Author archives

Asking the tough questions about transit in the city of Indianapolis

US GAO issues report on Bus Rapid Transit

US GAO BRT Depiction (image source: US GAO Report)

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a 54 page report on domestic Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in which it offered up an official account comparing BRT systems within the United States. The study touched on all manner of operational parameters as well as capital expenditures in coming to its conclusions on what constitutes a successful …

62nd Street Multi Use Path Update 5

62nd Street Multi Use Trail under construction (image credit: Curt Ailes)

There has been significant progress on the 62nd street trail project since the last update. However, most of the work has been occurring underground and as a result, a large mess has resulted. Many Urban Indy readers have commented about the apparent lack of progress on the project. After further inspection, it appears that a …

Transit & Corporate Headquarters

Transit Coverage Map (image credit: Brookings Institute)

This past week has seen the release of some interesting data regarding jobs with access to transit (Brookings) as well as another study creating an index of corporate headquarters per million people (Martin Prosperity). For local reference, (and you locals could figure this without a Brookings study) transit access to jobs in the Indianapolis metro region …

What Cleveland could learn from Indy

Cleveland BRT at Station (image credit: Graeme Sharpe)

Thursday, a post on Rust Wire written by Streetsblog‘s Angie Schmitt, really made some waves across the twitter and blogosphere today. In the post, Angie detailed how a regional planning official basically laughed off what she had to say about their aims as an organization and paid little heed to the Rust Wire’s criticisms; albeit as …

What new Federal Transpo Bill means for Indy

Bridge Construction (image credit: Curt Ailes)

Last week, a federal conference committee released a report detailing the next federal surface transportation bill. If you follow transportation news at the national level, you know that this debate has further divided the left and right. Without delving into the arguing points, the report that was issued, and was adopted into law over the …

62nd Street Multi-Use Path Update 4

62nd Street Trail Construction (image credit: Curt Ailes)

There has been significant progress on the 62nd street multi-use trail since the last update. The path is now graded halfway through the neighborhood which for imaginative purposes means, trail construction is now snaking it’s way eastward through the neighborhood.  The first layer of pavement has been laid along the Glendale Town Center, with what …

Dear Indiana, please repurpose my taxes

New flyover bridge construction over I-69 (image credit: Curt Ailes)

Over the last 4 years, I have visited many peer cities. Some bigger than Indy, some smaller. My quest has been to document transit systems, how they work, why they work well, and how all of this could apply to Indianapolis and making it a better city to live in. Using this knowledge for civic activism …

Visit to Denver – June 2012

Denver - Light Rail crossing the Mall

A recent trip to Denver afforded me some time to see how the Mile High City operates on a given day. Normally, when I come home from visiting somewhere with a great urban identity and awesome transit, I spend hundreds of words describing it. This time around, instead of beating my head on the wall comparing how …

What if Indy Connect never happens?

IndyGo bus on Indiana Ave (image credit: Curt Ailes)

Regional stakeholders continue to push for action at the state level allowing local power to create funding options for transit. I know this because I am a part of the transit coalition debating this issue. However, a recent conversation brought to light an interesting notion. What could the city of Indianapolis do on its own …

62nd Street Multi-Use Path Update 3

62nd St Trail Progress (image credit: Curt Ailes)

Here is this week’s update on the 62nd street multi use trail taking shape on Indianapolis’ northside. A prior update to this project can be viewed here. The work currently taking place is adjacent to the Glendale Town Center and is removing a single lane of automobile traffic on the eastbound side of 62nd street. …