Indianapolis Streetcar Plan gets some press
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Aug 31st, 2011 | 10 comments
Anyone see the latest IBJ has hit the stands? I will refrain from analysis of any kind at this point and simply point out a couple links for catching up on the first volley in the Indianapolis Streetcar debate.
IBJ Story: http://www.ibj.com/backers-seek-support-for-2mile-streetcar-line-downtown/PARAMS/article/29171 (requires subscription)
WTHR 13 Story: http://www.wthr.com/story/15351324/planners-eye-downtown-indianapolis-streetcar-route
Downtown Indianapolis Streetcar Corp: http://indianapolisstreetcar.org/home.html
Read up. I am sure that we will see more information on this before too...
Streetcar tracks on Mass Ave
Posted by Curt Ailes in Pedestrian, Transit on Aug 4th, 2011 | 6 comments
I was picking up some pizza from Bazbeux’s last night on Mass Ave and I saw all the construction that is taking place. The project going on is resurfacing of the street, sidewalk reconstruction and addition of electrical conduit for additional lighting along the avenue. At the expense of looking like a hipster with my highly bastardized photo via Instagram on my old iPhone (first version) I snapped this picture of the exposed bricks and streetcar track of yester-year. There is no amount of pavement or sidewalk construction that ever dampens my enthusiasm for wanting to see streetcars return to...
IURC approves water lease; $425m for infrastructure
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Jul 21st, 2011 | 16 comments
On July 13th, 2011, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved the lease of the water utility to Citizen’s Energy. While this has been debated vigorously over the past year and a half locally, what it means is that when it goes through, over $425 million will become available to put towards Rebuild Indy; a program that I have given praise to as well as been highly critical of.
The crux of why I have been critical, is that none of this money has thus far been diverted, at least in principal, to addressing our horrendous transit situation. Indeed, Indyconnect has done much to address this...
Join the Central Indiana Transit Movement
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Jun 24th, 2011 | 2 comments
Last week, CIRTA went public with it’s message focused on building a coalition of transit supporters. The effort includes a spot on their website to sign your name to a petition as well as a means of organizations crafting a resolution of support for dedicated transit funding in the upcoming 2012 Legislative Session. As I posted about a couple weeks back, Urban Indy passed the resolution on April 12th, far ahead of the public roll-out of the current effort.
What does this all mean? It means that we are all banding together with a common message to our state legislators: Give us the means to pass...
State lawmakers scuttling transit projects
Posted by Curt Ailes in Transit on Mar 9th, 2011 | 12 comments
What started as a squeak in November has turned into a low roar. What is this low roar? The dying gasp of transit projects across the nation. In case you have not noticed, there is a bit of political turmoil going on here in America. It seems that no one is immune to the affects of the recent election. Regarding transportation, the problems started when NJ Governor cancelled the ARC project that would have increased commuter train access into NYC. Then, Wisconsin and Ohio’s new GOP Governors rejected Federal funding that was awarded to the previous administration for High Speed Rail....
