Work on downtown Anderson bus terminal spurs hope for rail transit

ANDERSON­ — Work on a new downtown City of Anderson Transit System bus terminal will begin in the next month or two with the hope that in future years a commuter rail service could connect the city with Indianapolis and Muncie.

Short-term and long-term outlooks for mass transit were the subject of a forum presented by the League of Women Voters and The Herald Bulletin on Saturday at the Anderson Public Library.

Anderson long-range planner Jim Haberek said that plans call for the city to begin demolishing vacant buildings in the next 60 days to make way for a new transit terminal south of 14th Street between Meridian and Main streets. The terminal should be operating by late next year, he said, replacing the cramped terminal several blocks north on Main Street.

“These stations generate a lot of development,” Haberek said. And the location of the terminal less than a block from a rail line connecting Muncie and Indianapolis also is generating hope that commuter rail could be in the city’s future. “Seven, eight, nine years, we could see something taking place.”

The new terminal — made possible by $1.5 million in stimulus money — creates an opportunity for mass transit “to fully blossom in Anderson,” he said. The hope is that the station can provide a range of transit service including taxi and perhaps rail and bus service between cities.

The city’s current terminal did nothing to inspire riders, Haberek said, and several audience members at the forum said attitudes about mass transit would need to change to boost its use in Anderson, where there were just over 150,000 bus rides last year and 23,000 Nifty Lift rides.

Haberek said the current terminal will be torn down once the new terminal is in use. “Both the Paramount and the Union Building want that site,” he said.

John Todd Young, a Ball State University political science professor who specializes in transit issues, said Madison and Delaware counties need to look to their rich histories in transit that include the creation of Interurban lines in the early 20th century that gave way to the automobile. At one time, Anderson boasted 17 automobile producers, he said.

“Doesn’t that tell us something about the significance of the mobility issue?” said Young, “I want us to look at this history as a way to move forward.”

Cars are part of what Young referred to as “a cafeteria of options” people should have for mobility. High gasoline prices “are a problem for people who want to be mobile and can’t afford to be mobile,” he said.

For many to earn a living in east central Indiana, he said, “you have to be able to go to Indianapolis. ... I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

Young said more transit options make sense in an era of unstable oil supply and rising demand. Chronic congestion on Interstate 69 and the northeast Indianapolis suburb also make the case for mass transit.

Many cities of comparable or lesser size to Indianapolis already have commuter rail service, he said.

“A competitive advantage goes to those cities,” he said. Doing nothing to support rail means “losing that potential for investment in our community.”

In times of economic downturn and tight government budgets, Haberek said investment in mass transit makes sense. “It is a development tool,” he said.