This is a proposed cut in state funding that hasn't been getting much attention. It's escaped mine, anyway. From a letter to the editor in the Indianpolis Star:
It is a dire time for mass transit supporters in Indiana. The Indiana House is toying with the idea of slashing the state budget for transit by nearly 20 percent. For IndyGo riders like me, this means longer wait times and decreased service reliability. For thousands of Hoosiers who depend on transit every day, this means further compromising systems statewide that already run on a comparatively paltry budget.
According to the website of the Indiana Citizens' Alliance for Transit, the proposed budget would cut the Public Mass Transit Fund to 2007 levels and permanently reduce them by cutting transit's share of the state sales tax. The result will be $7.35 million less for transit agencies in the state.
Dunno. I've had to rely on the bus a time or two, and my mother absolutely depended on it, so I appreciate the view that public transportation is an important amenity that can make the difference for some people in a community's quality of life. And cutting transit affects the most vulnerable among us. But whether or how much the state should contribute are separate questions.
