INDIANAPOLIS -- People began moving around Indianapolis in an all-new way 15 years ago this week.
That's when the Clarian People Mover, now known as the IU Health People Mover, began operating on June 27, 2003.
The project was first introduced to the public in a meeting in Dec. 1999. The project received the approval of the City-County Council in April 2000. Construction began in early 2001 and lasted for more than a year. A public preview was held on May 22, 2002.
After several months of testing, and more than $40 million in private funds, the People Mover finally opened in 2003.
According to IU Health, the People Mover has had more than 6 million riders and made more than 500,000 round trips.
It is free to ride and open to the public.
Raising hopes in the 1980s
The IU People Mover wasn't the first time a people mover was proposed for the City of Indianapolis.
In late 1980, the Hudnut administration pitched the idea of a people mover to transport people throughout the downtown area.
The project was modeled after a monorail system operating in Munich, Germany.
The proposal called for the people mover to travel along a 5.3-mile path throughout one square mile in downtown Indianapolis. The estimated price tag for the project was $85 million.
The fate of the downtown people mover was short-lived. The project never got off the ground, figuratively or literally.
MORE TOP STORIES |Excise officers raid Mexican restaurants in Greensburg, Rushville, Brookville | Man killed in crash on Indy's southeast side | 5 kids left in hot car on Indy's east side | Body of missing 6-year-old Columbus boy swept away by Flat Rock River recovered | One Night at the Pony: Stormy Daniels comes to Indy - drawing crowd of women to west side club
Top Trending Videos
