Indianapolis-Area Mayors Offer Details On Proposed "Red Line" Bus Route

Indianapolis-area mayors Tuesday provided more details about a proposed 28-mile electric bus rapid transit line from Greenwood to Carmel, which will be partially paid for with a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant.

The TIGER grant will fund $2 million of the estimated $3 million cost of designing the route called the “Red Line”. The additional funds will come from the connecting cities—Indianapolis, Greenwood, Carmel and Westfield—with Indy chipping in just under $700,000. 

The current proposed route would connect Greenwood to Carmel and could potentially include Westfield. Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard says an efficient rapid transit system will make the area more attractive.

“If we do that, we’re going to be able to attract great employers to this area," Brainard says. "If we don’t do that we aren’t going to be able to compete with other areas that are doing it better.”

The “Red Line” bus fleet would be entirely electric, building on recent initiatives to make public transit more eco-friendly.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard says the line would reduce traffic and provide economic opportunity along the route

“It connects four universities serving up to 60,000 students and a lot of our employers," Ballard says. "So there’s a lot of potential for economic development along this particular line.”

Local officials plan to begin design work early next year. Construction would begin in 2016, pending requests for federal funding, and open two to three years after that.