Accessible (2004)

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Transportation is both the lifeblood of the region and the bane of commuters. It is of growing importance for two reasons. Traffic congestion and access to mass transit have assumed increased salience given the dramatic rise in the number of residents in Lake and Porter County who work in Illinois. Further, prospects for developing a viable logistics industry is tied as much to Northwest Indiana’s network of interstate highways as it is to the availability of brownfield sites appropriate to this purpose and the demise of the state inventory tax. At the same time, a dearth of public transportation options contributes to growing congestion on the roads, a phenomenon that is clearly related to sprawl.

Ironically, the region’s failure to expand its network of commuter rail transport limits its ability to fully exploit its emerging status as a bedroom community for Chicago’s booming economy, even as it inhibits – at least to a small extent – sprawl. One could only wonder what the growth patterns of the last 10 years would have been had the Westlake Corridor of the South Shore rail line been in place in 1990. For this reason, transportation planning cannot be separated from land use planning. They must be conducted hand-in-hand.

9.1 Vehicle Census

It will come as no surprise to commuters that the number of automobiles and trucks on the road has increased over the course of the last 10 years. The number of vehicles registered in Lake County has increased by 8.8%. In LaPorte County, there are 12.7% more vehicles on the road than there were in 1990. Reflecting the County’s dramatic growth over the last 10 years, the vehicle count in Porter County is up 18.3%. Interestingly, the percentage increase in the number of vehicles registered in Lake County exceeded the percentage change in population by 10.7%. In LaPorte County, the increase in the number of vehicles exceeded the percentage increase in the population by 15.5%. Reflecting this same pattern, the percentage change in the vehicle count in Porter County (i.e., 18.3%) exceeded the percentage change in the County’s population count (i.e., 13.9%).

Table 117:  Passenger Vehicle Registrations (2000)

Lake LaPorte Porter

2000 277,918 69,367 90,927 1990 255,420 61,529 76,835 Source: U.S. Census

9.2  Commuting Patterns

It has already been noted that an increasing number of citizens of Northwest Indiana are working in Illinois. Nearly one-fourth of Lake County residents and nearly one-tenth of Porter County residents now work in Illinois. The critical importance of transportation systems that are quick, reliable and safe is further illustrated in the significant incidence of cross-county commuting in LaPorte and Porter Counties. In all, 26% of LaPorte County residents work outside of LaPorte County; and 43.8% of Porter County residents work elsewhere. Travel into Lake County – particularly from Porter County – is significant. Over 20,000 Porter County residents travel into Lake County to work each day.

Table 118:  Location of Work site (2002)
Lake LaPorte			Porter
In County of Residence	72.1	74.0	56.2
Outside County of Residence	5.5	21.4	34.9
Outside State of Residence	22.4	4.6	8.9
Source: U.S. Census

Table 119: Travel into Lake County to Work (2000)
From	#
Porter County	21,530
Illinois	11,437
LaPorte County	1,837
Other Non-Lake County Locations	6,369
Source: Indiana Department of Revenue

Commute times are another indicator of accessibility. Given the high number of citizens who work outside of their counties of residence, it should not be surprising that commuting times are on the rise. In all, 42.2% of Lake County residents spend 45 minutes or more in commuting to work. The comparable figures for LaPorte and Porter Counties respectively are 38.7% and 15.9%.

Table 120: Travel Time to Work (2000)
Minutes	Lake LaPorte		Porter
Less than 30	33.1	42.1	64.5
30-44	23.6	19.2	19.6
45 to 59	12.0	14.1	7.6
More than 60	31.2	24.6	8.3
Source: U.S. Census

At the present time, most commuters drive alone to work. The percentage of Lake County commuters who drive alone is just slightly below the state average of 81.8%. The percentage of LaPorte County and Porter County residents who drive alone exceeds the state average.

Table 121:  Means of Transportation to Work (2002)

Lake LaPorte Porter Indiana

Drive Alone 80.7 83.6 85.5 81.8 Car Pool 11.3 9.8 7.8 11.0 Public Transit 3.2 1.0 1.3 1.0 Work at Home 2.0 2.6 2.5 2.9 Other 2.8 3.0 2.9 3.3

Source: U.S. Census

As expected, given the dramatic increase in the number of citizens of Lake and Porter Counties, in particular, who work in Illinois, ridership on the South Shore Commuter Rail Line is up.

Table 122: South Shore Ridership (1998)
Daily	#
1998	3,369,557
1995	3,295,987
Source: MultiSystems

At the same time, very few residents in Northwest Indiana rely on the five fixed route bus systems (i.e., East Chicago Public Transit, Gary Public Transportation Corporation, Hammond Transit System, Michigan City Municipal Coach, and Tri-State Coach Lines) or any of the demand-response para-transit systems (i.e., Hobart Township, LCEOC, North Township Trustees Office, Opportunity Enterprises, Porter County Community Services, South Lake County Community Services, and TransPorte) that are available in some locations. Reliance is significantly higher, however, among minority populations than it is among the public as a whole. In all, 5% of African-Americans in Lake County depend on public transportation. The comparable figure in LaPorte County is 3.0%. At 3.4%, Hispanics living in Lake County are also more dependent on public transportation than is the public as a whole.

Table 123: Percent Reliance on Public Transportation to Commute to Work (2000)

Lake LaPorte Porter Indiana

African-American 5.0 3.0 1.3 5.5 Hispanic 3.4 1.6 2.8 2.2 White 2.7 0.8 1.3 0.7

Source: U.S. Census

This is not to say that commuters prefer driving to all other commuting options. Lack of availability and lack of reliability also play a role. In fact, an extensive study conducted under the auspices of the Northwestern Indiana Planning Commission in 1999 determined that a significant portion of need for transportation services is not being met. Overall, only 23.3% of the region’s need for public transportation is being met.

Table 124: Unmet Need for Public Transportation (2001)

Lake LaPorte			Porter
Percent of Unmet Need	73.7	90.6	97.6
Source: NIRPC

Driving is not a right but a privledge, increasingly, based on one’s ability to pay. There are two types of public transportation users: the transit dependent and choice riders. Transit dependent riders are those individuals unable to use other modes of private transportation due to socioeconomic and/or other limitations, such as physical disabilities requiring wheelchair accessibility or adaptive equipment. Transit dependent riders rely on public transit for access to jobs, medical care, basic needs shopping and social activities. In contrast, choice riders use public transit for reasons of convenience or preference, not necessity.

According to the report issued at the conclusion of the NIRPC study: “Transit services need to be expanded to underserved communities in Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties. In Lake County, the communities needing local services and/or connections to the urban areas in northern Lake County are Hobart/Lake Station, Merrillville/U.S. 30 Corridor, Crown Point, and areas in rural Lake County. In Porter County, local transit alternatives should be provided in Valparaiso, Portage, and in the rural communities to the south. North-south service connecting Valparaiso, Chesterton and NICTD should also be considered to provide access to NICTD for the transit dependent and to ease station parking congestion. In LaPorte County, local service alternatives should target LaPorte and the rural areas (of the County).”

In March 2001, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) commissioned the “West Lake County Corridor Major Investment Study” as required by the federal government when seeking improvements with substantial costs and significant effects on regional transportation. This study analyzed potential routes and issued recommendations for extending commuter rail service in Northwest Indiana. The study identified the preferred alignment as, first, the CN line to Valparaiso and, second, the CSX line to Lowell. According to the study, the CN alignment could be expected to transport up to 3,755 riders to Chicago during the morning rush compared to 3,330 riders via the CSX alternative. Additionally, work trips could comprise up to 57% of all rail service by 2020, an increase of 18% over 2000 usage rates.

Again, according to the NICTD-commissioned study, new commuter rail service could provide Northwest Indiana residents with direct access to 5,600 jobs located in downtown Chicago, another 2,800 jobs in Northwest Indiana, and 85 to 140 jobs related to commuter station development.

Northwest Indiana could, thus, experience an increase in consumer spending totaling $270 million annually related to the expansion of the South Shore, $139.8 million per year through the Valparaiso service, and $130.2 million annually through the Lowell extension. Lastly, the report estimates that a total of $24.1 million in additional real estates taxes could be generated in Northwest Indiana as a result of this development.

NIRPC is now finalizing the regional transportation plan called 2030 Connections. The plan provides analysis pertaining to the current status and needs of the region. It also identifies future trends, such as demographic and economic shifts and land use changes, which will significantly impact our overall quality of life in Northwest Indiana.

The draft plan includes provisions for integrating transportation planning with both land use and economic development planning. Although the ultimate decision-making authority will likely continue to lie at the local level, a comprehensive regional land use plan can establish guidelines for communities reflecting the need to efficiently coordinate and effectively connect transportation and land uses to macro-level needs including access to employment, healthcare facilities and recreational activities. In addition, 2030 Connections embraces the concept of sustainability, which includes an ongoing commitment to social equity.

9.3 Accidents

Our last set of indicators in this section pertains to accidents. In Lake and Porter LaPorte Counties, the number of accidents is down as are traffic fatalities. Both indicators are on the rise in Porter County, which should not be surprising giving the dramatic increase in population that the County has experienced in recent years.

Table 125: Vehicle Crashes (2000)
Lake LaPorte				Porter
Total	19,838	4,208		4,982
Alcohol-related	851	220		215
Source: Indiana Criminal Justice Institute
Table 126: Vehicle Fatalities (2001)
	Lake LaPorte			Porter
2001	79		27	20
1994	61		22	25
Source: Indiana Department of Transportation

Grade: DTrend: Disappointing

A grade of “D” is assigned to this policy domain to reflect our failure, to date, to fund the development of a regional strategy for public transportation, despite the noteworthy efforts of the Lake County Regional Transportation Authority, which has been ably led by Dennis Rittenmeyer, and the addition of Porter County to the RTA. This conclusion is appropriate for two reasons. One, the need for a regional transportation strategy has been clearly established. Two, our failure as a community to come to a consensus on this matter jeopardizes collaboration across a broad range of other issues. Conversely, success in this regard would engender confidence that we can succeed on a whole host of other concerns as well, including economic development, healthcare, public safety and government efficiency.

Goal: We recommend that Northwest Indiana commit itself to the creation of a public transit system that fully meets the needs of all communities in the region by 2010.

Actions: The achievement of this goal would reflect all three of the Quality of Life Council’s organizing principles: sustainable economic development; environmental well-being; and social equity. Three action steps are recommended.

1) All members of the General Assembly from Northwest Indiana should vigorously support legislation that would enable Lake County to enact a food and beverage tax to fund the Lake County Regional Transportation Authority. Once this enabling legislation is passed in the General Assembly, Lake County authorities should move quickly to enact the tax.

2) Once funded, the Lake County Regional Transportation Authority should move quickly to developed a public transit plan that addresses identified needs in Lake County while accounting for the eventual expansion of services into Porter County and LaPorte County.

A great deal of controversy attends the transportation planning process that is administered by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. We believe that this is largely attributable to the fact that transportation planning is now conducted in the absence of a regional land use plan. As provided for in section 3.0 of this report, political leaders in the region should undertake the development of a comprehensive land use plan for the region through the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.

3) Consistent with this recommendation, further study should be conducted on certain major transportation improvements that have been proposed (e.g., the Westlake corridor of the South Shore Rail line and the south Lake County expressway). In the absence of a comprehensive land use plan, however, they should not be pursued to completion. Lacking such a plan, both improvements could be expected to contribute significantly to additional sprawl.