Joe Kline / Bulletin file photoA rider gets on a Cascades East Transit bus outside of Hawthorne Station in Bend.

If there’s one thing that people complain about in Central Oregon, it’s traffic. If there’s one thing that would help reduce the problem with traffic in Central Oregon, it would be a great bus system. If there’s another thing that people don’t like, it’s taxes. And more taxes may be the only way to improve the region’s bus system.

That’s why the operator of the Central Oregon public bus system wants the Legislature to clarify if it can put taxes for transit on the ballot.

The Legislature should do it, but the bus system provider has some issues to address.

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council operates Cascades East Transit. It serves riders from Warm Springs to La Pine. The fare is $1.50 for most people. It also has a service for disabled riders in Bend called Dial-A-Ride.

In 2015 Cascades East Transit expanded its bus routes in Bend through partnerships with local organizations, such as St. Charles Health System, OSU-Cascades and others. Bus service increased by about 30 percent.

But for many people, the bus system is not convenient enough to change old habits. In Bend, for instance, a rider can get almost any place in town, but it may take a while. Most buses come only every 30 minutes. A temporary or permanent tax could help improve the system enough so more people would use it.

It should go without saying that COIC would face a challenge getting voters to approve the tax. Polling COIC did a few years ago didn’t show clear support for a property tax increase for transit. And in Bend voters have voted down a bus tax.

COIC has also been difficult to work with in a public records request that Bulletin reporter Tara Bannow made involving complaints about Dial-A-Ride service and other issues. It took more than a year to get the information. COIC was, at times, nonresponsive to emails and phone calls about the request.

COIC would have to demonstrate the need for a tax and how it would use the money. It would have to convince voters that it would be committed to spending the money carefully and that it would be open about what it was doing. It has work to do.