By Jason Miller, The News-Dispatch
While it wasn't enough to push local officials to buy into the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority last year, a plan to regionalize bus service autonomously is now something they favor.
"There's definitely an interest on our part to first look at the possibility for LaPorte County as a whole," Michigan City Mayor Chuck Oberlie said this week. "We have to sit down and see what the plan will be."
Gov. Mitch Daniels last week signed into law a bill allowing LaPorte County, Michigan City and LaPorte to each join the Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority.
The RBA currently serves Lake and Porter counties and was one of a dozen proposed projects put forth by the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority last year when RDA officials were courting LaPorte County.
A contentious debate over the benefits of joining the RDA led to LaPorte County and Michigan City voting against joining the development group.
This legislative session, though, State Rep. Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, a critic of membership in the RDA, authored House Bill 1742, which he said was one of the first bills signed by Daniels this year.
"While there are sometimes disagreements about the details of regional cooperation, it is essential that our region act in concert on the issue of public transportation," Pelath said. "The movement of workers in our area's economy cannot be constricted by narrow boundaries. I am delighted that LaPorte County and the RBA have a new opportunity to work together for the common good."
The bill will allow any of the three entities to join the RBA if the local unit of government - either the respective city council or the county council - approves, as well as the RBA board of directors.
Oberlie said he hopes LaPorte County as a whole will adopt the RBA mentality because there exists a "definite need" for regional transportation cooperation throughout the county."
Michigan City residents could use transportation to Purdue University-North Central, or to LaPorte for work or for courthouse business, and Westville residents could use the RBA to get to jobs in either city, or to classes at PNC.
He said any discussion on membership in the RBA should center around how the system can be connected and taken into unincorporated areas of the county. He also sees a benefit in tying into communities to the west.
"To pool our resources with something like this makes a lot of sense," he said. "When people throughout the county can use this, the economy becomes stronger," said Oberlie.
Both Michigan City and LaPorte currently operate their own municipal bus service, and the future of those services would have to be discussed, Oberlie said. Michigan City Municipal Coach runs a daily schedule, and TransPorte, in LaPorte, is an on-call service.
Oberlie said he thinks the systems would stay on line to be used as the LaPorte County portion of the RBA in the short term, but long-term plans could be different.
"These are issues that would certainly need to be discussed," he said. "They would provide linkages to what's already present. If, in the long term, someone wants to run it all, though, I can see that, too."
LaPorte County Councilman Earl Cunningham said Monday the RBA initiative is "definitely worth exploring," and added it's something "each of us has talked about."
Like Oberlie, Cunningham said a great benefit would be transportation to PNC.
He also said the support local legislators are now showing for the RBA is directly correlated to the fact that membership in the RBA is not a pre-requisite.
"I think that's the critical issue here," he said. "With (membership in the RDA) there was no guarantee we'd get any return and it was expensive. With this we'll definitely see the effect based on ridership."
Membership in the RDA would have cost the county $3 million with no "out clause" in case the county wanted out. There would be a fee for membership in the RBA, but the number hasn't been decided on yet.