West-side leaders are pleased the city found $20 million for infrastructure improvements but remain disappointed that the area is missing out on the original $52 million in improvements the Blue Line was once scheduled to bring.
Read More
Indianapolis is moving ahead with the next two legs of its massive bus rapid transit project, after a messy legislative session and pandemic-related problems threw a wrench in the timeline.
Read More
IndyGo has long struggled to improve its Open Door service for riders with disabilities. It’s launching a series of public meetings this week to solicit ideas from the public.
Read More
The east-side site, at 9503 E. 33rd St., will serve as an additional location for IndyGo, which has outgrown its current West Washington Street headquarters.
Read MoreIndyGo is also considering whether to move the western-most segment of the Blue Line off Washington Street and onto Interstate 70, a move that would save money and appease lawmakers who have been critical of adding dedicated bus lanes to Washington Street.
No one solution is enough, which is why we are happy to see work happening from several angles.
But there’s still a lot of work to do. Building of passenger stations has yet to begin; all progress so far has laid the groundwork for future construction.
Nearly 70% of the total cost is set aside for infrastructure improvements, including sidewalks and stormwater drainage.
The money would be split between existing programs that fund highways, transit agencies and airports, and other initiatives designed to tackle goals such as repairing aging bridges and improving the accessibility of buses.
IndyGo has purchased one parcel and is working to purchase an adjacent one for its Open Door paratransit service, which is now housed on the city’s northeast side.
Under state law, the Indianapolis Public Transportation Foundation is supposed to raise about $6 million per year to supplement revenue generated by a Marion County transit tax. So far, it’s well behind the goal.
IndyGo has been evaluating possible expansion sites around the city in recent months because it has run out of room at its West Washington Street headquarters.
IndyGo is on the hunt for additional space because its staff and bus fleet have grown in recent years, making its current headquarters on West Washington Street too small for its needs.
Though work on the Purple Line and Blue Line bus rapid transit lines will continue, transit system says some other planned route improvements are on hold.
The transit agency is now considering a site on Post Road that is much larger than the former Harrison College site downtown and potentially much less expensive.
IndyGo temporarily suspended fare collections March 29 to reduce interaction aboard buses.
IndyGo is among transit operators nationwide that will share $25 billion in federal aid as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
COVID-19-related driver shortages, among other factors, mean that route improvements planned for June now won’t happen until 2021.
Just in the past month or so, lawmakers have debated proposals to prohibit cities from regulating landlord-tenant relations, allow the attorney general to step in when a local prosecutor decides not to pursue a case, and cut funding to IndyGo—which might stop construction of future bus rapid-transit lines.
House Bill 1279, authored by Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, initially only addressed a regional development group in northwest Indiana. But an amendment sought to put teeth in a 2014 state law that required IndyGo to raise private dollars to help finance its mass transit operations.
This is the second time IndyGo has extended the free period on the Red Line, which was originally set to begin collecting fares Oct. 1. IndyGo said its new ticketing system from vendor Flowbird isn’t yet ready for use.
The new payment system IndyGo has paid Paris-based tech firm Flowbird Group to design and implement will not be ready by Oct. 1, the day riders were to start paying for Red Line service.
IndyGo says riders took about 8,200 trips on the Red Line on Sunday, the first day the bus rapid transit line was in service.
The first phase of IndyGo’s bus rapid transit project, the Red Line, remains on schedule for a Sept. 1 debut.
