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Survey shows: Indy wants rapid transit

Lacy Leadership Association released the results of its online survey last week, which found that 91 percent of respondents say Indianapolis needs rapid transit. The survey was sent to nearly 1,000 Central Indiana opinion leaders; 34 percent responded.
Survey respondents say they spend an average of 16 to 46 minutes going to or from work; 75 percent of those people say that’s too long. What’s more, 94 percent say the problem is only going to get worse, and nearly eight of 10 say that current projects aren’t going to solve traffic congestion problems.

“Citizens and leaders in our region, many of whom see our roads and interstates becoming busier by the day, understand that an alternative means of transportation is vital to our future success as a region,” Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson said.

“One of the most interesting results of the survey revealed that many people said they’d prefer to use rapid transit for sporting events and other downtown entertainment, as opposed to riding it back and forth to work,” said Theresa Farrington Rhodes, LLA executive director.

In fact, 56 percent said they would take rapid transit to work, while 71 percent said they’d take the public transportation to go downtown for sports. That’s just more evidence that public transit is an important way to keep our community connected.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization will seek public input in the spring on preferred routes and technology for the north-east corridor. Those results will then be used in developing a recommendation to the Indiana Regional Transportation Council Technical and Policy Committee.

The entire survey is available online at www.lacyleadership.org.