IU supports awareness of nation's public transit

In an attempt to create more support for public transportation across the nation, IU's Institute for Urban Transportation is assisting in Communities in Motion Day Thursday. The American Public Transportation Association is sponsoring the national event.\nCommunities in Motion Day was developed by the APTA two years ago in order to build support for public transportation.\n"The purpose of Communities in Motion Day is to create awareness of public transit across the nation," said Betsy Kachmar, the urban transit assistant programs coordinator in IU's Kelley School of Business. "The APTA is also trying to increase ridership and thank current riders."\nIU's Institute for Urban Transportation helped by creating promotional materials to promote the day.\nThe Texas Transportation Institute 2003 Urban Mobility Study showed that the annual commute delay in Indiana increased from 16 hours in 1982 to 20 hours in 2001. Also, the number of rush hours has increased from 5.2 to 7.4 in those years.\nNot only is Communities in Motion Day an effort to clear up congestion but it is also an effort to help people who cannot otherwise travel get where they need to go.\n"My uncle uses public transportation in Fort Wayne because he's legally blind," junior Courtney Hooten said. "The bus will pick him up at home and take him anywhere within a certain radius. He can call when he's ready to be picked up."\nIn order to support Communities in Motion Day, APTA asks local governments to involve their communities. In fact, Gov. Joe Kernan proclaimed Thursday as the day to show Indiana's support for public transit.\nKachmar said the state of Indiana is trying to encourage public transit by hosting activities or giving away items. For example, Richmond is supporting Communities in Motion Day by having a cookout, while Fort Wayne is giving away cookies.\nKachmar also said the Bloomington Public Transit Corporation is giving away bus pass holders with notepads attached.\nBloomington Transit includes all buses in the city except the campus buses. BT offers access vans that contain wheelchair lifts. These vans will pick up people with disabilities and take them anywhere they need to go, such as work, school, appointments or the mall.\n"The Fort Wayne system is nice because my uncle continues to use it and trusts in the system," Hooten added. "He wouldn't use it if he didn't trust it."\nAccording to APTA statistics, the use of public transportation has increased 22 percent in the last six years and transit use is at an all time high.\nHowever, an IU news release states that many Hoosiers are not aware of transit systems in their communities. Some cities in Indiana such as Anderson, Vincennes, Bloomfield and Dyer do not even have public transit systems.\nCarmel resident Kaylie Miller said, "I see IndyGo buses in the city of Indianapolis fairly often, but they're not in the suburbs."\n-- Contact staff writer Stephanie Susman at ssusman@indiana.edu.