Hayley Jarman | hjarman@jrpress.com
The city of Crawfordsville, in partnership with the League of Women Voters, hosted a public forum Wednesday to discuss the future of public transportation. For those unable to attend the forum at Fusion 54, the city is also conducting a survey, which has already garnered more than 100 responses.
Fawn Johnson, director of the Parks and Recreation Department, is collaborating with RLS & Associates, a public transportation consulting firm, to assess and develop a plan for public transportation in Crawfordsville. Johnson, who oversees the Sunshine Van program that currently serves seniors and individuals with disabilities, hopes to expand the service to all residents by 2026.
“This change would begin in 2026, so not tomorrow,” Johnson said. “The U.S. Department of Transportation has a Rural Transit Grant Program, and they provide matching grants to rural communities. They’re 50% matching grants, so for every federal dollar that comes in for a program like this, the local community matches it dollar for dollar.”
Johnson said the project would not require a tax increase. Existing funding for the Sunshine Van could be used to match federal dollars, with only minor increases in local funding anticipated.
During the forum, community members highlighted various reasons for needing public transportation.
“I’d like to see a public transportation system here in Crawfordsville, because it would not only help provide financial security for those at risk, but it also may impact the overall health of those in Crawfordsville as well,” Tristan Stout said. “The current model of having to walk everywhere if you just don’t have a car is not sustainable for our population.”
Marco Garcia, a Wabash College student, spoke about the challenges students without vehicles face.
“Some international students drive all the way to Walmart to buy soap or food, and there’s nobody to help them. Sometimes they have to walk all the way,” Garcia said.
Many attendees expressed the need for transportation to medical appointments, work and grocery stores.
Many of the people who came to the meeting expressed the desire for bus routes.
Christy Campoll, senior associate and project manager for RLS & Associates, noted there is potential for a future bus route in Crawfordsville.
“I think it’s a good chance that that’ll come to fruition,” Campoll said. “Crawfordsville is pretty well laid out. There’s a lot of straight lines, and it’s almost like you can see it, like a north-south and a west-east. Because you’ve got all this residential on the east side, you’ve got a lot of health care on the north side, a lot of stores on the south side, and the college on the west side. It’s sort of perfect.”
However, any bus system would take time to develop, with the process estimated to take at least two years.
“In the beginning when you apply, you can’t ask for any vehicles,” Johnson said. “They want to see that you prove that you can operate this. Then in the future, you can start expanding your fleet, adding vehicles, and increasing operations as funding allows.”
The survey for public transportation is available on the city’s website.
