While Bloomington Transit doesn’t have funding to create a rapid transit line, it’s streamlining current services. 

BT conducted a feasibility study in 2024 of a rapid transit line, or a Green Line, connecting the east and west sides of town along Third Street. Results showed that, while creating the line is feasible, it would cost millions. 

Proposals for the 7.25-mile Green Line included 15-minute service and bus treatments that would make buses faster and more reliable, increasing access across town. About 80 percent of survey respondents support dedicated bus lanes along the Green Line. 

Shelley Strimaitis, BT planning and special projects manager, said the project would require federal funding. To qualify for that money, you need a certain level of population density. While the population on the east side by College Mall is high enough, the area surrounding West Third Street, such as where the Hopewell neighborhood is still developing, is not sufficient. 

“The project itself is certainly not dead,” she said. “We're just kind of thinking about what are some different more incremental steps we can take until the city kind of develops the Hopewell area and maybe some other parts of West Third Street.” 

Strimaitis pointed to creating higher-amenity bus stops along West Third Street, as well as adjusting traffic signal settings to prioritize buses after police and fire service vehicles. 

“We're looking at getting those for the vehicles in the next two years to at least improve on-time performance, and kind of make traveling through the corridor much quicker for our vehicles,” she said. “We're kind of just like working with what's the current infrastructure that the city already has in place and is doing, where we can kind of prep ourselves for an eventual Green Line.”