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Color me skeptical, but in the spirit of fellow IBJ columnist Adrianne Slash, put me down as hoping the new Red Line express bus service is an unqualified success.
As a champion of our beloved capital city, there is no other posture. The success of this nearly $100 million dedicated bus artery would boost Indianapolis in significant ways. It would also enhance the possibility of a future Blue Line from the airport to downtown, as well as cross-county lines down the road (pun intended).
So to help stretch my mind and bolster those spirits regarding the Red Line, your intrepid columnist rode it recently to make a personal assessment. It was a surprisingly pleasant and smooth experience, although I would not call it a quick service, at least not the morning of its fourth day of public operation.
My route began at the northern-most point, 66th Street and College Avenue. I boarded at 8:24 a.m. after being assisted by two friendly volunteers helping us first-time riders. They had the official T-shirts and clip boards, so their comments and insights were reassuring. And the bus came a bit early, a positive start indeed.
The corridor (traffic lanes) were tight but the speed swift between stops. But stops there are—perhaps, too many, in fact.
At 9:23 a.m., a full 59 minutes later, I stepped off in Fountain Square.
On board, the WiFi worked perfectly, folks were pleasant and excited but not obtrusive, and soon the lengthy twin-cab bus was standing room only. Perhaps IndyGo folks will add a route map in the cars or on the electronic display in the future to assuage inexperienced bus travelers such as myself. But there were frequent, clear announcements and instructions. Surprisingly, coffee or water bottles with lids are allowed. There are even several phone charging plugins.
But I must confess continued skepticism as a middle-aged suburbanite who aspires to a future where personal cars are truly optional. Among the issues to monitor:
◗ Are there too many stops (every four to six blocks)? This increases travel time significantly.
◗ The route has significantly constricted traffic along some of the most-traveled routes of the metropolitan area. A student at IUPUI’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs could earn an A tracking the election returns in this November’s mayoral election among precincts along the route. If Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s almost certain victory margin is lower along the route, he paid a political price for what he has described as progress. That would foreshadow a likely lack of public support.
◗ Another test will be accidents (three before passengers started riding Sept. 1), fender-benders, scrapes and mishaps along the tight lanes. My southbound trip was fine, but at Capitol Avenue and Ohio Street, there was a sharp slow down combined with honking horns. However, on the return trip from Fountain Square (between 10:19 a.m. and 11:02 a.m., my northbound bus had to depart the Red Line lane because a southbound bus missed its signal and proceeded when we had the first claim to the shared space. It was safe and unalarming, but a sign of kinks to be worked out.
◗ Will ridership hit IndyGo projections? When the system starts charging, and the weather turns cold, will folks walk blocks to the bus and give up the convenience of point-to-point driving? To me this is the test. Let’s hope for the best.
◗ The lack of parking for commuter Red Line riders in most sections of the route limits rush-hour use, perhaps severely. IndyGo officials state the route is the backbone of its core ridership, and so additional parking is not essential.
These issues bear monitoring, but hopeful remains the watchword here.•
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Smith is chairman of the Indiana Family Institute and author of “Deicide: Why Eliminating The Deity is Destroying America.” Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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For someone touting himself as hopeful, it seems that much of your skepticism could be held in reserve a bit longer rather than trotting out issues that are unsurprising for any new service. Writing a column like this in early October when paid service is underway makes far more sense.