INDIANAPOLIS — A decade and $162 million in the planning and building, IndyGo’s Purple Line project is in view of its simultaneous finish line and launch.
The Bus Rapid Transit line connecting Lawrence with downtown Indianapolis is set to begin operation Oct. 13.
Next month, IndyGo will host several informational meeting to inform bus riders of the change the Purple Line will bring to their daily commutes:
- Sept. 9
- 5:30 p.m. Virtual Public Meeting
- Focus – All Routes
- Sept. 10
- 6-8 a.m. and 3-6 p.m. at the Carson Transit Center, located at 201 E. Washington St.
- Focus – All Routes
- Sept. 16
- 12-2 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Arthur Jordan Branch YMCA, located at 8400 Westfield Blvd.
- Focus – Route 82
- Sept. 17
- 12-2 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Martin Luther King (MLK) Community Center, located at 40 W 40th St.
- Focus – Routes 18, 19 and 28
- Sept. 23
- 12-2 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the East 38th Street Library, located at 5420 E. 38th St.
- Focus – Routes 4 and 39, Purple Line
- Sept. 24
- 12-2 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the P30 Coworking Space, located at 3039 N Post Rd.
- Focus – Routes 4 and 39, Purple Line
- Sept. 30
- 12-2 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at the Fort Ben Library, located at 9330 E. 56th St.
- Focus – Routes 4 and 39, Purple Line
”For right now there is nothing I can do. I need a bus,” said Marvin Bell as he traveled freshly-laid sidewalk southbound on Post Road toward East 38th Street. ”I take me like an hour and fifteen minutes to get to work because the Keystone bus gonna go stop, stop, stop.”
Bell travels from where he stays along North Post Road to Keystone at the Crossing for a restaurant job.
Sometimes that journey detours him to downtown Indianapolis and the Julia Carson Transit Station before he can head north to work.
”I think the bus is gonna come and pick us up and swoop and leave right away and, man, we don’t have to wait for the bus, we don’t know when its gonna come. Now we know exactly when its gonna come, its gonna be there, its gonna come, I think its gonna come faster.”
Kendra Nowell, Executive Director at the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside, said the opening of the Purple Line will make it easier for clients to make it to CAFÉ to participate in its myriad of programs.
”Having a barrier to transportation can prevent those from coming here so we are super excited about the opening of the Purple Line that will be coming soon. It's running right in front of our building,” she said. ”We’ve been at the listening table from the start with IndyGo. We helped convene various listening sessions for the residents to be able to give their feedback from the very beginning of the process all the way through. We know that this is gonna provide access not only to our community center but other resources on the far eastside.”
IndyGo and the City are hopeful the presence of the Purple Line and more dependable public transportation will spur economic growth such as the new commercial building construction going on in the 3700 block of North Post Road just south of the intersection where the bus line will make a hard right turn west onto East 38th Street.
”Not everybody have cars,” said Bell as he pondered his hour-long commute to work. “If you got a car, you gotta be legit because you don’t wanna get pulled over. You gotta get your license, you gotta get registration, insurance, and it’s a lot to get. So people need a bus.”
For more information, visit IndyGo’s website.