1. How many comments did you receive during the public outreach effort?
The Indy Connect initiative resulted in more than 10,000 comments and represents the most intensive public outreach effort ever done in Central Indiana. Indy Connect collected these comments from throughout the region, providing a number of different ways for people to submit feedback – through more than 125 meetings in the region, a website, phone line, mail-in survey, etc.

2. What is the cost of this system?
We estimate that residents in counties participating in the plan will pay an average of $15 per household per month to support new investment in an expanded transit system. The cost to build the bus and rail system is approximately $2.5 billion over the next 25 years. We estimate it will cost approximately $130 million per year to operate and maintain this system. Building, operating and maintaining the roadways and bridges is estimated to cost $9 billion over the next 25 years.

3. How will this proposed transportation plan be paid for?
A combination of federal, state and local dollars, as well as transit fares, will likely be used to build and operate the transit system. It will be up to the Indiana State Legislature to determine what kind of local funding will be used, but we estimate it will cost the average household $15 per month. The local funding sources will likely include an increase in the local option income tax or sales tax.

4. What happens now that the plan has been developed? What are the next steps?
Indy Connect will hold a series of at meetings around the region to allow residents to ask questions and comment on the plan. Following this public comment period, Indy Connect will present the plan to the Indianapolis Regional Transportation Council (IRTC), who will vote on whether or not to adopt this plan as the official Long-Range Transportation Plan for Central Indiana. It will then be up to the Indiana State Legislature to determine funding sources and to put in place legislation that allows counties and their residents the option of whether or not to be a part of the transportation system.

5. What was the most frequent comment you received about the bus system during the public outreach effort?
Many of the comments focused on wanting more frequency, longer hours of service during the weekdays and weekends and a system that didn't rely so heavily on downtown transfers. Residents also said they wanted improvements to bus stops –with better access through sidewalks and park-and-ride facilities, as well as bike racks and benches.

6. What was the most common comment received from the public about rail transit?
Residents wanted connectivity between rail and the other types of transportation in the plan – including bus, roadways and bike and pedestrian trails. They also wanted to see rail transit extend north to Noblesville and south to Franklin. There also was a desire for rail to Zionsville and to the airport. Our plan takes all of those comments into account and provides rail service to those areas as funding is available.

7. How does this compare to what other cities have/are done/doing in terms of mass transit?
Keep in mind that Central Indiana's transit system is bare bones so we have a lot of catching up to do. Our current bus system no longer ranks in the top 100 systems in the country in terms of size. Whether you look at Indianapolis as the 14th largest city in the U.S. or as the 23rd largest metro area – this ranking shows that we are very behind. Many of our closest peer cities such as Columbus, Louisville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Charlotte have much larger bus systems and many have already instituted rail based transit or are in the process of doing so.

8. When will this be built?
The timeline for building the system is dependent on a number of factors – one of the most important being funding. We can say, however, that we anticipate that the bus system and BRT would be the first transit implemented. Rail on existing tracks from Union Station to Noblesville will be the first rail transit built. Later, the line from Union Station south to Franklin will be built. Light rail will eventually replace BRT and we expect that the first light rail line to be built will be from Union Station to the Indianapolis International Airport.

9. What is the difference between bus, express bus and bus rapid transit?
The bus system has been greatly enhanced. The bus system includes much more cross-town service with fewer transfers, increased operating hours, average wait times between buses of 10-20 minutes and seven-a-day-week service. For more direct service, the plan also includes express bus – both to destinations within downtown Indianapolis and to surrounding counties. This is "non-stop" or "limited stop" service meant for point-to-point travel, primarily targeted at commuters. Bus Rapid Transit operates more like light rail and has been added to highly traveled areas. BRT runs every 10 to 15 minutes and controls traffic signals to reduce travel times. It also has frequent stops, like light rail service.

10. How much will it cost to ride the rail and bus system?
It is too early in the planning process for us to provide a specific cost to ride transit. We do expect it to be in line with the cost of other cities – which is currently between $3 and $4 per day. We also anticipate a modern ticketing process so passengers can purchase one ticket for trips on bus or rail.

11. Will bus service hours be expanded later into the evenings? Over the weekends?
One of the benefits of this plan is the expanded service and the hours of operation. Under this plan, buses will run up to midnight on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends.

12. What is the timing of the Washington street light rail? Why is it shown as a dotted line on the map?
It is dotted on the map because the timing is outside the 25 year time frame. It is part of our transit vision, but initially BRT will operate on Washington Street. If funding resources allow and service levels are to a point where we could build rail sooner, then we would do that.

13. What is the largest change in the bus system?
The largest change is the frequency of service. Many individuals who currently use our service see frequency to be 30 minutes during peak times in the morning and afternoon at best. Beyond that it may be an hour. That becomes a problem for those who want to make a connection. The new system shows 10-15 minute service and gets away from a schedule driven system to a frequency driven system. It will be set up in a way where you know the bus will come every 10-15 minutes. It is also going to have later hours, and accommodate people getting to work or events, making connectivity the second biggest change with cross town routes where people aren’t spending as much time on their overall travel.

You are going to see bus service in surrounding communities. Right now IndyGo is a Marion County only service with the exception of ICE Routes to Carmel and Fishers, and the route to Greenwood. But when you see express routes that extend in all directions, you have the opportunities to get to other places for recreation, work, healthcare, and education.

14. You say this is a long range transportation plan. Why will it take so long, and what will come first?
Improvements to the bus system comes first- it is the backbone to the transit system. It is key to everything we are going to do for regional mobility and connectivity within the first 5 years. What takes the most time is further study and analysis for the rail lines because we have done preliminary looks at most of these other rail lines. This includes feasibility studies, alternative analysis, and environmental studies- all of the steps that are required to use federal dollars. It will take a while to implement those more capital intensive projects. Plus, you have to make sure you have the funding to do those.

15. What is the most important part of the plan in your opinion? The bus? The rail? The roads?
We think a balanced transportation system is important, so all pieces have to work together, and it’s not bus or road; it’s not bus or train, but a combination of all of them that will make this a success. When you think about transit and how it’s going to operate in Central Indiana, it’s great to have the rail lines, but if we don’t have the bus system to provide the connectivity it won’t work. So the bus is the spine, and the evolutionary growth of our transit system.