NBC News: Indianapolis looks to mass transit project to spur development in low-income area

Read the entire story by Deon J. Hampton here.

City officials in Indianapolis hope a new bus line targeting the needs of low-income residents will be the catalyst that transforms an underinvested corridor through economic development.

The Indianapolis Public Transit Corporation’s $188 million Purple Line, a 15-mile bus rapid transit, or BRT, system will eventually run from downtown to the neighboring city of Lawrence, providing access to jobs and healthcare for those who mainly depend on mass transit.

City officials, however, have their fingers crossed that the project, scheduled to start construction this month, also will encourage developers to build retail space, offices and affordable housing along an eight-mile stretch of the East 38th Street bus route on the way downtown with the goal of transforming the area.