INDIANAPOLIS — Despite Marion County voters approving a referendum to expand mass transit in 2016, Senate bill 141 proposed by Senator Aaron Freeman would make it more difficult for IndyGo to operate and expand bus rapid transit.
"As a bus rider this is a slap in the face. You want to talk about an adult in the room, what about the 60% of adults in Marion County that voted for this?" said Jeffery Tompkins, an IndyGo bus rider.
The new law would create penalties if IndyGo doesn't fund at least 10% of its operating budget with money from sources other than taxes and fares. A second rule would penalize IndyGo again if the annual total from ridership fares doesn't equal 25% of the system's operating budget. State law already requires those 10% and 25% funding amounts but doesn't include a consequence if IndyGo comes up short. The bill Freeman is proposing would cut IndyGo's funding as a punishment for not making ends meet.
"It's not new. It's been in law for a long time. IndyGo is just not living up to it. It's one of those things where they probably thought nobody would ever hold them accountable for it," Senator Freeman said.
IndyGo says it is already meeting or exceeding its funding requirements, but if IndyGo were to come up short because of factors like the pandemic, the proposed penalty would withhold additional funding from tax dollars. That could prevent Marion County from completing the Purple and Blue rapid transit lines and related projects.
"These are really important investments that are going to improve transit service as well as pedestrian safety, repaving roads, improving drainage," said Faith Chadwick, a spokesperson for IndyGo.
With IndyGo in legal compliance, bus riders like Jeffery Tompkins are asking lawmakers, why threaten the growth of mass transit?
"What is he offering as an alternative? That's my question as bus rider, what is the alternative if you're not going to provide mass transit because I don't see on Mr. Freeman?" asked Tompkins.
"I think the days of fixed bus lines from point A to point B, I think we're going to look back on that in the not distance future and see the short sightedness of that. I think we need to move towards Uber. You can get on your phone and with a click of a button have a car out in front of your house in a couple of minutes and go anywhere in the city you want," Senator Freeman said.
Senator Freeman makes it clear he is not against IndyGo or local bus transportation. He says some constituents asked him to block the proposed Blue Line which runs through the northern end of his district and would reduce travel lanes on Washington Street.
"The Red Line is what it is. The Purple Line is going to be what it is. Cameron, I don't represent either one of those areas, but I'm here to tell you I do represent the area when you talk about the Blue Line and folks do not support The Blue Line in terms of one lane in each direction. That is going to be a huge problem. It going to be a traffic nightmare," Freeman said.
While there is opposition to the Blue Line, IndyGo points out that there is wide support for rapidly getting to the east and west sides of the city and connecting the airport with downtown.
