HANCOCK COUNTY — Dennis Maloy supports the Indy Connect mass transit initiative, yet he finds himself wishing that a new long-range transportation plan would extend further east. 

    Maloy thinks it’s important for future mass transit to include access to Mt. Comfort – home of prominent businesses like EnerDel. 

    “That’s been an issue for us sometimes in recruiting new businesses to Hancock County – that a company may have a question: Are you along a bus route? How are we going to move people to and from?” said Maloy, executive director of Hancock Economic Development Council. 

    Indy Connect, the region’s transportation initiative, involves a partnership between the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority and IndyGo. 

    On Monday, Indy Connect released its long-range transportation plan after months of planning and gathering public input. Prominent in the plan is a regional bus system that Indy Connect says would provide three times the service of IndyGo through more frequent buses, extended hours and cross-town and direct routes. 

    The new plan includes an express bus to Greenfield. Also, the plan includes extending light rail along Washington Street as far as Cumberland over time, said Ehren Bingaman, executive director of the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority. 

    “We’ll update this plan regularly,” Bingaman said, adding that updates could affect areas like McCordsville and Mt. Comfort. “Things will continue to change and develop.” 

    A newer aspect of the Indy Connect plan involves adding a “bus rapid transit” system that would supplement the traditional bus system. BRT vehicles have a more modern look than a traditional bus and would run all day with 10-15 minute wait times between buses; the vehicles would stop frequently and could control traffic signals to reduce travel time, according to Indy Connect. 
 
   Washington Street would get a BRT line that could eventually be replaced by light rail. 

    The overriding question for the initiative involves funding. Indy Connect estimates it will cost about $2.5 billion to build the bus and rail system and an average of $135 million per year to operate and maintain it. 

    Indy Connect estimates residents in Marion and adjoining counties would pay an average of $15 per household per month – or $180 per year. 

    Residents of each county would be getting benefits roughly proportional to their cost, Bingaman said. 

    “Folks in Hancock County wouldn’t be paying for Hamilton County’s ride or Marion County’s ride,” he said. “They’d be paying for Hancock County’s ride.” 

    There should be plenty of interest in the plan 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. 

    Greenfield Mayor Brad DeReamer said he’s been meeting on a quarterly basis with other mayors in the region. DeReamer supports the transit initiative, although he doesn’t think the Greenfield area will directly benefit for years. 

    “I think it’s a great plan,” DeReamer said. “Indianapolis is way behind. It’s a definite need so that we can move people and so they can get to their jobs. You’ve got to start somewhere.” 

    Visit Indyconnect.org for more information on the longrange transportation plan. You can also take part in one of a series of upcoming meetings, although none are currently scheduled for Hancock County. 

    What’s next for the plan? 

    First, the Indianapolis Regional Transportation Council will need to adopt the plan as the region’s official longrange transportation plan. 

    Second, the state legislature will need to decide what sort of local funding would be used to help fund the bus and rail. 

    Third, county officials will decide whether to put a transit referendum on the ballot. 

    Local voters would then decide whether they’re willing to help fund the system. 

    Indy Connect held more than 125 meetings and community briefings before releasing Monday’s plan. More than 10,000 comments were submitted as part of that public input process, Bingaman said. 

    “We’ve had a lot of positive input that folks are ready and willing to support transit,” Bingaman said. 

    However, that decision will ultimately be in the hands of voters in each county. Bingaman adds that “the whole region does not have to opt in for transit options to be available.”
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