IndyGo to End Airport-Downtown Line

August 22, 2012

News Release

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (August 22, 2012) – The IndyGo Green Line Downtown/Airport Express service will terminate at 9 p.m. on Sunday, September 16, 2012. The service is ending due to exhausted, non-renewable federal grant funding. IndyGo is encouraging visitors and residents to ride the agency’s local Route 8 which runs between the Indianapolis International Airport and downtown Indy.
Route 8, Washington Street cross-town, serves Indianapolis International Airport seven days a week. Westbound buses to the airport stop along Ohio Street, walking distance from several downtown hotels. At the airport’s Ground Transportation Center, downtown-bound passengers can board Route 8 at Zone 6.



Route 8 Fast Facts:
• Cost is $1.75 per ride or $4.00 for a system-wide IndyGo day pass.
• Trips to and from the airport run every thirty minutes all day, every day including holidays.
• Passengers can expect a 45 minute travel time between downtown and airport.
• Ohio Street, served by Route 8, acts as IndyGo’s hub. Passengers can catch 27 different routes between Capitol Avenue and Delaware Street for travel to hundreds of destinations.
• Route 8 is IndyGo’s most popular local fixed route, averaging more than 100,000 passenger trips monthly.

Trip planning assistance is available:
• Online at www.IndyGo.net – use the Quick Trip Planner (Google)
• Printable Pocket Schedules online at www.IndyGo.net
• By calling 317.635.3344
• In person at the IndyGo Customer Service Center, 34 N. Delaware St.

All buses are ADA accessible, have bike racks and are equipped with audio and video surveillance.


About the Green Line
In the fall of 2007, the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo) launched the Green Line Downtown/Airport Express, a demonstration service made possible by a non-renewable federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) grant. The federally-funded demonstration service focused on assessing the demand for a direct route between the Indianapolis International Airport and downtown Indy hotels. The CMAQ program does not offer long-term funding for operating transit service.

While the Green Line service has been popular, providing approximately 29,000 rides so far in 2013, ridership on the Airport Express service represents less than 1% of the total IndyGo system ridership. Since its launch in November of 2007, the Green Line has delivered more than 170,000 passenger trips. Because the Green Line was funded as a demonstration, the operation of the service was contracted to a private transportation company who supplied the vehicles and drivers.

Funding/Budgeting

• $3,000,000 CMAQ funds were awarded to IndyGo to cover 80% of operating costs. IndyGo supplied the required 20% local match.
• The demonstration project was originally slated to last three years, but thanks to competitive bidding by transportation service contractors, the lower operating costs allowed the service to run through Q3 of 2012.
• Passenger fare revenue was applied toward 20% local match.
• The approximate cost to operate service has been nearly $700,000 annually ($694,082.91 in 2011). This includes payment to the service provider, administrative costs and marketing.

Statistics of Green Line Scheduled Service

Year Passenger Trips Revenue Hours Revenue Miles
2007 399 1638 51,120
2008 14,256 16,653 436,265
2009 29,892 16,608 437,165
2010 64,492 16,608 441,596
2011 45,919 16,608 437,426

The Future
IndyGo does not plan to fund the continuation of the Green Line Express. As funding allows, future growth of Indianapolis’s transit system will be guided by IndyGo’s Comprehensive Operational Analysis, the “bus plan” portion of the Indy Connect initiative and other planning studies done in conjunction with the Indianapolis MPO.

Downtown stakeholders such as the Indiana Convention and Visitors Association and hotels have been strong supporters of the Green Line and will be able to promote IndyGo’s Route 8 as a transportation choice for visitors and guests.
IndyGo Customer Service can help passengers can make trip plans in advance at 317.635.3344, or passengers can access information 24/7 at IndyGo.net.
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About IndyGo:
IndyGo, the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation, provides public bus transit services to residents and visitors throughout Marion County. IndyGo is led by President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Terry, and a seven-member, bipartisan board appointed by the Mayor of Indianapolis and the City-County Council of Indianapolis and Marion County. With 30 local service routes as well as an ADA-compliant paratransit service, IndyGo provides an average of nine million trips per year. Visit IndyGo.net or call 317.635.3344 for more information. Find IndyGo on Twitter at IndyGoBus or Facebook by searching pages “IndyGo.”

Source: IndyGo