Gas is $4.14 and What are We Doing About Mass Transit?A

The Indianapolis Star gives us some news on the light rail system in Choosing the right track:

"As gasoline prices climb above $4 a gallon, pressure is building on area planners to develop a public transit system quickly, efficiently and without breaking the bank.

The leading option would rely on the next generation of commuter trains: diesel light rail locomotives that are less costly than electric-powered trains and quieter and less polluting than traditional engines.
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The Metropolitan Planning Organization is recommending these 'light diesel' vehicles for a $160 million, 19-mile line that could be built over the next three to five years from 146th Street in Fishers to Downtown Indianapolis."

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Also, regardless of which approach is chosen, the old Nickel Plate tracks proposed for the line will need to be ripped up and replaced, at a cost of $40 million to $50 million.

Art Hall, chairman of the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, thinks his proposal to use old museum trains would be the most economical.

He wants planners to consider using his fleet of four traditional locomotives and eight passenger cars.

With a little bit of upgrading and modernization -- think televisions, refreshments and wireless Internet in a comfortable setting -- Hall, 61, predicts a decent starter commuter rail line could be up and running for less than $20 million.

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Though their engines are smaller, DMUs are able to reach speeds of 60 mph to 70 mph -- about twice the speed of some traditional locomotives -- and can seat about 90 people in a single-level car. By comparison, a traditional coach would hold about 60.

The planning organization is proposing using double-decker cars that can accommodate up to 145 seated commuters and as many as 360 standing commuters.

Also, DMUs are hybrids that can be easily converted to run on electricity, said Sisler, a Cleveland-based veteran transit developer who is a member of an Ohio committee on rail.

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The proposed commuter route here -- it would run from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. at 30-minute intervals -- would mean noise and pollution for those who live along the tracks.

The Star has a map of the proposed route within Marion County here.

We needed mass transit more than what we needed all the wasted energy over the Interstate Commerce Connector. Nothing should show the problem with Mitch Daniels' and a vision for Indiana as does our lack of mass transit. He talks about having a vision but no evidence exists that he is not looking backward down the path.

My wife commutes to Noblesville. Every rise in gas prices creates a violent reaction in her. She tells me she would take a train to Noblesville so she could work. Right now she cannot understand how those co-workers getting only minimum wage are able to drive to work.