Indianapolis, IN

Wed 19 September 2007

So, I’m thinking about traffic congestion. The Texas Transportation Institute released a study that stated that Indianapolis-area drivers spent an average of 43 hours sitting in rush-hour traffic in 2005. They also stated that 26 gallons of gas were wasted, which is equal to about three weeks worth of gas for the average U.S. resident. I know my husband has to use I-465 to get to work and back; it’s the easiest and a straight shot. And it’s a great way to get across and around the city. This also goes for I-70, I-65 and I-69 around and in the city as well. Maybe we should have express lanes like in Chicago, where if you are getting on the expressway and not planning on getting off for a while, then you can use that, and leave the local lanes for people who are getting off only in a few stops. But what really would help with traffic congestion would be better, efficient, affordable public transit. I think IndyGo needs to expand their services to have more buses and more routes (that stop within a block of all apartment complexes) and to include elevated “EL” trains or monorails that link parts of the city. (There is already a monorail downtown that links the hospitals together.) I would even like to see a train system to bring in people from the suburbs. This would not only bring people into the city, but cut down on the number of cars on the road and the amount of pollution because of it. I know this all costs money, but I think if some of these ideas were put into play, then it would make Indianapolis a much better city.

: traffic congestion, wasted time, wasted gasoline, IndyGo