Indy public transportation project stalls

Posted: Tue, Jul 12, 2005

Recent efforts to improve public transportation in Indianapolis have focused on creating public transportation options for commuters who live outside of Indianapolis in suburban counties, starting with a line between Hamilton County and downtown Indianapolis. A failed plan created by the Regional Transportation Council was to create public transport lines from outside Indianapolis to downtown using a combination of federal and local funding, and using one of three different potential methods: buses on dedicated lanes, a trolley-like light rail system, or an elevated monorail.

Unfortunately, the federal funding aspect fell through recently when the Federal Transit Administration crunched the numbers on local planner's estimates of travel demand and decided that the data was gathered by a flawed method. Recompiling the data and checking it will take as long as a year, which means putting together a request for federal funding will take much longer.

The RTC is made up of area elected officials, city planners, and transit officials, some of whom now want to pursue an expanded version of the project without federal funding.

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard wants to construct a transport system including all surrounding counties, not just the Hamilton starter line, using only local money, at a potential cost of $2.5 billion to $4.2 billion, which is much higher than the $1.4 billion Hamilton county starter line cost. Brainard's explanation for why we should forego federal funding: speeding up the process. "I'm 51 years old," Brainard said. "I want to ride the system before I'm 70."

I wasn't aware we were putting together public transit just for the Carmel mayor. I'm also curious about the details of the flawed data collection that led to the FTA rejection.

I'm just sad the meeting didn't go more like this:

Lyle Lanley: Well, sir, there's nothing on earth Like a genuine, Bona fide, Electrified, Six-car Monorail! What'd I say?
Ned Flanders: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: What's it called?
Patty Selma: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: That's right! Monorail! [Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!]
Miss Hoover: I hear those things are awfully loud...
Lyle Lanley: It glides as softly as a cloud.
Apu: Is there a chance the track could bend?
Lyle Lanley: Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
Barney: What about us brain-dead slobs?
Lyle Lanley: You'll be given cushy jobs.
Abe: Were you sent here by the devil?
Lyle Lanley: No, good sir, I'm on the level.
Wiggum: The ring came off my pudding can.
Lyle Lanley: Take my pen knife, my good man. I swear it's Indy's only choice. Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
All: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: What's it called?
All: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: Once again...
All: Monorail!
Marge: But Allisonville's still all cracked and broken...
Bart: Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!
All: Monorail! Monorail! Monorail! [big finish] Monorail!
Homer: Mono... D'oh!

If only Mayor Brainard had broken into song, surely the plan would have gone through. Sigh. We never get good con men anymore.

Comments

1. Jul 12, 05 12:36 PM | Nitsudima said:

If Mayor Brainard had broken into song, it would have been all muffled anyway, what with his head so far up his ass and all.

I'm sorry. Was that harsh? I guess I'm not a big fan of his.

2. Jul 13, 05 09:34 PM | j c klee said:

i found this part of the article interesting

"They also agreed to explore paying for the project exclusively with local sources of money instead of a mix of federal and local funding."

now, who is going to pay for this system?
all local funds? I've never heard of mass transit being funded that way.

where is the money supposed to come from especially when the Peterson administration is talking about cutting services.

we just had a round of tax increases to build a new football stadium. I don't think another increase will be to well received.

also factor in that some people do not want mass transit in their communities as they view it as a conduit for low income people (those who can't afford cars) into their communities.

I anticipate this plan going into affect about the same time we send a man to Mars.

3. Jul 14, 05 02:55 PM | Steph Mineart said:

I thought the proposal for all local funding was odd, too, for the same reasons. I also thought it was idealistic, since most of the traffic congestion is from Hamilton county and not the rest of the surrounding counties. I can't imagine everyone else wanting to chip in to solve Hamilton county's problem.

4. Jun 25, 06 09:22 PM | Michael said:

I grew up in Hamilton County, but recently I've been living in Boston and St. Louis--two cities that have good public transportation systems with a combo of bus and train services (especially Boston). It's about time Indy has something like this. Whenever I go back to visit, I hate it because I always get stuck in traffic. It's way too congested, especially on the northside. And how great would it be to take the new Indy light rail system downtown for lunch and then up to Broadripple for the evening. Plus, it would be a great way to get to the airport and not have to pay for long-term parking. It's about time Indy considered improving public transportation, and I really hope city officials will follow through with a plan sooner than later. If Indy wants to improve tourism, host more sporting events and conventions, it is going to have to improve public transportation for tourists and visitors. A lack of public transit is hurting Indy.

5. Jun 25, 06 09:25 PM | Michael said:

Even though I've very passionate about this issue, I did not mean to post the same thing 4 times!

Indy public transportation project stalls

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