ANDERSON — Madison County could link to mass-transit plans unveiled in Indianapolis this week, but the prospects for rail or express bus service from Anderson to Indianapolis remain distant.
“It’s going to get heavier, and it’s going to take longer to commute between Indianapolis and Anderson,” Madison County Council of Governments Executive Director Jerry Bridges said of traffic on Interstate 69.
Bridges is secretary of the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority, a nine-county regional entity created by the Indiana Legislature to study possible mass-transit solutions to help people commute for work, education, health-care and other needs.
CIRTA works with Indy Connect, which this week unveiled a long-term plan that scaled back its expectations for commuter rail service and increased its plans for bus service in Indianapolis and surrounding areas.
“They’re working hard to move it along,” Bridges said of a $2 billion regional transit proposal. “There’s been a lot more movement than there’s been in years.”
But the transit plans may not leave the station without the General Assembly. Lawmakers would have to approve a referendum for the counties where transit dollars would be spent, and voters in each county would be asked if they wanted to pay an average of $15 per month for transit, according to IndyConnect.
“If you pay you play; if you don’t pay, you can’t play,” Bridges said.
Bridges said that the possible starting date of commuter rail service between Anderson and Indianapolis is, “best-case scenario ... 10 to 15 years.” Such a project would require an infusion of federal grant money, but first, a study would have to be conducted to justify the need. Bridges said the cost of a study alone could be $1 million.
Such a proposal most likely would serve Anderson from a proposed downtown mass-transit terminal to be built next year south of 14th Street between Main and Meridian streets. It most likely would use the CSX tracks that run alongside Indiana 67 south through Pendleton, Ingalls and Fortville to Indianapolis.
While rail might be many years off, Bridges said the county could be in a position to link bus services so that passengers could connect to Indianapolis-area mass-transit providers. He said state Sen. Tim Lanane, D-25th District, and Rep. Terri Austin, D-36th District, both of Anderson, had assisted in such legislation in the past that passed the House but did not clear the Senate.