Release: City of Indianapolis and Health by Design awarded and selected for national mobility fellowship
Fighting climate change by increasing transportation options among stated goals
INDIANAPOLIS -- Today the City of Indianapolis Department of Public Works (Indy DPW) announced Indianapolis was selected among a diverse cohort of cities to participate in City Thread’s Accelerated Mobility Playbook technical assistance program designed to help fast-forward the build-out of their mobility networks. The application was prepared in partnership with Indy DPW and local nonprofit Health by Design.
“It’s vital that we continue to explore opportunities to increase connectivity and accessibility throughout Indianapolis neighborhoods,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “This achievement joins a historic amount of planning and investment in biking infrastructure in our city. I look forward to seeing the positive solutions and results of the Accelerated Mobility Playbook program for years to come.”
The City of Indianapolis and Health by Design will receive $50,000 in Accelerated Mobility Playbook (AMP) technical assistance from City Thread. This assistance includes a community-specific mobility audit of the city’s current state of practice and an action plan for improved implementation and partnership.
“The City of Indianapolis is a longstanding and invaluable partner for Health by Design. Their participation in the AMP technical assistance program will enhance our current joint efforts to make walking, biking, and transit more convenient and accessible in our city” shares Marjorie Hennessy, AICP, Program & Policy Manager at Health by Design. “The commitment to this process shows that they understand the importance of making our streets safer for everyone, and as we improve safety; then equity, accessibility, and sustainability will follow.”
The $50,000 award is being matched with $15,000 from SRAM, a major bicycle-parts manufacturer located here in Indy. This program will work with staff from the City to identify methods of improving cycleway design, accelerating cycleway construction, identifying opportunities to improve process efficiencies, identifying non-traditional sources of capital funding, and other activities.
“Without clear and consistent communication, people feel disconnected from public planning processes, even when they support the intended outcomes,” said Zoe Kirco from City Thread. “We help community, city and elected leaders identify a shared goal, and then keep everyone moving toward it while ensuring that folks stay informed, engaged and committed. The trust and goodwill these communities build is essential to getting things done.
In addition to Indianapolis, communities chosen include Bainbridge Island, WA; Syracuse, NY; Gulfport, MS; Cleveland, OH; Milwaukee, WI; Tucson, AZ; Santa Rosa, CA; Petaluma, CA.
Each of the selected cities will receive a comprehensive assessment that positions them to accelerate their local mobility goals. By aligning public support, political will, and local ambition around a unified vision, cities can take decades off their planned implementation schedule.
Many of Indy’s mobility goals are formalized within the transportation and land use section of Thrive Indianapolis , the city’s first sustainability and resilience action plan. The AMP technical assistance program will help catalyze progress on these action items, increasing multimodal transit usage and addressing accessibility based on equity—progress that is critical for Indianapolis community members to be resilient to a changing climate and realize a citywide carbon-neutral future by 2050.
Building on the success of The Final Mile, which helped five cities build 335 miles of bike lanes in just two years, City Thread’s Accelerated Mobility Playbook (AMP) provides a roadmap for speeding project delivery, completing network-focused implementation plans, and conducting authentic community engagement.
The Accelerated Mobility Playbook (AMP) is funded by Wend Collective and SRAM. To see a program FAQ, visit www.citythread.org/faq. For more information, visit www.citythread.org/ampgrantprogram.