Heavy traffic every day: Westbound morning rush-hour traffic on Interstate 70 near Mt. Comfort Road contributes to a daily flow of more than 20,000 Hancock County commuters who drive to work outside the county. Tom Russo / Daily Reporter
Heavy traffic every day: Westbound morning rush-hour traffic on Interstate 70 near Mt. Comfort Road contributes to a daily flow of more than 20,000 Hancock County commuters who drive to work outside the county. Tom Russo / Daily Reporter
Derek R. Smith, Daily Reporter

    HANCOCK COUNTY – Michael Shelton figures there’s probably a need for more mass transportation options in the Indianapolis area, but he says he’d still prefer to drive most of the time even if more mass transit options were available. 

   Shelton commutes each day to Marion County for work – just like thousands of his Hancock County neighbors. He can imagine himself using mass transit maybe one day a week, but he feels he’d still need to drive most days in order to make side trips like going to lunch or taking his kids to sports practices. 

   “You lose a lot of flexibility if you (use mass transit,)” Shelton said as he pumped gas for his truck at the GasAmerica station in Mt. Comfort. “You basically go to work and you go home.” 

   Yet, mass transit is a way of life in many American cities, particularly those on the coasts – not to mention many international cities.  

    Mass transit now takes center stage for the Indianapolis region as residents in Marion and surrounding counties sound off on the issue, which was recently brought to the forefront by Indy Connect, the new Central Indiana transportation initiative. Indy Connect represents a collaborative effort between the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization, IndyGo and Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority. 

   Indy Connect has released a draft transportation plan that includes recommendations for more bus service, commuter and light rail, expanded roadways, pedestrian walkways and bike paths. 

   Expanded bus service would increase cross-city service in Indianapolis and go beyond Marion County. Another element is an in-street light rail train on or near Washington Street that would go from Cumberland west to the new Indianapolis International Airport. Groundlevel commuter rail transit would run north to Fishers and south to Greenwood. 

   There should be plenty of interest one way or another from local commuters; thousands of Hancock County residents commute each day to Marion and surrounding counties, many of them driving heavily traveled routes like Interstate 70. 

   In 2007, more than 17,000 workers a day commuted from Hancock County to Marion County – about 37 percent of Hancock County’s labor force, according to Stats Indiana, a digital database supported by the Indiana Business Research Center and state government. 

   In all, a total of 21,906 Hancock County workers, or about 46.6 percent of the workforce, worked outside the county in 2007. 

   Indy Connect’s task force argues the region will pay a heavy price if it can’t find options for dealing with problems like traffic congestion. 

   “We estimate our lack of transportation options and the accompanying increases in congestion result in economic losses of over $150 million per year,” reads the foreward of the task force’s report. “We forecast that by 2035, if left unadressed, these losses will grow to $690 million annually.” 

   Economic development expert Dennis Maloy describes mass transit as a “vital need” for central Indiana. 

   “We do expect congestion to be a growing concern in Hancock County,” says Maloy, executive director of Hancock Economic Development Council. “It’s certainly already a concern in Hamilton County and Hendricks County.” 

   Expanding the transportation infrastructure would certainly pay dividends in economic development, Maloy said. Corporate site consultants often ask whether a mass transit system is in place for transporting large numbers of employees to Hancock County from surrounding areas, he added. 

   Maloy would like to see bus routes extended into Greenfield and other employment hubs in Hancock County. 

   “It would certainly allow companies to draw from a larger labor pool,” he said. “Frankly, right now a certain percentage of the population is excluded from obtaining a good-paying job because they don’t have transportation to get to that job.” 

   Greenfield Mayor Brad DeReamer says he and other mayors in the area have received regular updates on Indy Connect. He points out that plenty of other cities have built mass transit systems similar to what Indy Connect is proposing. 

   DeReamer thinks Indy Connect is going about the process the right way, asking for public input and attempting to establish regionwide support. 

   The proposed plan is that the Indy mass transit infrastructure would be built in phases, with counties contributing to the cost as the project moves to their respective areas, DeReamer said. 

   “I think Greenfield is going to be last when it comes to this system, if ever,” he said. “But it is definitely needed for Hamilton, Johnson and Marion counties now.” 

   But there’s the roar of the internal-combustion engine to contend with. Will Hoosier commuters who have driven everywhere for years ultimately change their behavior? 

   “Given our love affair with the car, it would be a fairly steep learning curve to convince us to use that light rail (proposed for Cumberland to the Indy airport),” Maloy said 

   Jayne McCubbins, who commutes from Maxwell to Indianapolis, thinks mass transit options could save people money – and even save lives by reducing traffic. She said gasoline prices would certainly figure into the equation of how many commuters would use mass transit. 

   Maloy points to the transit system in Washington, D.C. as a great example for the region to follow. He says the D.C. Metro gets commuters virtually anywhere they want to go at an affordable price – thanks to significant federal subsidies. 

   “The way to convince people to use it is to make it affordable,” Maloy said. “Of course, the devil is always in the details, and the devil in this case is how do you pay for it?” 

   “I don’t know honestly how they could afford it,” said Shelton, the Hancock County commuter. “It’s not the greatest timing right now from an economic standpoint.” 

   Among the funding recommendations by Indy Connect is that public-private partnerships should be explored. The task force also recommends a referendum by county on a local option sales tax to support construction and operation. 

   Funding is one issue that will undoubtedly come up in the regionwide series of meetings scheduled by Indy Connect. Will the public ultimately prove willing to help foot the bill? 

   “We talk about this over and over and nothing ever happens,” Maloy said. “So it becomes a question of is there the will to do it? And I think it’s an important enough issue that we ought to have the will to succeed.”