Saving money with transit

Gas prices are up more than 30 cents in the past two weeks, and more increases are reportedly on the way. How do commuters cope? In Central Indiana, there are several alternative transportation options that can save you money at the pump.

Do you know what you are spending on your commute? Use the Central Indiana Commuter Services Commute Cost Calculator to find out. Normally when we drive somewhere, we think about the cost in terms of the gallons of gasoline used. We don’t think about the money spent throughout the year on maintenance, replacement tires, or deprecation. Depreciation alone costs 23 cents per mile for the average-sized sedan. This figure is based on the AAA’s estimate that sedans decline in value by $3,554 per year (assuming 15,000 miles driven annually).

Local alternatives to commuting alone in your car include riding IndyGo, carpooling, vanpooling, bicycling, using on-demand transit in rural/suburban areas, or using Indy Express Bus if you live in Fishers or Carmel. There are savings to be found in each mode.

• The commute from Carmel and Fishers to downtown Indianapolis is about 30 miles per round-trip. Indy Express Bus takes commuters from park-and-ride lots in those communities to several locations in downtown Indianapolis. The fare is $10 for a round trip, which is less than the $14.35 it would cost you to drive your own car, as shown in the graphic. This figure does not account for parking costs. Parking in a downtown Indianapolis garage usually costs around $80 to $120 per month. That’s $4 to $6 per day. Therefore, using Express Bus could save you over $200 on a monthly basis.
  
• Central Indiana Commuter Services (CICS) organizes carpools and vanpools throughout the Indy metro region. It’s easy to confidentially enter your home and worksite locations and work schedule in order to be matched with others who have the same commute. Click here to sign up. A common concern about carpooling is what happens when an emergency causes a member of a carpool to need to leave work early or late. The CICS Emergency Ride Home program offers free vouchers to registered carpoolers to take a taxi home up to five times per year.
  
• If you live in Indianapolis, it is likely that you live within walking distance of one of IndyGo’s 30 local routes. Monthly fare passes are $60 ($30 for students, seniors and people with disabilities) and can be purchased online, by phone at (317) 635-3344, on the bus with cash, or at the IndyGo retail center at 34 N. Delaware Street. 2-adult households can often get by owning just one car if one or both adults take the bus to work. The annual monthly pass cost of $720 is a lot easier on the budget than the $8,487 per year it costs to own and operate an average-sized sedan (according to the AAA). Fixed route bus service is also available in other Central Indiana communities, including Johnson County routes that connect with IndyGo at the county line.
  
• It is becoming easier to bicycle in Central Indiana, thanks to planned and existing trails and bikeways. Cycling to work has the added bonus of approximately 700 calories burned per hour. With a small investment in some gear, you could save money by forgoing the car and the gym, too. If you’re intimidated by the idea of changing a flat or performing other bike maintenance, try a class at Bicycle Garage Indy.
  
• Residents of outlying counties also have a transportation option in on-demand transit. To use this type of service, individuals must call to arrange a trip at least a day in advance. Availability is based on demand. Fares usually range from $2 to $5 per trip. Most on-demand transit providers in counties adjacent to Marion County will drop passengers off at IndyGo stops that are close to the county line.
  

What are you doing differently in response to rising gas prices? Have you cut back on driving, or reduced spending in another area of your budget? Let us know by leaving a comment.

Indy Express Bus

The Indy Express Bus began serving downtown Indianapolis-bound commuters from the communities of Carmel and Fishers on January 3, 2011. As non-renewable federal funding for IndyGo’s ICE routes came to an end, CIRTA and Miller Trailways formed a partnership to keep the popular transportation option going despite a lack of government funds. Miller Trailways stepped up to run the service without subsidization with fewer runs and increased fares. We’re happy to report that a loyal core ridership has kept on using service, and ridership has steadily grown over the first four weeks of operation. Now we’re ready to get more folks on the bus by improving passenger amenities and getting the word out!

Commuters debark in Fishers park-and-ride lot

A survey completed last week by Express Bus passengers yielded feedback that tells us how we are succeeding and where we can improve. 75% stated that they are highly likely to encourage someone else to use the service, with another 19% as somewhat likely. The #1-ranked reason that the respondents ride the Express Bus is “I don’t have to worry about driving.” Other reasons included financial savings (particularly on parking), environmental impact, avoiding wear/tear on vehicle, and the ability to get work done during the ride. A few respondents indicated that the availability of the bus meant that they/their family could go without buying a(nother) car. Requested changes had mostly to do with schedules and fare collection. Improvements are in the works for both.

Indy Express Bus stop sign serving Carmel route

What’s next for Indy Express Bus? First, we need to get the word out in order to build the ridership necessary to make the service financially sustainable in the long run. Got ideas for creative or low-cost promotional strategies? Please share them in the comment section below this post (or send to info@cirta.us). Future developments could include more routes for current Express Bus riders to choose from, service from other communities experiencing rush hour congestion, or reverse commute service traveling from the Indianapolis urban core to suburban locations with high numbers of jobs. Do you have your own ideas for commuter express service in the Central Indiana region? Share them here by leaving a comment.

Transit testimonials

We've recently come across some great testimonials from individuals who have chosen to get around primarily by mass transit and/or bicycle rather than a personal car.

Chris Hrubesh, a senior video editor at CNN in Atlanta, says that trading in his car for a bicycle was one of the best decisions he's ever made. Check out what he has to say about the experience and watch him commute by bike on video. The benefits of this change include a ten-pound weight loss, a savings of $300-$500 per month, and the opportunity to demonstrate a car-free lifestyle to his son. Kudos to his employer for treating him to a free gym membership and transit passes in order to incentivize the decision to commute without a car. When Chris does want to drive, he rents a car by the week or borrows a Zipcar for an hour or two.

The Grist article "Why public transportation is good for kids" by Carla Saulter - AKA the SeattleBusChick - has been making the rounds on Twitter and Facebook. She and her husband have been car-free since 2003 - even after having two kids. Their toddler "took her first bus trip home from the hospital at one day old and has ridden almost daily ever since." We learned about the Seattle area's Undrivers movement through Carla's transit-focused blog. Her post explaining how she saves time by taking the bus instead of driving is eye-opening.

Over the past year, the American Public Transportation Association has gathered the testimonials of individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by public transportation. The APTA "Telling Our Story" campaign collected transit users' stories in an effort to demonstrate to the US Congress the importance of maintaining government support of transit services. This project produced a "video wall" of people speaking about the role of public transportation in their lives. Speakers include employers, riders with disabilities, students, transit agency employees and commuters.

Do you have a testimonial about using one of these transportation alternatives? Do you ride the bus to school, run errands on your bicycle, or carpool to work? Tell us your story by leaving a comment.

What you need to know about the revised Indy Connect long-range transportation plan

As you may have already heard, Indy Connect version 2.0 is here! An updated long-range transportation plan for Central Indiana has been developed after an extensive public outreach and feedback-gathering effort. You can review this plan, ask questions and submit comments here or at any of the public meetings happening around the region over the next 2 weeks.

Here are eight key facts to know about the plan:

1. Indy Connect, Central Indiana’s Transportation Initiative, has developed a long-range transportation plan following an extensive public outreach effort. This is the most comprehensive transportation plan we have ever created – with more help and input from the public than ever before.

2. The long-range transportation plan centers on a comprehensive regional bus system that connects to rail, as well as roadways and bike and pedestrian pathways.

3. We sharpened our pencils and developed a plan that addresses our critical transportation system needs. It considers available funding and addresses feedback we received about cost, which indicated a willingness to pay an average of $15 per month per household.

4. The goal is to build a transportation system that provides various types of transportation that connect people to jobs, healthcare, shopping and education and increases the region’s competitiveness, economic development opportunities and mobility.

5. The bus system in this plan provides three times the service of today’s IndyGo, with more cross-town service, fewer downtown transfers, more direct routes and extended operating hours.

6. An enhanced bus system, known as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), supplements the traditional bus system and provides service with frequent stops and quick travel along highly traveled streets.

7. Rail will be built on existing lines from Union Station running north to Noblesville and south to Franklin. If funding allows, rail could be extended northwest to Zionsville.

8. BRT will be available along Washington Street and will be replaced, over time, with light rail transit. The first light rail line to be built will be from Union Station to the Indianapolis International Airport.

The next step in the process is to decide on a new dedicated source of local funds to build and operate the bus and rail components of this system. Federal grants, state dollars, the current property tax that funds IndyGo, and transit fares will be utilized, but will only cover half the $2.5 billion cost of creating the system. It will be up to the Indiana state legislature to determine what kind of local funding will be used. The funding sources will likely include an increase in the local option income tax or sales tax.

What parts of this system do you see yourself using? How is your neighborhood affected by the new plan? How would you feel about an average tax increase of $15 per month to fund the system? With construction potentially beginning within a couple of years, the time to consider your part in the grand scheme of Central Indiana transportation is now.

Public Goods

Few of us engaged in the fight for better public transportation would disagree with author Malcolm Gladwell when he says, “There is enormous power in the concept of the public good.” But would we really expect that power to show up tangibly in the heart health of a small Pennsylvania town?

Those of us who had the chance to hear Gladwell speak at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Public Transportation Association certainly see the connection. Delivering the keynote address for the October 3-6 event, the bestselling author of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers: The Story of Success brought a unique and powerful perspective on public transportation to the table – and made his most compelling points though the story of Roseto, PA.

As Gladwell explained, Roseto was settled in the late 19th century by immigrants from Italy and, for decades, thrived economically and socially as close-knit Italian-American community. A chance conversation among area physicians in the late 1950’s led to the discovery that the town experienced extremely low rates of heart disease as compared to surrounding communities. An academic study comparing Roseto with neighboring towns found that the key factor in keeping residents healthy was not diet, exercise, low tobacco use or genetics. Instead, it credited community cohesion and civic-mindedness with the community’s heart strength.

Isolated during its beginnings from older, surrounding communities by anti-immigrant discrimination, Roseto developed a community strongly focused on familial loyalty, civic institutions and social equality. Roseto’s citizens disapproved of overt displays of wealth and status, participated in social clubs, revered their elders and observed rituals and traditions. It was noted that they often went out on walks in the town, patronized local businesses and ate meals with extended family and friends. In other words, Roseto treasured communal life and public resources. The study’s authors state that “the community was their base of operations and each inhabitant felt a responsibility for its welfare and quality.”

Having first studied the town in 1960, the study’s authors returned in 1985 to re-examine heart disease rates and attitudes toward community. They found that younger generations had moved from the town center to suburban areas, walked less, drove more, and stopped going to church as much. They patronized large supermarkets rather than neighborhood groceries, placed their elderly parents in nursing homes instead of their own, and more earnestly pursued material wealth.

Did this communal change of heart have an impact on the residents’ hearts? Apparently, yes. During the same timeframe, rates of heart disease, hypertension and deaths from heart attacks rose to close the gap between Roseto and surrounding areas. The study authors attributed this to the social change in the community. As Roseto lost its unique sense of communal life, it also lost its uniquely high level of public health.

What does this have to do with public transportation? Think about the makings of a close-knit community like Roseto. Members of the older generations had abundant opportunities to develop relationships with one another. They walked more than they drove, so they apparently had safe places to walk through the town. They came together in clubs and churches, so there must have been plentiful public space available for those types of activities. Businesses were small and locally owned, meaning that customers routinely interacted both with owners and fellow patrons.

Now think about what public transportation is, and what it can achieve. It is a public good in which the entire community invests and which all are entitled to use. It is a resource that can enable us to forgo the expense of private car ownership and feel secure in our ability get to where we need to go. It enhances social equality by providing transportation opportunities to the poor and the disabled. It goes hand-in-hand with pedestrian-friendly business and residential districts. It provides us with a venue for becoming familiar with our neighbors, if only because we see the same faces day in and day out. It decreases congestion, pollution and wear-and-tear on our streets. And, as in Roseto, public transportation can even enhance our physical health – a notion further supported by the weight lost by commuters in Charlotte, N.C., who switched from their cars to a new rail line.

During his address, Mr. Gladwell asked his audience to think about what it would be like to be billionaires. With access to every private good conceivable, what more would we want? His answer? Plenty… of public goods. We’d still want clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, adequate protection from disaster or crime, less time spent in traffic and more time spent at home with our families. In other words, he suggests that we’d want more of the sorts of things the good citizens of Roseto valued … and the sorts of things that, judging by the evidence, did their hearts good.

The question then becomes, how strong a link do you see between the public good and your own personal well-being, and how are you willing to invest in that link?

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.

Transportation funding: doing more with less

Last week, the General Assembly Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy took up the issue of transportation funding during its second meeting. During this summer and fall, the interim Commission is examining a roster of financial issues including transportation, county income tax, fire protection territories, tax credits for school foundation contributions and others. Chairperson Scott Pelath stated in a press release about the Commission that “We will come to grips with dissipating sources of road dollars, establish realistic levels for state and local road funding, and scrutinize our infrastructure priorities.”

The meeting’s transportation session began with a presentation by the Purdue Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) that mapped the complex state transportation financing structure. We also heard from INDOT on the status of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded transportation projects. Stimulus monies have funded 1,087 transportation projects around the state, ranging from road resurfacing to bridge repair to transit vehicle upgrades. Indiana’s ARRA projects have a completion deadline of February 17, 2012.

For the rest of the session, local public officials, citizens and interest group representatives made comments before the Commission. Just about all of the comments concerned the scarcity of transportation funding. City and town managers spoke of the hardships they face in funding local road maintenance. Several comments referenced the LTAP 2008 Statewide Bridge Sufficiency Rating Report, which reports that 21.6 percent of the state’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. Some relayed concerns about the expense of constructing Interstate 69 in the southwest region of the state. Another issue that came up was vehicle fuel efficiency. Improvements in fuel efficiency (along with other factors such as the economic downturn) are decreasing the amount of gasoline sold, leading to a reduction in the gasoline tax revenues that fund much of the nation’s transportation programs.

Though the session’s main theme was the shortage of funds for meeting our transportation needs, the dialogue focused on lack of money – there was no discussion how we can reduce those needs to begin with. We are rightfully concerned about meeting the demand for transportation infrastructure. But what if we could reduce that demand? Transportation demand management is the process by which we change travel behavior (how, when and where people travel) in order to increase transportation system efficiency. Using transportation demand management strategies, we can do more with less. For example, we can reduce the number of vehicles on the road by increasing carpooling to work through incentives such as HOV lanes or preferential parking and resources like online carpooler matching databases. If we improve bus service and rail options, maybe we can divert enough traffic from the roads to reduce the expense of continually repairing and expanding highways like I-465. Another strategy is to employ transit-oriented development principles in constructing or redeveloping our neighborhoods and urban corridors.

There are dozens of other transportation demand management strategies to consider as governments plan for a future of increasing mobility needs and fewer funds to meet those needs. Which of these measures would work in your community? What are the best alternatives to making more and more room on the roads for single-occupancy vehicles?