Hoosiers Get Peek At Proposed Transit Plan

Next week, a legislative committee will discuss details of a mass transit plan.

Thursday, Hoosiers got a sneak peek at what the system may look like.

Rows of poster boards lined the Artsgarden downtown. They outlined the red and blue lines of a proposed $1.3 billion transit system.

Anna Gremling of the Metropolitan Planning Organization says the blue print was based on citizen input.

"Through each phase, we made recommendations and then the public came back and said 'no, we'd like to see a station at XYZ location, or there's quite significant employment on various alternatives and we want some things to be considered,'" she said.  "So, we went back and did some of the analysis and it resulted in some of the preliminary recommendations."

The proposal was put together using what does and doesn't work in other cities.

"It increases the underlying bus network which a lot of people overlook, but it also introduces bus rapid transit in the corridors trying to spur economic development," said Gremling.  "We are looking at some of the changing demographics with the millennials and the baby boomers and we feel like this is a good plan to put forward."

The Central Indiana Transit Study Committee meets November 21. It must make a recommendation to the General Assembly by the middle of December.