The Colts will travel fewer miles than nearly every other team in the NFL over the course of the 2024 season.

Why it matters: The light travel schedule could work in Indianapolis' favor as the team comes back from an injury-tainted 2023 season that ended with the AFC South crown eluding them by four points.

• The Colts haven't made the playoffs since 2020.

State of play: The Colts will travel just 11,497 miles this season, the third shortest travel schedule in the NFL.

• They also face the 10th-easiest slate of opponents, according to teams' records from last season.

Flashback: Last year, the Colts only left the eastern time zone twice and had the shortest travel schedule in the league at 7,833 miles.

Zoom in: The Colts begin the 2024 season at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosting the Houston Texans on Sept. 8 in a hot Week 1 rivalry game.

• The home opener is also a rematch of the final game of 2023's regular season, which determined the AFC South champion.

The big screen: Indianapolis landed only one prime-time game, a Sunday Night Football road matchup with the New York Jets on Nov. 17.

• Yes, but: Start times for Week 17 and Week 18 games against the Giants and the Jaguars are still TBD.

What we're watching: How quarterback Anthony Richardson will bounce back from a shoulder injury that ended his 2023 season in Week 5 after four starts as a rookie.

The full schedule

The Indianapolis metropolitan area is among the nation's worst for clean transit, according to a new index ranking cities by the impact of local transportation on greenhouse gas emissions.

Why it matters: Cities nationwide are trying to preserve the pandemic-era drop in vehicle emissions as traffic returns nearly or entirely to pre-COVID levels.

State of play: The Indianapolis metropolitan area — which includes Indy, Carmel and Anderson — came in 66th overall in the Transportation Climate Impact Index created by transportation intelligence firm StreetLight Data.

• The analysis looks at several factors, including overall vehicle miles traveled, vehicle fuel efficiency, transit ridership and electric vehicle adoption in the region.

Zoom in: Indianapolis' biggest clean transit challenge comes from high truck travel, a category in which we ranked 91st.

• We were also 78th for vehicle miles traveled, 74th for transit ridership and 63rd for pedestrian activity.

Yes, but: The Indianapolis metro was 8th overall when ranking the year-over-year percent change in miles traveled, the category granted the most weight in the analysis.

Zoom out: The San Jose metro ranked highest in several categories, including vehicle miles traveled, fuel economy and EV adoption.

Go deeper

⚽ A proposal to build a new soccer stadium will head to the Indianapolis City-County Council on Monday, following the support of the Rules and Public Policy Committee.

• The committee voted 6-4 in favor of the proposed new professional sports development area for an MLS team. (WRTV)

🚧 Multiple lane and ramp closures are underway on I-465 as INDOT works on the final phase of the I-69 connection between Evansville and Indianapolis. The most extensive work will shut down two lanes of I-465 westbound between I-65 and Kentucky Avenue from 7pm tomorrow to 6am Monday. (IndyStar)

🕯️ Local sports teams and fans are mourning the loss of longtime Indianapolis sports emcee Scott Alan. The former voice of the Indy Fuel, Eleven and Indians died in a car crash Monday. He was 59. (WTHR)

🚨 A former IPS teacher has been charged with neglect of a dependent in connection to an on-camera fight at IPS School 87 that led to the school's principal being fired. Police say the teacher encouraged the brawl between elementary school students while recording it on his cell phone. (FOX59)

• Meanwhile, Brian Metcalf, the former CEO of Tindley Accelerated Schools, was charged with nine counts of wire fraud as part of a "scheme to defraud and to obtain money" from an unidentified Indianapolis charter school system and another unidentified nonprofit corporation. (Chalkbeat Indiana)

Meet David Ranalli, an Indianapolis-based magician, entertainer and corporate speaker who believes magic can inspire and empower people in a distracted world.

The inspo: When he was 13, he snuck backstage at a show in his hometown of Chicago to meet David Copperfield, and that sparked his formal training. Within a year, he was booking regular gigs at restaurants and parties.

• He also drew inspiration from magicians like David Blaine.
• "I feel like magic became the thing that really helped me level up as a person," he told Axios. "I was very shy as a kid. Seeing that (Copperfield) show just blew me away, and I think it really brought out of me the understanding that magic gives me the opportunity to go be something special."

Zoom in: Ranalli also credits studying speech communication and philosophy at Southern Illinois University for adding another layer of depth to his performances.

• "As somebody who understands those concepts of communication, I can kind of hack those," he said. "While most people are worried about their phone getting hacked, I get to hack other things more deeply rooted in how people really behave."

What he's making now: His latest show, "DECEPTION: An Evening of Magic & Lies," plays monthly at Feinstein's at Hotel Carmichael in Carmel through the end of the year.

• His next show is June 27 at 7:30pm.
• Tickets start at $30.

Check him out: On his website, YouTube, Instagram, X or Facebook.