Indianapolis is the United States 13th largest city, yet we continually rank 40th or lower in mass transit availability. We have a bus only public transportation system that is decades out of date. We still emphasize cars and single passenger transportation and tend to look down on those who use public transportation as second class citizens. The idea of rapid transit has been kicked around for a great number of years but nobody in a leadership role has picked up the idea and tried to find sensible methods of implementing such a system. It is time that we go to our elected representatives and demand that a modern mass transit system be put into place by 2022.
The problems with our current IndyGo bus system are many and varied. There is limited evening bus service so that night workers have to find alternative travel solutions. The lack of cross-town bus routes make it nearly impossible to get across the whole city by bus. Bus routes do not have pickups on a timely basis causing riders to arrive very early or very late. There is a lack of car parks and mass pick up points for commuter riders. Some areas have no transit service at all.
IndyGo has just implemented frequent service on three routes for weekdays along Route 39, portions of Route 8, and Route 10. The buses will depart at least every 20 minutes. The launch of a new route along 86th and 82nd is planned for June 2013. These are very few improvements for a city that needs so much more.
February 13 was declared Indiana Transit Day and the Indiana Citizen’s Alliance for Transit sponsored a State House rally in support of a modern mass transit system for Marion County. This will hopefully be a springboard for community action in support of an idea whose time has definitely come. One of the first issues that needs to be addressed is the image of mass transit as a crutch for the poor and indigent who cannot afford an automobile. It has already been shown that a dependable mass transit system will attract passengers from all the community, not just the working poor.
The benefits of a modern mass rapid transit system are many — reduced strain on parking in the downtown area, reduced damage and upkeep of city and county streets, savings on gas, a reduction in traffic accidents, better traffic flow particularly during the rush hour periods. Think of a rapid transit system coming down from the Castleton/I-69 area and the relief of the jams on all the major thoroughfares leading in and out of the city. This would in turn cut down on one of Marion County’s environmental problems — air pollution due to excessive automobile usage. Indianapolis is often cited for it’s poor air quality especially during the summer. Mass transit would be a major step toward the solution of that problem.
Mayor Ballard has already started “going green” with his initiative to purchase hybrid electric and hybrid vehicles for official city usage. We need to take the next step and develop a real plan to implement rapid mass transit. Indianapolis is always very conscious of it’s image to the rest of the world. Well frankly, we can never be the world class city that we have visions of being, until we have a modern world class mass transit system.
