Munster sends out Loop bus survey

BY CARMEN McCOLLUM, Times of Northwest Indiana
cmccollum@nwitimes.com

MUNSTER | The town of Munster is the latest Northwest Indiana suburban community to survey its residents to determine if they are interested in taking an express bus to the Loop in downtown Chicago.

Ashley Porta, assistant to Munster's town manager, said more than 8,300 surveys went out to water customers. She said they are conducting the survey on behalf of the Portage-based Regional Bus Authority.

The RBA is teaming with the Northwest Indiana Forum in funding the survey and a study by The Community Research & Service Center at Valparaiso University. The group wants to determine the best starting point for the buses which would run to the Loop.

Valparaiso started an express bus service recently from the Franklin House to the Loop.

RBA Executive Director Tim Brown said surveys are out in Highland and Cedar Lake and the agency is working with community leaders in Lowell, Winfield, Crown Point and Schneider to get surveys out there.

Meanwhile, Porta said the surveys were sent out in late October, and they expect them to be returned by Nov. 20 when water bills are due. So far, town officials said about 50 surveys have been returned. Porta said it's still early and they expect to get more responses toward the end of the month.

Munster Town Council President Helen Brown said it's hard to gauge if people are interested because what they might say in a survey might not necessarily be what they will do.

"Americans are used to their cars and door-to-door service, and there would probably only be a couple of stops to let people off. If it's not superconvenient, I don't know if people will go for it," she said.

Brown said people have long talked about a commuter rail service that would go through Munster, but there's a huge price tag attached to it.

"A commuter rail system is still years away. It would be nice to have a light rail system that would be convenient to use. The other issue is if you take a commuter bus, it puts you into traffic. A commuter rail system would be much more efficient but it's a huge, costly project," Brown said.