INDIANAPOLIS (September 10, 2019) – IndyGo opened the Red Line on September 1, the city’s first rapid transit line. The line received overwhelming public interest with people boarding the service more than 64,000 times in the opening week.
“We are thrilled to see such a positive response to the Red Line launch,” said Juan Gonzalez, chairman of the board for IndyGo. “These early ridership numbers send a clear signal that there is interest and demand for frequent, reliable transit service. The Red Line fleet uses automatic passenger counters to track ridership, and IndyGo is currently planning statistical validation of this equipment. Until that point, official ridership numbers for the Red Line will be reported through manual bus operator counts.”
“We see across the industry, that when service is improved, ridership increases,” said Inez Evans, IndyGo CEO. “IndyGo is adding frequency and hours of operation, while speeding up service across the network. Next year, we will roll out frequent routes that cross the city and create opportunities to transfer to the Red Line.”
The Red Line operation represents a significant shift in the way IndyGo does business. With buses every 10 minutes, active interventions from dispatchers will help maintain this service frequency.
“The IndyGo team is committed to making adjustments to continue to improve transit service for the city,” said Roscoe Brown, chief operating officer for IndyGo. “Over the next few weeks, passengers will see continuous improvements and more equal spacing between buses.”
To help keep service moving between stops, passengers should pull the cord inside the bus to signal that a stop is requested. Stations with no requests or new riders to board may be skipped to improve bus spacing and travel times. For the safety of riders, only two bicycles will be allowed on each Red Line bus at one time and should be secured in the bicycle storage at the center of the vehicle. IndyGo urges customers to use crosswalks between the sidewalk and station platforms and pay attention to traffic signals for safety along the Red Line.
The Red Line is free all of September.
