Evansville Courier & Press - Dem Says No 'Major Moves' Will Shift to Mass Transit Fund

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Evansville Courier & Press - Dem Says No 'Major Moves' Will Shift to Mass Transit Fund

Bryan Corbin

Although Democratic candidate for governor Jill Long Thompson wants Indiana to pursue mass transit, she would not dip into the funds for Interstate 69 or other Major Moves projects to do so, she said.

"Those are priorities, the decisions have already been made; the planning is already in place. I believe it's good planning," Long Thompson said Tuesday.

She voiced her support for the continued construction of the I-69 extension through Southwestern Indiana, noting how the earlier construction of the interstate gave an economic boost to the northeast region of the state.

In a speech to the Indianapolis Rotary Club, Long Thompson outlined her economic priorities if elected. Among them is reallocating funding within the Indiana Department of Transportation to form a "paratransit" department to foster investment in mass transit programs and attract companies that manufacture mass transit-related equipment.

Long Thompson is opposing Republican incumbent Gov. Mitch Daniels in the Nov. 4 election. One of Daniels' biggest initiatives was construction of the Evansville-to-Crane section of I-69, using proceeds from the lease of the northern Indiana toll road. A foreign consortium paid the state $3.8 billion to lease the toll road, funding the state is using for highway, bridge and street construction projects under Daniels' "Major Moves" program.

Long Thompson opposes leasing the toll road. But in an interview, she underscored that none of the Major Moves dollars already allocated or designated for I-69 or other projects would be touched in her pursuit of developing mass transit.

That came as something of a relief to Steve Schaefer, executive director of Hoosier Voices for I-69, an Evansville organization that lobbied for state funding for I-69. Schaefer said he had heard Long Thompson might want to tap Major Moves dollars to fund mass transit, and so he was pleased when she did not advocate that.

"We recognize the importance of mass transit in the overall discussion; but we are firmly opposed to any shift of Major Moves funds for anything but their intended purpose — and that's highways and roads," Schaefer said.

Long Thompson's platform proposes working with local governments to develop intermodal passenger-and-freight projects to connect communities.

"You have to have a very objective set of plan options for mass transit, and then determine what really does make the most sense, given economic growth needs and economic development opportunities," Long Thompson said.

Cam Savage, spokesman for Daniels' re-election campaign, countered that Daniels supports mass transit projects if they make economic and fiscal sense.

He said that under Daniels, the state's budget for public transportation has increased 45 percent to $42.5 million.

Besides funding road projects, the Major Moves lease generated $120 million that is being used to extend the existing South Shore commuter rail line in the northwestern Indiana and expand bus options, Savage said.

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