Whatever happened to downtown’s elevated People Mover?

The IBJ Podcast with Mason King

You may have become so used to them that you no longer notice, but snaking through downtown Indianapolis’ northwest quadrant are the remains of a revolutionary public transit system that transported riders on elevated tracks 30-feet high. It was called the People Mover, developed for $44 million by Clarian Health Partners, the hospital system now known as Indiana University Health. From its launch in 2003 to 2019, it recorded roughly 6 million rider trips on a 1.4-mile track running between Methodist Hospital, University Hospital and Riley Hospital for Children.

The People Mover had the cooperation of city officials, who allowed the track to use public right of way along Senate Avenue, West 11th Street and University Boulevard. And the People Mover was filled with promise, as some predicted it could be expanded to a larger public transit system that would include Indianapolis International Airport. But tram came to screeching halt in 2019, when IU Health said it would begin offering shuttle buses instead and expected to save about $40 million over 10 years. That also was about the time IU Health began planning a massive facility consolidation and modernization project downtown.

IBJ reporter Daniel Lee has a personal connection to the People Mover and recently began looking into what remains of the twin-track system and whether IU Health has any plans to resurrect it. In this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, Lee also gauges support for a proposal that would transform the infrastructure into an elevated trail celebrating the heritage of Black communities on downtown’s northwest side.