The First Stop for Mass Transit
One of the nice things about Organization Day is the chance to find out where lawmakers are on important issues. While a lot of time has been consumed with the “right to work” debate, there appears to be real signs that something may happen with mass transit in Central Indiana.
From what I was able to gather from my conversations with Statehouse Republicans Tuesday there appears to be a real opportunity for mass transit to finally happen. I will post my interviews next week, however in both the Indiana House and Senate attitudes appear to be changing. I am told that House Ways and Means Chairman Jeff Espich, a long time skeptic of expanding mass transit, is open to the idea and wants to hear more this session from Central Indiana lawmakers. On the Senate side, Republicans seem open to allowing the measure to move forward, but they want to see a more detailed plan.
If mass transit is going to happen in Central Indiana, then proponents are going to have to work like crazy to make it happen, because there will be no better time like there is right now. One of the big hurdles will be how to pay for the expansion, by either an increase in the sales tax or local option income tax. Another question will be how does that tax get levied? Will it be a referendum by locals or a decision by local city or county councils? Another hurdle will be getting buy-in from rural areas. While someone one from Brownsburg, Zionsville or Danville might be open to a mass transit discussion, what about those folks in rural areas who would have to drive to get to any bus stop or train station.
However, perhaps the biggest hurdle for proponents will be how do they change the Hoosier mindset when it comes to the automobile. From studying this issue for the past several years the problem is not the automobile, per se. It is the freedom of mobility that comes with it. That person from Greenwood or Greenfield may not want to give up their automobile if it complicates matters like picking up groceries on the way home or dropping off kids at school on the way to work. Hoosiers like being able to have the freedom to come and go as they please and the automobile allows them to do that in a way a bus or train can’t.
While this may seem like a lot, and it is, this is a much better position for mass transit advocates to be in than at any other time. At least they know at this point they may actually get a chance to answer and address those issues, because for the first time that I can recall, the train, or bus as the case may be, may finally get out of the station next session.
