Plainfield Connector
Posted by Kevin Kastner in Transit on Sep 11th, 2012 | 8 commentsOn October 1st, a new circulator bus will launch to connect IndyGo Bus number 8 with the Plainfield warehouse district. The need for this bus is sort of a microcosm of the new economy: warehouses are often located in car-dependent suburban areas, but they are increasingly hiring more employees from Indianapolis without the means to own a vehicle. I looked around to find a map of the route, and I came up empty, so I decided to sketch up the route that was described in the Indy Star article:
The frequency of the service seems a bit low, with 6 buses in the morning and 8 in the evening. Regardless, it beats taking the bus out to Bridgeport and walking a few miles along busy roads without pedestrian infrastructure, as is described in this article. The article refers to Chattanooga, but it could just as easily be happening here.
Plainfield on the move.
Sounds like the connector that was just axed, the one that cost 10 times to run than was charged. The Plainfield Connector costs $3 to ride; but the scheme is predicated on an absence of available workers in Plainfield, which is laughable…there’s a LOT of un- and under-employed people out there. They don’t take the warehouse jobs in their own backyard because (a) the pay is just above minimum wage (b) frequent drug-testing and (c) new hires get 2nd or 3rd shift.
Plus, where do these workers live? Not in Plainfield. “We’ll take your work but please be sure to leave once it’s 5pm.”
The route all the way to Bridgeport seems to be an admission that Plainfield was able to suck a great deal of airport-related development away from Indy once the airport turned its back on Indy with the new terminal. The real problem I have with Plainfield is that Metropolis is in the middle of nothing. It’s not connected to the traditional downtown and it’s not connected or even close to any housing or employment.
Let me make it clear that I don’t love the warehouses in suburbia economy. However, it exists, and I think that it is a good thing that CIRTA has found a way to connect people to those jobs. I hope in the future there are more jobs to be had at a wider payscale within the city.
what will be the total cost to take a trip from inner city north or east side and back? how much time expended (time is money), and can you work a 2nd (especially) or 3rd shift and still get back home? Any estimates? I do like the idea, and am aware the impetus is probably the warehouse district needs, not concern for full employment that does not require a government program that often produces no useful result. Comments?
I would ask what the cost of driving from the same places all the way out there? Cost of owning a vehicle of sufficient dependability to make the trip daily, insurance, upkeep and gasoline?
Sure, the money out of pocket to take the 8 out, board the new connector and then back at the end of the work day may sound large at first glance, but consider what these low wage workers are asked to endure just to get these jobs in the first place?
for some people the choice is not between a car and a bus, it is does the fare leave you enough money to bother working there. If you gross $65 per day before taxes and social security, and then pay $10? net for transport AND spend 8 hours working and 4 hours commuting it starts looking marginal. ALSO, the partial question was getting home from 2nd shift. A bus link that might (I don’t know here) leave you stranded on Monument circle from midnight to 4 am means you have to have or share a car at least part of the time. Just a thought.