KTV6 reported on Sunday August 7th that IndyGo has announced a design contest winner for the Red Line bus stations that they are planning to construct along College Avenue. According to the news story, a panel of seven (unnamed) judges, who represented several professions in the Indianapolis community, collected about 2,000 votes through an online portal and public meetings held in July. CollegeAvenueIndy.org wonders who the seven judges were. Moreover, CollegeAvenueIndy.org does not recall seeing announcements for the public meetings that were held in July or the online voting portal mentioned in the article. CollegeAvenueIndy.org further notes that the planning of the Red Line bus stations seems eerily similar to the planning of the Red Line itself. Once again, IndyGo (acting on behalf of our elected government) has rubber stamped the recommendation of a small clique of unnamed representatives that were hand-picked from local nonprofits. And once again, there are alleged public meetings and votes that nobody recalls hearing about. Perhaps the most important concern to note is how IndyGo and the local news media have framed the bus station story. IndyGo wants to appear egalitarian and inclusive by giving tax payers a choice about the aesthetics of the bus stations they plan to build along College Avenue; but they don't seem willing to give us a choice about whether we want the Red Line itself. Those among us who don't want the Red Line at all would certainly abstain from voting on the aesthetics of bus stations, walls, and medians. Of course, IndyGo doesn't recognize our right to object outright to the Red Line, so they interpret our abstinence as tacit approval for the bus station design. As our beloved (and honest) coucilwoman Christine Scales once pointed out, "Let's not ignore the fact that the reason narrow streets like College need to be forever destroyed with permanent BRT infrastructure is so that bus routes can't be significantly altered if the ridership fails to appear. The College Ave TOD developers must have a guaranteed ROI, which they won't have if the routes remain easily alterable." So there you have it. IndyGo does not need to build permanent medians, walls, and bus stations along College Avenue to satisfy the requirements of the Federal Transportation grant that they are so desperately chasing. They are seeking permanent medians, bus stations, and walls along College Avenue so that the route cannot be easily altered if it fails to attract ridership. This will ultimately open the door for developers to build giant mixed use apartment complexes along College Avenue (similar to the monstrosity that's being build near the northeast corner of College and Broad Ripple Ave). Click the below link for more cheery and upbeat Red Line propaganda from our local news media.