Why Does Indy's Red Line Cost Less Than Other BRTs?

IndyGO has approved plans to build the first phase of its Red Line, the first of several bus rapid transit systems planned for Central Indiana. It calls for spending $96 million on a 13.6 mile line to run along College Avenue as far north as 66th Street in Broad Ripple, moving south through downtown and then as far south as the University of Indianapolis campus. IndyGo plans to rely on a $75 million federal grant from the Federal Transit Administration to pay the bulk of the first phase construction costs. It plans to rely on its own reserves and TIF funds to make up the difference.

Based on information Advance Indiana has been able to gather from other BRT projects, planners estimate costs anywhere from $15 to $25 million per mile to construct a BRT with dedicated bus lanes and frequent bus stations built along the line that more closely resemble what riders of light rail systems experience. That's what IndyGo is planning for the first phase of the Red Line. Yet the estimated cost of construction is running only a little over $7 million a mile, far less than the projected costs for BRTs and well below what other cities have spent.

Indianapolis transportation planners like to point to the success of Cleveland's RTA Healthline. The Cleveland BRT is just 6.8 miles and connects the downtown to East Cleveland along the highly-trafficked Euclid Avenue. The Cleveland BRT began service in 2008 and cost $200 million to construct. While it runs half the length of Indianapolis' proposed Red Line, it has more than double the number of stations planned for the Red Line, 58 stations compared to 27 planned for the Red Line. Cleveland's BRT has about 14,000 daily riders. The Red Line is projected to have about 11,000 daily riders.

The Alameda-Contra Costra BRT just approved for the East Bay area in Oakland has a cost of $178 million for a 9.5 mile line with 27 bus stations, which works out to about $17.5 million per mile. Lansing, Michigan has plans for an 8.3 mile long BRT with 27 stations with an estimated cost of $133 million, which is over $16 million per mile. Albuquerque just approved a smaller bus rapid transit line to run along its busy Central Avenue that it projects will cost $119 million to build, or about $10 million per mile. It will have a similar number of bus stations along its planned route as the Red Line. Detroit wants to build a 27-mile BRT from its downtown all the way to Pontiac along Woodward Avenue. That's a shorter distance than what is planned for the full length of the Red Line, which would eventually go as far north as Westfield and as far south as Greenwood. The price tax for the Detroit BRT is from $405 million to $675 million, which is anywhere from $15 million to $25 million per mile.

The bottom line is that the Red Line's projected costs for Phase 1 are way below the actual and projected costs to construct BRTs in other cities. Why is this? The Red Line BRT model is based on the use of dedicated bus lanes with platform stations built in the street's median for easy boarding and unloading like the model used by other cities. This may explain why the proponents are trying to ram through the income tax increase vote by referendum during this year's general election. The proponents know they lack the funding to build the first phase of the Red Line. The quarter percent increase in the income tax is needed to fully fund phase one construction. All bets are off for the cost of the other BRTs planned, which you can bet will top out well north of a billion dollars in total costs. Without additional federal or state funding, Indianapolis taxpayers are going to be saddled with major future tax increases to support a BRT. Making matters worse is the lack of commitment from any of the suburban counties to enact similar tax increases any time in the near future to support an expanded BRT to reach into the suburban communities. Indianapolis taxpayers deserve honest information, not lies. Don't tell us you can build a BRT for half the cost other cities spend unless you have an explanation for why Indianapolis can build a BRT so much more cheaply.