A Transit User With A Choice

By Christy Campoll, Program Liaison

I joined CIRTA as its Program Liaison in June. As an employee, I can choose either a free monthly parking garage permit or a free monthly IndyGo pass. When I started at CIRTA, in order to economize, my husband (who works on the east side of Indianapolis) and I commuted together in our pick-up truck and utilized the parking permit. We were temporarily residing in Danville (Hendricks County) during my first two months on the job and travelled a 40-mile round-trip to and from Indianapolis. My household’s options for transportation include:
-- the pick-up truck, which has about 65,000 miles and gets 20 mpg;
-- my husband’s motorcycle, which I am too chicken to ride;
-- several bicycles; and
-- an old broke-down Toyota Echo that got over 40 mpg and probably will again if we ever get around to fixing it.

The only good thing I have to say about losing two hours of our lives each day to that drive is that we became more informed about current events, listening to hours of news on the radio. When I started working for CIRTA, we began to look for a house to buy. We placed high priority on finding a home in closer proximity to our jobs, preferably on a bus line or within walking/bicycling distance. We found a house on the east side with a stop for IndyGo’s downtown-bound Route 10 within steps of the end of the driveway. Even better, we are only two miles from my husband’s place of employment. I now ride the bus and my husband cycles to work.

The change in our commutes has improved the quality of our lives in several ways. Riding the bus saves me ten miles of driving each day – that’s a gallon of gasoline every other day. I also avoid the likelihood of experiencing a vehicle collision in congested rush-hour traffic. We’ve already had one crash during my husband’s morning commute from Danville earlier this year – hence the broke-down Toyota sitting in our garage. While I don’t save any time by riding the bus instead of driving, I do save myself a lot of stress. When I started commuting on IndyGo, I noticed that I felt much more relaxed when I arrived at the office in the morning and especially when I got home at night. Personally, I find that more rewarding than the financial and safety benefits. One other benefit that came as a pleasant surprise was getting to know a few of my neighbors by interacting them daily on the bus. I sometimes eat lunch with a fellow Route 10 rider who works two blocks from my building. As for my husband, he has enjoyed having more free time with a pared-down 15-minute commute that gives him a daily cardiovascular workout. Between the two of us, we save 68 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per week by bicycling and using transit.

Riding the bus and adopting a lifestyle that is more independent of our car has spurred me to think critically about the transportation system and other city infrastructure. While I am pleased enough with IndyGo to continue to using it, I understand why so many other commuters stick with their cars. Common complaints that even I utter myself at one time or another include:
-- routes that run as infrequently as once per hour;
-- the need to transfer to get most places that are not downtown, necessitating additional fares and more waiting at stops;
-- operating hours that don’t accommodate non-traditional work shifts or later-evening activities;
-- stops with inebriated, overly sociable individuals or bad smells; or
-- lack of shelters, seating or even sidewalks at stops. My stop is simply a sign stuck into a patch of weeds and grass.

I’m glad that the Indy Connect transportation initiative is addressing the quality and efficiency of our local public transit system. Unlike me, most mass transit users in the Indy metro area today do not have a choice between driving and riding the bus. They are likely unable to afford to own or insure a vehicle, are elderly, or have a disability that makes them unable to drive. Most commuters who do have a choice will choose transit only if our system is made more convenient, efficient and attractive. It will cost taxpayer dollars to make these improvements, but the returns will pay us back in the form of a less congested, less polluted region that attracts jobs and high-quality development.

What do you think it will take to get more commuters to leave their cars at home and choose transit? Your comments are appreciated both here and at the Indy Connect comment page, where you can make suggestions for transit system improvements and fill out brief questionnaires about your transportation preferences.