It’s dark outside and much of Indianapolis is still sleeping, but Carlos Wilson is boarding a shuttle bus that leaves downtown promptly at 5:10 a.m.

The bus hustles up Interstate 65 to the Lafayette Square Mall and picks up two more passengers, joining Wilson, 39, on the morning commute. In a few minutes, Wilson gets off near the CSL Plasma Warehouse in Whitestown, where he works.

All of the commuters on the Whitestown Connector have two things in common: They live in Indianapolis and found employment outside of the city in search of higher paying jobs. The connector shuttle bus, a free service from the Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority, helps Wilson and the others get to work as they save to repair broken-down cars or buy new vehicles, and in one passenger’s case,

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