EDITORIAL: Time has come to hit accelerator

The IBJ

Rapid transit in central Indiana is moving forward at the same painstakingly slow pace as a minivan on Interstate 69 during rush hour. Ironic, isn't it-that the potential solution to gridlock seems to be spinning its wheels? Planners and consultants have been studying the issue for years, as a suburban population boom turned major thoroughfares into parking lots during peak commuting times. Although questions remain-exactly what a masstransit system would look like and who would use it key among them-the conclusions were largely the same:
   "We can't continue to build our way out of congestion," Metropolitan Planning Organization Manager Mike Dearing told IBJ in July, when reporters Chris O'Malley and Peter Schnitzler took an in-depth look at the possibilities.
   Yet that's exactly what we keep doing.
   I-69 got a couple of extra lanes last fall to help commuters navigate a particularly clogged stretch of Hamilton County highway. And now Gov. Mitch Daniels says his proposed Indiana Commerce Connector could help by diverting truck traffic onto a new metro-area bypass.
   Still, transportation planners are resolute about the need for mass transit. And it appears they're finally ready to hit the accelerator-albeit slowly. Proponents have begun making their case to state legislators, who likely will be called on to help find funding for what's sure to be a multibillion-dollar project.
   The good news is, lawmakers are responding. The bad news is, they want to study the issue some more.
   Senators have approved a bill that would require the Indiana Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study on a commuter rail system between Muncie and Indianapolis.
   And representatives passed a measure that establishes a joint study committee on mass transit and transportation alternatives. Committee members would be charged with reviewing past studies and six new regional transit reports, plus evaluating other states' initiatives and federal funding.
   Two other bills that would have thrown a little money at the problem stalled almost immediately.
   These things take time, said Christine Altman, a Hamilton County commissioner and president of the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority, which is leading the push for mass transit. And if the studies help legislators believe in the need to proceed, they'll have served their purpose.
   "Next session, we're going to be going for some source of dedicated funding so we can proceed into construction mode," she said.
   It's not clear to us what these studies will show that the countless ones that came before them didn't.
   Our roads are overburdened and likely to become even more so. Mass transit would alleviate congestion, ease pollution and give the city a cosmopolitan flare to boot.
   Enough talking about-and studying-the issue, already. Let's get this show on the road.