I live in Fishers and work downtown. For years, my only transportation option was a daily 40-mile round-trip commute by car. But last year, I started taking the new express bus. Currently, 271 Fishers residents and 189 Carmel residents do the same. Collectively, we drive 84,000 fewer miles each week and annually consume 197,600 fewer gallons of gas.
For a while, I thought central Indiana finally understood public transit. I was delighted to see a $3.2 million increase for IndyGo in the Indianapolis city budget. My opinion changed Oct. 2 when IndyGo unveiled a rate hike and route changes. It seems the budget increase only covers employee benefits and increased transportation costs. So IndyGo must cut routes and increase fares. My monthly fare will jump 50 percent from $80 to $120. Net result: IndyGo’s commuter calculator shows it would cost me LESS if I drove myself.
To add insult to injury, federal funds cover 80 percent of the three-year express bus pilot program. When those dollars disappear, we’re on our own—via rider fares or local taxes. The Fishers town manager tells me local subsidies aren’t likely. Yet we always seem to have more money for wider roads and bridges.
If Indianapolis and surrounding communities want to be “world class,” we need world-class public transportation. But today, while Indianapolis is the 13th largest city in the country, it ranks 99th for its transportation system.
I’d rather spend my tax dollars providing improved public transportation than constantly widening roads. What do you think?
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You bring up some great points. Our automobile culture sees no problem with spending millions on streets and highways - thus keeping the culture alive and extending the problem.
However, another solution is more permanent that spending more on public transportation or improving roads: have your home and work closer together. Think back even 50 years ago, a 20 mile commute would be considered excessive, but now it is the norm. Throw in close by shopping and schools, and you’d be driving less, and walking and biking more.
I agree! I started riding the IndyGo bus this summer and really enjoyed it. It has been saving me a little money but mainly sanity - as it gives me time to relax and read in the mornings and afternoons instead of hassling through traffic jams. The rate hike will make the bus a lot less convenient - and I may be in the same position as you where it would cost less to drive than to ride the bus - I haven’t done the math yet but will soon. Pretty sad if it does end up being more cost effective for me to drive than ride the bus.
After living most of my life in central Indiana, I moved to Portland, Oregon about 4 years ago. One of the reasons that I wanted to live in Portland was for its excellent public transportation system. After living here for about 6 months, I sold my car and never looked back. Our transportation system here is so comprehensive that it’s possible for me to get just about anywhere I need to in the city by bus, train, or streetcar. I’m not alone in this either. Many of my friends and coworkers living in all different parts of the city are able to get along just fine without cars - and I know many more people who own cars but still use public transportation for their commute to work. That’s what I did before I sold my car - most employers in this city will subsidize costs for public transportation, and being able to relax on the train is so much more pleasant than driving in traffic. When heading downtown, for work or recreation, most people I know prefer to take public transit because it’s considerably cheaper and easier than paying to park on the street or in a garage. And instead of driving to the airport and paying a fortune to leave your car in long-term parking, we can hop on the red line train for just a couple dollars.
Yes, the transportation system is funded with taxes. But I personally am saving a heck of a lot of money by not owning a car. Pretty much everyone I know in this city, regardless of whether they drive or not, still appreciates what we have here. Portland is growing like crazy right now, and Trimet is one of the reasons why.
I don’t see why Indianapolis couldn’t have a similar system. Yes, it would cost a lot of money to set up. Yes, it would mean some additional taxes. But as fuel supplies continue to dwindle and cities become more densely populated, it’s just not sustainable for everyone to drive everywhere all the time. The longer Indy waits to step up their public transit options, the worse off they’re going to be in the future.
There’s a certain amount of disingenuousness here. You chose to live in Fishers, which is a good distance away from downtown Indy. As you can’t ‘beam yourself’ downtown, did you expect that you wouldn’t have to face transportation costs because 1) you were going to walk 2) ride your bike 3) flap your arms really hard?
We’ll agree that our automobile culture dictates transportation and incumbent costs from one place to another. We want government to pay for many thing, yet it’s our choice to live in close proximity to areas important to us. When you decided to live in Fishers, you were going to face certain costs, and those costs are going up because we’re now indentured to the oil companies and their greed. We all lament this problem, and there is little to fight with in this economic war we face between our petro-suppliers and the speculators– who can no longer make fast bucks in various derivatives schemes.
Light rail is good; real rail is even better and we’ll need it soon as the fuel crisis won’t end in our lifetimes. Will politicians listen? Only if you yell with your votes.
i began using multi-modal (bike + indygo) transportation a few months back and i love it.
i have time to read (education), i get more exercise (health), and i have extra money (no gas) to buy things (stimulate the economy). as long as it’s nice out, the car is staying parked.
why aren’t our leaders doing more to invest in and encourage public transportation (raising indygo and making it cheaper to use your car, really?!?!)?
The way we’ve developed as a nation has led us to this place.
At one time, Indianapolis had the world’s largest interurban railway terminal. It was located right in the downtown area. Opened in 1904, it grew to become the largest interurban railway terminal in the world. According to trolleystop.com, this terminal hosted some 7 million passengers a year, and 500 interurban trains a day, from all over the state of Indiana, and as far away as Louisville, Kentucky.
Neighborhoods grew up around the interurban stops. People could walk to the trains and get anywhere they wanted to go.
Then along came automobiles, and we began to develop our neighborhoods around the idea that everyone had a car. After World War II, the American Dream was a 1-acre lot with a 3-bedroom house and attached garage. Shopping and entertainment didn’t need to be nearby since we could drive wherever we wanted to go on cheap gasoline. We didn’t think about the consequences in terms of air quality or global climate change.
With the end of cheap oil and gas, now what? Epworth United Methodist Church’s Green Team and the Heartlands Group of the Sierra Club will be exploring these issues on Saturday night (Oct. 18) when we show the movie “End of Suburbia.” All are welcome to join us at 7 p.m. at the church, 6450 Allisonville Road. The free movie will include popcorn and snacks, followed by a lively discussion.
There are a lot of things I’d rather see my tax dollars spent on: public safety, better roads, public transportation, etc. However, we choose to spend our tax money on things like a new football stadium and a health club (in Carmel - and under water to the tune of $800K at last count). Nationally, we are spending $800 billion of our children’s and grandchildren’s future on a bailout of the very financial institutions that got us into the credit crunch; even the conservative presidential candidate is proposing that we offer mortgage protection to people who should never have been approved for a motgage in the first place. Does anyone else see socialism creeping into our republic?
These investments would be fine if our streets weren’t in a state of disrepair, our parks weren’t on the chopping block and the police department wasn’t being squeezed on the cost side.
At what point will we wake up and realize that our priorities are severely out of balance? In my humble opinion, we need to get back to the basics:
- Government should first and foremost provide the infrastructure that allows its citizens the opportunity to succeed (and to ensure that there is a sufficient level of regulation to deter cheating the system) - this would include a public transportation system;
- People should be held accountable for their own actions - good or bad;
This is a bit off the topic of public transportation, but it’s all connected.
I, too, have taken advantage of IndyGo’s commuter line from my Fishers home to my downtown office. Aside from saving a few bucks on gas, the best part about riding the bus is the quiet respite at the beginning and end of my workday. Plus, it’s nice to know I’m reducing my carbon footprint, if only by a little.
That said, I think IndyGo’s rate hike for suburban commuters is excessive and will likely drive ridership down on a fledgling service established to gage interest and support for regional public transportation. If public funding from the Town of Fishers would help keep rider costs down, I’d say now is the time to pony up.
Fishers leaders had the foresight to retain the Nickel Plate rail line and stand to reap substantial economic benefits from the development of a regional public transportation system, but that’s years away. IndyGo’s commuter service is a prime opportunity for Fishers and other suburban communities to show their commitment to regional public transportation, and it’s frustrating to see them dragging their feet.
I don’t know what percentage of downtown workers commute from outside Indianapolis’ city limits, but I’m willing to venture that it’s substantial. Living within biking or walking distance from work is not a realistic option for many people, and job changes and company relocations in today’s economy would make it difficult for families to establish roots in any one neighborhood. We will need to be willing to publicly fund regional transportation systems or risk losing even more jobs, talent and business to neighboring cities with better transportation infrastructure.
The most important question becomes why don’t more people take advantage of public transportation in Indy? Cost? This conversation would lend that this is a large factor. Accessibility? Perhaps if the bus went to a few of the more populous business sectors outside of the immediate downtown more people would ride. Reputation? Isn’t the joke that women are the cause of global warming because they won’t date men who ride a bus? If women would find men who ride a bus attractive then there would be more men riding buses? I kid, but certainly there are some marketing demands here that would assist beyond “coolness” but also to assuage safety concerns. To marry Mark and Jodi’s comments together, public officials are charged with prioritizing the needs of the people and then ensuring that said issues are addressed within their time in office. Right? It is interesting to me that in a city that is unwilling to pay higher taxes for seemingly anything (refer to the last Mayor’s election and thank me later for not bringing up football) that public transportation is even part of our rhetoric. Until we are ready to open our wallets a bit more to the city we will never have a public transportation system that will meet even the most basic expectations.
Modes of transportation seem to be the hot topic of the day as the Mayor held a press conference regarding the new bike lanes on Michigan and New York Street. The bike lanes are getting quite a bit of comments on the Indy Star’s blog, both positive and negative. While bike lanes aren’t the same issue as bus routes and public transportation, the end game is the same – alternate transportation options.
As others have replied, that fact that our automobiles can run at high rates of speed, which reduces our drive time (sometimes) we have accepted a long commute as normal in order to live in the burbs, myself included. We wonder why we our overweight, have health issues and are causing damage to our environment – we accept driving as the normal mode of transportation – even when we might be able to walk, drive, or take the bus to our destination. This situation has developed over the past 40 years or more and I surmise that it will take a considerable amount of time to change our nation and our state’s mindset toward multimodal transportation.
“But today, while Indianapolis is the 13th largest city in the country, it ranks 99th for its transportation system.”
So who’s ranking and by what measure? This is probably based on the ‘public’ transportation…and probably Chicago is ahead of Indy, but I’d much rather commute 30 miles in Indy than thirty miles in Chicago. My opinion is that Indy beats Chicago hands down. Ask your radioheads…isnt one media ‘problem’ with Indy is that it has short drive times?
I would contend that Indy’s transportation is it’s good roads and interstate system. Yes, that’s where we’ve spent the money - and as such - except for the forever congested I-69 Fishers area - you can get pretty much anywhere in the Metro area in 30 minutes.
(As an aside, maybe the Indygo calculator is a bit off. 40 mile round trip times 20 workdays a month divided by 20 mpg (city) times $3.00 gal = $120. And that’s not including cost of parking, and the other wear and tear.) If the commute works for you, I’d stick with it)
My solution to the IndyGo funding crunch, as well as the fiscal ills of the City of Indianapolis? It’s time we took a regional approach to taxing and financing government in Central Indiana.
Essentially, residents in Fishers, Carmel, Zionsville etc. receive all the benefits of living near the great amenities and cultural offerings in Marion County/Indianapolis, yet they don’t have to pay for them. When suburbanites commute into Indianapolis to work, not a dime of their income tax is distributed to Marion County — which has to pay to upkeep the roads they drive on and fund the police that provide public safety.
These donut county residents also pay much lower property taxes. Some would (wrongly) argue it’s just excessive spending by the City of Indianapolis. The truth is the myriad services that large urban cities must pay for (child welfare, schools and public safety to name a few) are borne by a shrinking tax base that is not sustainable for the long run.
Simply put, to improve IndyGO and hopefully see a regional transit system in the future, we’re going to have to stop funding services according to 20th Century political boundaries. It’s time to realize we sink or swim as a region, therefore we need a funding structure that supports that.
What an interesting suggestion from a person who obviously lives in Marion county. What about policing? Fire departments? Further the last time the people who worked in Marion county looked at their paychecks I believe they see that they are being taxed for the county in which they work not the county in which they live. Seeing that the city has already proposed and allowed for the donut counties to pay for the football stadium (sorry, I had to), then I can see how the “let everyone pay for us” mentality might stand as rational for those who do take advantage of the various activities in Marion County. Why not tax those who actually DO take advantage of the great services provided by Marion County….increase restaurant and bar taxes, increase the fees paid for parking (GASP). Yes. Parking too. This will affect those that DO take advantage rather than take advantage of those that don’t.
Fact check on Pam (who obviously lives OUTSIDE of Marion County):
Pam wrote:
“Further the last time the people who worked in Marion county looked at their paychecks I believe they see that they are being taxed for the county in which they work not the county in which they live.”
Actually, county income tax is paid based on the county that person lives in — not the county where they work. But I certainly think it should be the way Pam has outlined.
Pam wrote:
“Seeing that the city has already proposed and allowed for the donut counties to pay for the football stadium…”
Not to split hairs here, but the regional funding solution for the stadium (which, by the way, was a decent approach) was actually proposed by Governor Daniels and passed by the State Legislature. Then-mayor Bart Peterson actually had his own plan that paid for the stadium through revenues generated entirely in Marion County.
Pam does bring up a good point — let those who use Indy services and infrastruture pay for them. That’s why I believe Marion County should receive a portion of the income tax revenue generated by those who work in Indy but live in the burbs.
While this has been proposed, the state legislature has balked on the idea every time.
I find the lack of understanding about the root issue here rather frustrating. Lets examine the real issue. The federal government dumped a bunch of tax dollars that belong to us to begin with to fund some commuter transit lines in Carmel and Fishers. On top of that, Indygo charges around 1000 commuters each day $2.00 per trip, generally $20.00 per week per commuter, roughly $20,000 per week on top of the millions in federal dollars.
With all of this money sloshing around, they want to raise the rate charged to commuters by 50%. Today, gas was about $3.00 per gallon. How did you feel when it jumped to $4.50 per gallon? That is exactly what it feels like to commuters getting thier rates jacked.
We have another option. We can drive our own cars. Cheaper. And get there quicker. All of that money, all of those fares, and they cannot figure out how to make a bus ride cheaper than driving a car?
They either need to kill the program as being inefficient and wasteful, or keep the rate at $2,00 per trip and serve the purpose for which it was intended. I want to save gas. I want to be green. I want energy independence. I will do my part if you make it economically feasable for me to do so. Please don’t get greedy and ruin a good thing.
When I moved to Washington D.C. many years ago, public transportation seemed horribly inconveninent. Dragging shopping bags onto a subway, not being able to park in front of the grocery store and throw everything I bought into my trunk, having to walk a few blocks on either end of the route (and, again, not be able to simply park right in front of my destination), etc. etc. all seemed ridiculous. As a carbound Hoosier, I wanted the pleasure of having my own space everywhere I went. After a few years out there, however, when I returned to Indy, the lack of public transportation seemed even worse (and, yes, I hear you people thinking, “Then why don’t you just go back there.”) My point is not that DC is better (believe me, I came HOME because I think it’s far better), or that public transportation is inherently wonderful, only that many of us automatically resist change — and Hoosiers resist it with a particular passion.
On another note, we need to try to avoid making this all about cost (to individuals or the government). There are plenty of other issues wrapped up in this, and, besides, all forms of transportation require public subsidy (yes, even driving your cars … those roads don’t just appear natually). But we also can’t put all our hopes into one form of transportation and hope the rest just works out. We need a full-blown, integrated, connect-the-dots system that allows people from all corners of the region to get from Point A to Point B. Getting to that kind of system will take time, money and a step-by-step process. The northest Commuter Express, to me, has seemed like a good first step. I’m looking forwrd to the next step. And the next one. And the next one.
I live west of Speedway, far enough that if I want to ride IndyGo, I have two choices — drive about a mile, park my car and catch the bus, or I can walk. I live in urban sprawl, much to my displeasure. To the east and west I see nothing but strip malls (many setting vacant) and gas stations too. If I want to do grocery shopping, I have three choices, go to Super Target in Avon, (7 miles), Marsh in Brownsburg, (4 miles), or I could choose either the Marsh on 38th (2 miles) or the same in Speedway (1.5 miles). Which ever choice I make, leaves with with only one option — drive. All the major roads are multiple lanes, two of which were widened under Mitch’s “Major Moves” project. That’s part the problem. We’re too spread out to make the system work. Hoosiers have this damned “frontier” POV that we want out backyard in our vinyl village and two gas hogs (opps, I mean SUVs) to shuttle our 2.5 children to a fro.
We do this and miss the larger point of building community and revitalizing our city neighborhoods. Sure there’s the Butler Tarkington area, Broad Ripple, Mass Ave and Talbot. While these are nice, we’re missing key infrastructure businesses to support the natives (ie neighborhood grocery stores and other businesses vital to the development and sustainability of those neighborhoods). And don’t get me started on the price of real estate to get into one of those communities. There’s amazing history we Central Indiana Hoosier ignore.
To vacate the outlying communities would be a mistake too, but developing them in such a way that makes them sustainable and expandable for public transportation is important.
But who’s going to pay for it? Well, we will with higher taxes unless we can figure out how to decrease spending on road expansion projects, divert that to building a public transportation infrastructure that people will use. And I’m not just thinking about Metro Indianapolis and surrounding counties, I’m thinking much bigger: bullet trains and commuter trains between Bloomington, Fort Wayne — cities like that. I’m also thinking about buses to Zionsville, Fishers, Avon and all point in between. Then there’s the issue of getting about town. Let’s borrow from our Asian friends their innovative ideas, such a Tuk Tuks. To solve our public transportation problem, there’s gotta be a change in attitude, there’s gotta be a multi-layers approach to the infrastructure and there’s gotta be a change in how we plan, design and build our communities.
Most people do not have an option about living close to work, schools, shopping etc. Many times we settle into an area that meets these needs then the changes begin. You leave your job, the schools redistrict, stores close and you are back to traveling miles everyday.
Mass trnasportation would be great if everyone had the option. Unfortunately most of us do not live in areas being offered this means of transportation but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be used if available. Once again we start with a good idea and then just let it die out because no one wants to pay for it anymore.
I can’t believe the amount of money we are planning to spend on painting bike lines on New York and Michigan streets. Why can’t we spend this kind of money on making transportaion around the city more available and affordable?
I have a good friend that recently visited New York City and was so impressed with the ease of getting around the city on the subway system. She thought it would be great to have that system here. We may be years away from transportation on such an all inclusive level but let’s not let a good thing slip through our fingers.
I agree with some of the other’s comments. We don’t always have the option to pick our home based on where we work and with the continued growth of the city it’s only going to get worse if you work downtown. That is what public transporation is all about. I have son who lives in Chicago, and yes he has a car but he uses the rail all the time and so do we when we visit just because it’s convenient and fairly inexpensive. If Indy is going to continue growing, they need to think of all of the citizens who obviously need and want an option for transportation and I don’t think making everyone drive their cars is the answer. I think the city leaders need to take a good look at this and decide where the tax payers money would be best spent. It sounds to me like a good public transportation system is needed.
This city needs public transportation. My husband and I were both elated when the bus started to shuttle from Fishers. It was nice to have a safe alternative to get to downtown for a great price. I grew up in Cincinnati, and I took their suburb shuttle downtown to work for all the years I worked there. I was surprised Indy didn’t have anything like that until recently. With everyone so focused on the environment and raising gas prices, why would anyone be doing anything to take away something positive or driving up prices that people won’t pay. That seems crazy. If we want to be a progressive city - we better quit going backwards!
I began riding the IndyGo Commuter Express about 6 months ago. Although I do like the savings, I struggle with the extra time it takes. I’ve been contemplating driving again because my time is more valuable to me than the money I save. If the rates go up, my decision will be much easier.
Hi Annette, thanks for your input and observations concerning mass transit issues in Central Indiana. This issue is very complex.
I am part of Passenger, seven senior visual communication students from Herron School of Art and Design. We have been charged to facilitate an in-depth, research driven creative process to address a problem in culture or society and focus on one problem area to prototype a solution. We have chosen to address the issue of mass transportation in Central Indiana.
This past week we held a brainstorming event with our ‘dream team’ members (content experts, front liners and users of public transportation.) Event participants included; Michael A. Terry (Interim President & CEO of IndyGo); Kim Irwin (Chair, Health by Design; Executive Director, Alliance for Health Promotion); Aaron Burgess (IndyGo Associate); Nichole Freije (Borshoff Accountant, rides IndyGo)
Our Problem Statement is: Inadequate public transportation funding, in Central Indiana, is the result of a lack of urgency to act within local government.
We are currently brainstorming possible ideas and formulating solutions to create the urgency of the need for an efficient mass transit system in Central Indiana.
For more info visit Passenger’s blog:
http://passengerproject.blogspot.com