Indy Connect exists to connect the people of Central Indiana to jobs, education, healthcare, and fun.
Indy Connect is Central Indiana’s regional transit initiative. In recent years, Central Indiana has seen an increased demand for frequent, reliable, and safe transit. What started as a partnership between business and government leaders called the Central Indiana Transit Task Force has since become a partnership between public agencies, leading to the creation of the Indy Connect initiative in 2009. This led to a detailed series of planning and engineering documents including private-sector task force reports, financial models, numerous public input and feedback sessions, and research reports on national best practices.
The Plan
Indy Connect took all of the studies, reports, and recommendations created over the years and combined the best bits to produce the Central Indiana Transit Plan. The document is set up in a “question and answer” format that allows readers to flip through and read the answers to just the questions that they are most interested in.
For more information, visit The Plan.
Funding the Plan
After several years of deliberation, the Indiana General Assembly passed Indiana Senate Bill 176 in 2014 (codified as IC 8-25-2), which enables six Central Indiana counties to ask their voters for a dedicated transit tax. Each county is tasked with using these funds in ways that meet their needs. This plan discusses those options for all Central Indiana counties, and highlights the work of two counties that are ready for a referendum: Marion and Hamilton.
Future Planning
During 2014-2015, a group from Hamilton County met regularly to determine their transit needs and consider how to meet them. After many discussions they created a draft plan for Hamilton County. That plan has been incorporated into the Central Indiana Transit Plan as Chapter 5. Their work has since been distilled into a model that other Central Indiana counties can follow, to also determine their needs and produce transit recommendations. The Indy Connect partnership will continue to facilitate the transit planning processes in those Central Indiana counties.
Partnerships
Indy Connect’s work would not be possible without the enthusiasm of many partners. The Indy Chamber, Central Indiana Community Partnership, the MIBOR Realtor Association, and the Central Indiana Community Foundation started this discussion six years ago, and they have stayed consistently engaged. Our outstanding municipal partners have also provided feedback along the way: the cities of Beech Grove, Carmel, Fishers, Greenwood, Indianapolis, Lawrence, Noblesville, Southport, Westfield, and the town of Speedway. And of course, many Central Indiana residents have invested their time in countless public input open houses and workshops for the various studies that make up the Central Indiana Transit Plan.
Public Agencies
CIRTA: The Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA) is a quasi-governmental agency that provides transportation options to suburban and rural communities in Marion, Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks, Boone, Delaware and Madison counties.
MPO: The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is a government agency mandated by the federal government to provide comprehensive transportation planning for large urban areas. The MPO’s jurisdiction includes Marion County and portions of Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks, and Boone counties.
INDYGO: IndyGo is the region’s largest transit provider, operating a fleet of about 160 buses on 31 fixed routes in the cities and towns of Indianapolis, Speedway, Beech Grove, Southport, and Greenwood. IndyGo also operates on-demand paratransit service known as Open Door.
