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RTA
 
RTA

RTA SURVEY RESULTS:
Total Responses: 186

ESTABLISHMENT of RTA:
Favor: 177 (95.2%)
Oppose: 9 (4.8%)

FREQUENCY of USE:
Never: 13 (7%)
Daily: 42 (22.6%)
Weekly: 47 (25.3%)
Occasionally: 84 (45.1%)

PURPOSE of USE:
Work: 16 (8.6%)
Leisure: 51 (27.4%)
Work & Leisure: 109 (58.6%)
>Never: 10 (5.4%)

RTA: A Vehicle Whose Time Has Come

Central Indiana should develop a mass transit system to serve the region, and highways and air travel must be upgraded if central Indiana is to compete on a national and global basis.

Breaking news:
The Indianapolis/Marion County City-County Council just passed an ordinance authorizing a Regional Transportation Authority in Indianapolis and central Indiana. Read the Mayor's announcement here.

The Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, through support of MAGIC (Metropolitan Association of Greater Indianapolis Communities), sponsored and passed Senate Bill 238 in 1997. This state law allowed for the creation of a multi-jurisdictional Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to give a region the opportunity to participate, plan and implement mass transit services. The bill was codified in IC 36-9-3. 

We can make this happen in central Indiana. An RTA would study transportation issues in general…everything from bike and footpaths to highways. The focus will be on a solutions to the congestion and general lack of mobility options in the region. 

The Chamber believes an RTA has many economic and environmental benefits: 

  • solid solution to traffic gridlock
  • attracting and retaining workers via more transportation options to various areas of the county 
  • lower ozone levels to conform to increasingly stricter Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) air quality standards (if the region does not lower these levels, we could face mandatory vehicle inspection programs or higher-priced reformulated gasoline).

All central Indiana communities must work together to address transportation needs. An RTA focused solely on public transit will have the ability to leverage state and federal funding opportunities. The basic principal of “united we stand, but divided we…don’t get as much federal funding for transportation” applies to our region. We must compete as a region for federal funding, and a concerted effort has a better chance at succeeding.

Now it is our turn, in cities and towns throughout central Indiana. The RTA is a vehicle whose time has come in order to make the central Indiana region a better place to live and work.

 

For more information:

  • View the Chamber's position on RTA as word document
  • View the entire Chamber's Transportation Task Force Report in PDF format
  • View the Chamber's Transportation Task Force Report Summary in PDF format
  • View a recent Chamber news release regarding RTA as word document
  • View the RTA ordinance as word document

Helpful Links:
IndyGo www.indygo.net
Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization www.indygov.org/indympo
Center for Transportation Excellence www.publictransportation.org/
American Public Transportation Association www.apta.com
Federal Transportation Administration www.fta.don.gov

Can't view PDF documents? Download the free Acrobat Reader or email us to request a hard copy of the Business Agenda.

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