WYRZ.org 98.9 WYRZ – The Voice of Hendricks County
INDIANAPOLIS—(December 5, 2019) Today, the IndyGo Board of Directors approved free rides on Christmas and New Year’s Eve to ensure all of the city’s residents have a safe and accessible travel option this holiday season. This is the first time IndyGo has observed the holiday by offering free rides on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Considered a best practice among other transit agencies, IndyGo now will give residents the opportunity to include transit in their choices to celebrate responsibly.
Specifically, no fare will be charged on all local and rapid transit routes on Christmas Day. On New Year’s Eve, rides will be free system wide after 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
The board also approved a 7 million dollar re-allocation of funds to close out the fiscal year. IndyGo will end the year under budget and the board approved the allocation be moved from operations to capital spending. This spend includes the purchase of five additional BRT vehicles under the current contract with Build Your Dreams Corporation (BYD). The competitive procurement for BRT vehicles provided options to purchase up to 75 buses. IndyGo had already ordered 31 vehicles, and 30 have been received to date.
While IndyGo has identified that the vehicles delivered have not met the range requirement of 275 miles in one charge, BYD has been a very cooperative vendor in providing a temporary solution of boost charging in route, and a permanent solution of inductive charging to be installed next year, all at no additional cost to IndyGo.
With special events increasing ridership and maintenance opportunities limited by charging time the purchase of additional vehicles would allow for more flexibility for the operation and ensure reliable delivery of service for customers. The purchase authorized tonight will not exceed 6.5 million in cost, and the five additional vehicles are expected to be delivered next year.
