South Plainfield Connector offers weekend service
South Plainfield Connector offering weekend service to ensure workers can get to jobs during busy holiday season
Demand for workers at seasonal jobs in Plainfield is so high that the South Plainfield Connector shuttle will operate on Saturdays and Sundays between Oct. 27 and Jan. 4.
“Transportation is often a barrier to someone considering taking a job in Plainfield, so we wanted to remove the barrier by offering public transportation seven days a week during the busiest time of the year,” said Cinda Kelley, who directs the Plainfield Economic Improvement District (EID).
Every weekday and now on weekends, the South Plainfield Connector will pick up riders at IndyGo’s Route 8 stop on Bridgeport Road and circulates through the industrial parks in Plainfield.
Employers such as Amazon, Hanzo Logistics and LSC Communications operate at peak during the holiday season, but they can’t operate at full capacity if workers lack transportation to get to their jobs. Many employers located along the route are hiring seasonal workers.
Funding for the increased service for the South Plainfield Connector comes from an Economic Improvement District (EID), in which area businesses voluntarily assess themselves to support specific projects. The formation of the Plainfield EID has attracted national attention from Streetsblog, and the Town of Plainfield along with the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority (CIRTA) won an innovation award from Accelerate Indiana Municipalities (AIM) for creating the EID to solve a workforce challenge.
“Nearly everyone riding the Connectors wouldn’t be able to work at these jobs if it weren’t for public transportation,” said Andrew McGee, interim director of CIRTA, which operates the Connectors. “Weekend service during the holidays is good news for the workers and even better news for the employers.”
The fare to ride the Connectors is $1 each way. In addition to the South Plainfield Connector, there’s also a North Plainfield Connector to job sites in the AllPoints Midwest industrial park and a Whitestown Connector to job sites in the AllPoints at Anson industrial park.
For routes and schedules, visit the website at WorkforceConnector.com.