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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowCity officials, state lawmakers and public transportation advocates joined Indianapolis’ public transit agency, IndyGo, on Friday morning for a ceremonial groundbreaking for the planned $378 million Blue Line.
The Blue Line, IndyGo’s third rapid-transit bus line, will run 24 miles east and west along Washington Street, connecting the Indianapolis International Airport on the city’s west side to Cumberland on the east side. It will replace the transit line’s most-used route, Route 8, and connect 114,000 jobs and 45,000 people, IndyGo CEO Jennifer Pyrz said at the Friday event.
Actual construction on the fixed line will begin in the next few weeks, IndyGo spokeswoman Carrie Black told IBJ. Utility relocation is currently underway, but drivers won’t see any major road closures within the next month, she added.
At times, advocates feared the Blue Line might not come to fruition.
In 2022, utility relocation costs caused the line’s projected price to increase by $300 million, to $520 million. That increase caused a slight delay while IndyGo staff looked for cost savings, including making the fleet hybrid rather than all-electric and rerouting it onto Interstate 70 for the far-western portion.
And a year ago, almost to the date, lawmakers killed a provision that would have prohibited IndyGo from using dedicated bus lanes. Because the Federal Transit Agency ties funding for transit projects to the use of dedicated lanes, IndyGo officials said the legislation would have resulted in the loss of federal funding and ended the Blue Line.
Ultimately, IndyGo struck a deal to retain the bulk of the Blue Line’s bus-only lanes while maintaining two lanes for vehicular traffic when possible.
IndyGo plans to begin construction on several portions of the route soon. The areas slated for work beginning in early 2025 are downtown, between Victory Field and the Julia M. Carson Transit Center, and the eight stops furthest east, including the East Side Mobility Hub.
The bulk of the project funds are from the federal government. The budget includes $207.8 in grants and federal funding. Citizens Energy Group is providing $15 million for the project, with Indianapolis Department of Public Works paying another $16.5 million.
IndyGo is matching the grants with $135 million for the project. The bus service earns revenue from Marion County property taxes, the transit income tax, state funds, passenger fares and other federal aid. Another $1 million is from community project funds.
The construction schedule for the line is available on IndyGo’s website.
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This is a huge win for the east side and all of Indianapolis
finally decent mass transit from downtown to the airport
+1
+2
HUGE win – I look forward to taking it out to the airport.
Great to see this coming to life.
What will be different from what we have now? I am looking at the Red Line and, other than a little fancier bus stops, I just see buses.
My big question, however, is: How many businesses will be killed along the way. The Red Line is not like the Blue Line that largely ran through residential areas along College Avenue. Even then, it killed a few businesses which put people out of work. Oh well. Casualties are to be expected.
Now I see why there has been nothing done, after two years, to repair the railroad bridge re-open Washington Street and Rockville Road other than dumping a large mound of dirt to insure no one drives on through there.
I live on the near westside and, no, I am not happy about it at all! And neither are the people who live and work along these affected streets. But our opinions have not counted because, “It will be good for them.”
The answers to all of these questions are out there, Earle. You just have to stop asking them in bad faith long enough to actually learn something.
Go the search the internet and READ. All that information is available. This project is full of positives especially the connection to the airport from downtown.
The Red Line is a bus line, so yes, one would expect to see buses running along it. If you do not understand the “rapid transit” part of “bus rapid transit” spend 10 minutes or so researching it online instead of posting questions to others.
As for businesses being “killed,” along the Blue Line construction corridor, the project was extensively studied for years, and there were many, many public meetings held so that the route could be revised and the best options could be selected to mitigate the impact on businesses along the corridor. Bus transit construction, like any major infrastructure project involves some inconvenience and even hardship for commuters, residents, and businesses along the path of construction. Road construction happens all the time, and we generally accept that drivers, residents, and businesses along roads that are under-construction will be impacted for months, years, and in the case of some highway construction projects (e.g. I-69), even decades.
The Blue Line will impact some businesses, and IndyGo is doing what it reasonably can to mitigate the impact. After the project is completed, it will be a net benefit to the businesses and residents along the transit corridor. No one is saying “Oh, well,” although that *is* often the attitude when it comes to residents and businesses along traditional major *road* construction projections (i.e. projects that do not involve bus lines).
As for the Washington Street bridge, it falls under the jurisdiction of a completely different and separate city agency Perhaps, you should address your concerns to the Department of Public Works.
quite possibly the biggest waste of money in the history of the city of indianapolis. self driving cars will make this obsolete in 10 to 20 years. way to be forward thinking Indy leaders (yes this is sarcasm) you had a chance to be a city of the future and you chose an updated trolley instead.
DD. what were the other options? Tell us more! (yes this is sarcasm)
what feature of self-driving cars keeps them from clogging up our roads and highways leading to traffic congestion? I must have missed that detail from fuhrer Musk
We already have self-driving cars, and have had them for some years now. However, any transportation expert will tell you that it will be many decades before the majority of cars are self-driving, and they self-driving cars, of course cost money, especially if the intent is that they will be shared so as to create some sort of personalized public transit option.
Also, to the extent self-driving cars educe road congestions, it will make it easier and faster for buses to transport people. Moreover, there is no reason that in 20+ years, new buses could not be self-driving.
Finally, a lot of things may happen in 20, 30, or 50, etc., year from now (for example, many people living now will be dead), but that does not mean we do not take steps to address the issues that exist *today* for the people who are here *today.*
Come to think of it, if Indianapolis had invested in their public transit infrastructure instead of dismantling it decades ago, they’d be in a heck of a lot better place. I know our local roads are filled with lots of people who have no business having drivers licenses and should instead use reliable public transit. At the very least, they could be on their phones and not be a menace to other drivers.
Self driving cars are the equivalent to Elon Musk‘s “Boring company” that exists for the sole purpose of convincing cities to not invest in mass transit. Self driving cars aren’t going to be ready for decades, and the only way they make sense from a legal liability standpoint is if federal law gives them a blank check to kill people.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2024/05/16/waymo-investigation-crashes-violations/73712498007/
Transportation professional here: We are not close to large-scale deployments of fleets of self-driving taxis. That requires what we call a “Level 5” degree of autonomy. The best that automakers have been able to do so far is a high-end Level 2/low-end Level 3. They still can’t operate without assistance in rain, snow, or heavy traffic. Individualized transport also quickly becomes overwhelmed because it can’t scale on high-demand corridors, just like normal cars. The geometry issue of how much space cars take up doesn’t go away when things become self-driving.
TL;DR – We are a very, very, very long way off from large-scale autonomous driving taxi fleets. And even if they were just around the corner, they can’t scale well out of simple geometrical factors. Self-driving cars will be a tool in our toolbox, and may integrate with transit to provide first/last mile connections in unwalkable suburban areas, but they’re not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Swell. How about the potholes? I am less than impressed with the fullness of the busses on the Red Line and the hordes waiting at the bus stops.
Luckily for the rest of us, your opinion isn’t a criterium being considered for these projects. Did you even bother to read the plethora of easily accessible information about all of the infrastructure improvements happening as part of this?
I’m less impressed by your bad facts.
The state of Indiana gives Indianapolis $38 million dollars for roads from all the road funding sources they have. That’s it. The city needs far, far more than that.
Most of the money collected in gas tax is stolen by state legislators so the places in Indiana where no one wants to live can have nice roads.
Take your anger out on your local Marion County Republican legislator who sits on their hands and refuses to insist on a more equitable solution. Even my Republican CCC representative told me it’s not the mayor‘s fault.
I’m certainly glad the businesses and residents in the Irvington area raised millions of dollars for the new sidewalks and brick crosswalks. That’s millions of dollars thrown down the drain now for nothing.
Hi, Rhea! If you have paid attention to the project or participated in IndyGo’s numerous public outreach, engagement, and workshop events, you would have known that IndyGo has committed, and legally signed a document requiring, the repair and replacing all of the brick features of the sidewalks, crosswalks, and landscaping.
But thanks for playing “Bad Faith Bingo.”