A leading opponent of the plan for regional mass transit is floating an alternative that calls for widening north-south commuter corridors like Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Capitol Avenue and College Avenue.
National conference gives local elected officials a chance to see the technology they continue to reject.
The Indianapolis area’s largest employers have spent millions of dollars studying and promoting regional mass transit, but if the idea is going to get past the Legislature, they might have to put money into the $1.3 billion system as well.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard sat out an April 2 hearing on mass transit because he knew the issue would be shifted to the Legislature’s back burner.
Members of the state’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee voted 12-0 on Tuesday morning to stall legislation that would give central Indiana voters the ability to choose if they want to pay higher taxes for expanded mass transit.
A Senate committee Wednesday passed a measure that would give area residents a chance to vote on whether to pay higher taxes to expand the mass-transit system. Lawmakers sent the bill to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee.
Already skeptical of a mass-transit plan for the Indianapolis metro area, influential Sen. Luke Kenley said he decided it was inappropriate to be listed as a sponsor without giving the bill his unqualified support.
The campaign to expand public transit in the region has generated a busload of money for some media and marketing outlets, thanks to $1 million in federal grants to advertise the benefits of mass transit.
A bill to create a rapid-transit system in central Indiana is headed for the crucible of the Senate, where skeptics stand ready to tear apart the proposal’s $1.3 billion financing plan.
A bill to let voters authorize higher taxes in central Indiana to pay for an expanded mass-transit system is ready for a full vote in the House after an amendment restricted who would be affected by it.
The House Ways and Means Committee cleared the bill, which would allow voters to decide whether to add 0.3 percent to local income tax rates to pay for a proposed central Indiana mass-transit system.
A legislative committee on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would let local voters decide whether to fund a $1.3 billion mass transit system in the Indianapolis area.
Indy Connect, the local initiative supporting a $1.3 billion expansion of the transit system, plans to begin an advertising campaign for the proposal on Friday.
The leaders of 18 central Indiana cities and towns have formed a group that intends to address regional concerns, starting with a proposed $1.3 billion, 10-year mass transit plan.
Architect Daniel Libeskind is part of an international team chosen to design a proposed IndyGo transit hub.
Mass transit advocates held a rally here to kick off Indy Connect Now, their latest attempt to convince state legislators that voters in Marion and Hamilton counties should be allowed to decide whether to fund creation of a $1.3 billion bus and light rail system in central Indiana.
The campaign, Indy Connect Now, will urge state legislators to allow voters to decide whether to fund an expanded mass-transit system in the area.
The $1.3 billion transit plan for Hamilton and Marion counties is one of a few lingering issues — along with Sunday alcohol sales and a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage — likely to appear before lawmakers in 2013.
The Mayor’s Office and local mass transit leaders have reached consensus on a site for a $30 million downtown transit center. The preferred location is a city-owned surface parking lot along Washington Street between the City-County Building and Marion County Jail.
Despite years of intensive public and politician outreach, a transit bill died in the House Ways and Means Committee in late January by an 11-10 vote. Supporters plan education push, one-on-one meetings.
