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This is a huge win for the east side and all of Indianapolis
Not so good for the westsiders though unless the airport is where they are traveling.
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.
And, the Red Line is located along Meridian Street, Capitol Avenue, Virginia Avenue and Shelby Street which are not primarily residential.
The Purple Line segment along 38th Street and Post Road is not primarily residential.
And it is imperative to note that only bus rapit transit can be implemented in Indian since Mike Pence, who has no transportation planning or analysis expertise, and state legislators made streetcar and light rail illegal, making Indiana the only state in the nation where a mode is illegal and exemplifying gross overreach. Surprisingly, very Red Utah and Oklahoma include cities such as Salt Lake and Oklahoma City with light rail and streetcar, respectively. Good transit and roadway infrastructure should not be a partisan issue, but based on design, cost/benefit and environmental analysis.
The cheapest alternative is not always the best — consider the ridiculous amounts of funds spent on rebuilds of the I-70/I-465 interchange on the Eastside which is still inadequate. The same bad design approach — tight curves and slow speed ramps is being implemented at the I-69/I-465 interchange in the Castleton area.
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.
Do the answer is to do nothing for 20 to 30 years? And in the event that self-driving cars might be available, would the cost yo use one be the same as using a bus?
And should one not possess the funds to purchase a self-driving car, would one simply call a self-driving Uber or Lyft. In this case, the self-driving vehicles could be allowed to use the dedicated lanes to better utilize lsne capacity provided that speeds and travels times not decrease a design threshold.
And how will liability be handled for accidents due to self-driving vehicles. Will sufficient roadway and storage capacity be available to accommodate peak demand of self driving vehicles. Should the future IndyGo then manage a fleet of self driving cars that would be dispatched on demand for those requiring [public] transportation. And what fleet size of self driving vehicles should be acquired and what vehicle capacity should be assumed, i.e. one person per vehicle or 1.23 or 2.1? This assumption guideline is absolutely necessary to determine fleet size.
And, how is waste of money determined. Can you cite the comprehensive operations analysis report contrasting initial capital and ongoing operations and maintenance costs for a self-driving car scenario to replace buses. And how does this scenarios report, should it exist, compare to self-driving buses?
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.
Why is the pothole comment made. It is not relevant to this article.
Potholes issues should be directed to the Department of Public Works.
Transit, and in this case, the Blue Line project is being implemented to improve public transportation.
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.”
And the improvements have served the community well. And as clearly stated by others and available in project documentation, public and pedestrian infrastructure will be replaced and improved throughout the corridor.
Thanks AR but I already know that since I live in the area but it would have been nice to not have had to spend the money and it be torn up and money be spent again. It’s kind of like putting solar panels on your roof and then deciding you want to put a new roof on.
But thanks for playing “not thinking out of the box.”
They couldn’t be made as part of the project if they didn’t already exist previously. The grant doesn’t fund aesthetic extras like that, it only replaces them if they already existed. Irvington is basically getting a full refresh of the pavers, planters, lights, drainage, etc. about halfway through their useful service life and you’re mad about that?
Come on AR do you replace your roof halfway through its useful life? How long has this been in the planning stages for this blue line? I guarantee you the residents of Irvington would have spent their money somewhere else if they knew that this was a possibility and and there would be a complete redoing of sidewalks and everything coming through there. It may not have put it back to the brick pavers but at least we would have been all new and they could have used the money on something else.
I would if I got grants to cover half the cost! Turning down an expensive refresh of infrastructure that is going to need to be refreshed in ~5 years anyway (or within 2 years of project completion) would be incredibly foolish. Nobody would turn down the opportunity to have their roof replaced when it’s halfway through its service life, has damage and wear and tear, if someone was offering money to do it. To suggest someone would turn that down is silly.
The Irvington Streetscaping project happened almost 15 years ago. A lot of that infrastructure is now *past* its service life of ~10 years. You’re engaging in hyperbole by making it sound like these pavers were put down yesterday and like they don’t have potholes in them.
You’re basically saying, “I would rather have nothing than have IndyGo provide a refresh of our infrastructure because we paid for it to go down the first time 15 years ago,” which is just nuts.
You’re right AR, it’s only taxpayer dollars being wasted. Again you can’t see the forest for the trees. The money from the initial investment could have been used somewhere else if this was going to have been done. We could survive in Irvington without the brick pavers.
I’m just here for the irrelevant comments that people take time bro post. No matter what your views are on the topic, this project is getting done with or without your support