INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House backed a plan to expand mass transit in central Indiana, but some state senators have voiced concerns about the cost and scope of the proposed 10-year, $1.3 billion project.
Senate President Pro Tempore David Long said he supports improving bus service, but he questions the need for a costly rail project that would link Noblesville and downtown Indianapolis because it serves only a small part of the region, The Indianapolis Star reports.
The Indiana House passed the bill on a 56-39 vote Monday. It would allow 10 counties in the Indianapolis metropolitan area to hold a referendum to let voters decide if they want to raise taxes to fund their share of the transit expansion.
The measure made it through the House with bipartisan support.
"We're talking about what's going to keep this ... a world class city twenty, thirty, forty years down the road," Carmel Republican Jerry Torr, the bill's author, told The Indianapolis Star.
He said he thinks the legislation will at least get a vote in the Senate and is willing to negotiate on the rail project.
Those who back the transit plan say it would ease commutes, improve economic development and employment, and promote regionalism.
"This is a substantial step of cooperation between this city and its suburbs," said Indianapolis Democrat Ed Delaney.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, is worried about the long-term costs of maintaining and operating a transit system, but likes the idea of giving local governments control of the issue.
"I don't think it's a very good idea (to expand transit), but I think they're entitled to some local control on the issue," Kenley said. "So I'm trying to figure out how to give them some local control."
