- One word to describe yourself: Persistent
- Alma Mater: Ball State University
- Favorite book: "Fab Five" by Mitch Albom
- Favorite TV show: "Peaky Blinders"
- Favorite movie: "The Departed", "Goonies", he is not one to re-watch many movies; he loves seeing new stuff
- Favorite hobby(ies): Travel, reading, movies, playing sports or swimming with his kids, and playing complex board games with friends and family.
- Fun fact: He has had a dog his whole life. He has done dog agility, frisbee and he love to swim with his family's Golden Retriever, Molly. And, weirdly, he just found out he is very allergic to dogs.
- What is your favorite transit system (outside of the one you work for or have worked for!) and why?: Paris, he loved the huge subway cars, and the beautiful art deco station designs. The map was fun to figure out, and the transfers just intuitively made sense to him right away. Everything was just so nice to look at, and he couldn't believe how close it could drop you to anywhere in the city center.
Sean Northup is dedicated to improving transit in Central Indiana in a way that few people are. He has been entirely devoted to improving transportation in the region since 2010 when he started working on the Central Indiana TOD Strategic Plan with the private firm Greenstreet Ltd. The Indianapolis MPO hired Greenstreet to create an objective analysis of potential rapid transit corridors in Central Indiana to determine which routes would generate the highest potential for transit oriented development to occur, and to provide recommendations for how the communities along the routes could further support transit-influenced economic development. His passion for the project soon led him to his move from the private sector to serve as assistant executive director of the Indianapolis MPO, to continue his work on transit and lend his expertise toward tackling other transportation challenges in Central Indiana.
As part of the MPO, Northup has been integral to the development of additional transit-focused studies, primarily: the continuation of the TOD Strategic Plan, into which was added further phases for more detailed analysis into the rapid transit corridors and recommendations for developing their potential station areas. (In March 2017, the TOD Strategic Plan won the 2017 Hoosier Planning Award for Outstanding Economic Development Project from the Indiana Chapter of the American Planning Association.) assisting with the development of alternatives analysis (AA) studies for the Red Line and Blue Line rapid transit corridors, helping to secure a $2M TIGER planning grant for environmental and design work for the Red Line, helping to secure a $75 million Small Starts Capital Investment Grant for the construction of the Red Line, helping to secure a $2 million Congestion Mitigation Air Quality grant for environmental and design work of the Purple Line rapid transit corridor, a large part in the development of the Marion County Transit Plan, which is the recommendation for improvements to the local bus routes in the IndyGo system (IndyGo is the transit provider for Indianapolis/Marion County), and the first step in implementing the regional Indy Connect plan (which Northup was also an integral part in developing), being highly involved in the public education strategy for the Marion County Transit Plan, which was the subject of a November 8, 2016 referendum in Marion County that passed with 59 percent public support for a tax to pay for the transit improvements, increasing IndyGo’s budget by more than $54M annually, and facilitating the creation of a new interactive mapping tool that was used to compare Marion County’s current transit service areas to what they would be under the proposed plan.
The tool used pin drops to help users visualize what future trips could look like, and what the change would be for how long the trip takes. The tool also showed how far a person could go in an hour’s transit trip (or other time variable) from a pin drop. Northup’s other notable accomplishments as part of the Indianapolis MPO include the coordination and hosting of Secretary Foxx’s visit to Indianapolis and tour of the proposed Red Line rapid transit corridor as part of the MPO’s involvement in the USDOT’s Ladders of Opportunity program. Northup is often the MPO’s go-to guy for presentations to the public, stakeholders, elected officials, and other high-level leadership because of his charismatic personality, dedication to the topic, his ability to present in a way that gets people interested and invested in the topic, and the fact that he’s very relatable. He’s always cool and collected when talking to the media, without needing to revert to diplomatic answers to avoid the question; he’s always on topic, to-the-point, and often has the necessary information at the tip of his tongue. He genuinely enjoys hearing opinions that differ from his own and discovering people’s motivations for why they hold those opinions, while also trying to correct misinformation as he hears it. In addition to his work with the MPO, Sean is involved in the Indiana District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and serves as part of the Young Leaders Group.
In early February, Northup was part of a ULI Technical Assistance Panel that considered a potential transit oriented development along a major transit route in Pittsburgh. For three days he toured Pittsburgh with other ULI members, learned about the local transit system, and assisted the team in providing recommendations for how Pittsburgh can move forward with their plans for TOD. Northup also teaches classes at Ball State University, his alma mater. He is a great leader who encourages everyone that he serves to push further in pursuing their personal and professional goals.
