better, and there are newer buses."

"I can't afford it as it is now," said Aaron Robinson, 57, a daily rider.

The increase means $1.25 more a week, or about $5 a month, Robinson calculates. "It affects other things I do," he said, describing needed car repairs and child-support obligations.

COTA strives to balance fare increases among taxpayers, riders and authority employees, said Bill Lhota, COTA's president and chief executive officer.

"We're trying to strike that very delicate balance to make sure that we're treating each constituency fairly," Lhota said.

COTA's goal is to have riders pay about 20 percent of the system's operating costs, which is a national benchmark. Currently, they contribute about 17 percent.

COTA rolled out a long-range plan in 2006 to expand service and increase ridership. The plan called for rate increases every three years. But the economic downturn prompted COTA management to delay this year's planned increase by one year.

Also in early 2006, COTA cut service by about 10 percent, consolidated operations and raised fares, the most recent time it has done so.

Franklin County voters approved a 0.25 percent county income-tax increase in November 2006.

COTA currently receives a 0.5 percent from the county's 6.75 percent sales tax, plus additional money from areas of Columbus in adjoining counties.

About 84 percent of COTA's $85 million operating budget comes from sales-tax revenue. The majority of the balance comes from the fare box and some federal grants.

dnarciso@dispatch.com