Indianapolis has unveiled a simple and effective way to improve transit from a low-cost and green perspective: a bus rapid transit (BRT) system.
In September 2019 Indianapolis unveiled its first bus rapid transit (BRT) route, built entirely around better buses. It's a great example of a simple and effective way to improve transit from a low-cost and green perspective — especially for other low-density cities that are looking to boost mobility without investing in costly rail-based systems. Read more...
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Featured government: Indianapolis, IN
Episode guests: Inez Evans, President and CEO of IndyGo
Visit govlaunch.com for more stories and examples of local government innovation.
Lindsay (00:05):
Welcome to the Govlaunch Podcast. Govlaunch is the wiki for local government innovation and on this podcast we’re sharing the stories of local government innovators and their efforts to build smarter governments. I’m Lindsay Pica-Alfano, co-founder of Govlaunch and your host.
In this episode, we’re talking about buses. Buses are often overlooked, but can be an effective, low cost way of addressing transit gaps. Today, Olivia from our team is talking to Inez Evans - President & CEO for Indygo. Indygo is Indianapolis’ municipal corporation that has managed the city's bus transit system since 1975. So let’s find out what other local governments looking to innovate in the way the public transit can learn from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Olivia(00:51):
Hi, I'm Olivia from Govlaunch and I'm here with Inez Evans from Indianapolis. Inez, tell us a little bit about your role.
Inez (00:59):
I am the President and CEO of IndyGo here and Indianapolis and I am responsible to kind of be the musical conductor for bus transportation here in Indianapolis.
Olivia (01:06):
Exciting! So how are things going in IndyGo today?
Inez (01:18):
So things are going considerably well here in IndyGo, considering everything that's going on throughout the country for transportation. As a whole, I think IndyGo is fairing well. I mean, we have a lot of projects going on, we’re dealing with a pandemic. So what isn't happening in IndyGo right now, I think is the question.
Olivia (01:40):
Absolutely. I know the pandemic has hit basically all local governments the hardest as being frontline service deliverers for lack of a better way of describing it. So I'm sure that that's had a lot of impact on your team as well. So just shifting gears a little bit, Indianapolis is a known car city. How does that impact the work that you do?
Inez (02:02):
Well, you know, we're looking on how we can redefine transportation or transit. I think we, as an organization have been focused on how can the 40 foot bus and now our 60 foot buses move people around the city. And so right now, the initiative that we have internally is how do we shift from just thinking about 40 foot buses to how we can move people within the community as a whole, and not necessarily just in a bus per say. So that's, that's how we're shifting things here.
Olivia (02:35):
The scope is buses predominantly, but you're saying that you're also looking at different modes of mobility and the work that you're doing. Can you share a little bit more about that with us?
Inez (02:46):
Absolutely. We've done a successful campaign, uh, in partnership with Uber during the pandemic to be able to move frontline workers, uh, from their homes to work, uh, because we had to reduce services and we were trying to balance out service demands and the community reached out to us and said, you know, some of us still can't get to our work, like the hospitals. We want them to get to the hospitals. So we partnered with Uber and we were able to provide a roundtrip for frontline employees to be able to get to their essential places of employment. So that's one way that we're looking. We're also looking at technology so we can map out in one single way on where bike shares are located, where the scooters are located, how to complete a first, last mile solution, just in case it's a little bit further for you to walk then what you would like to walk. Maybe Uber, Lyft or any other on demand service that comes about could help facilitate that short distance of trip. We're also looking at micro transits. We have one very successful community based micro transit that we're working with the Martin Luther King Center here in Indianapolis to do. And we just got a request for a second one. So I think that's quite innovative. We hadn't heard of a community based micro transit before. And so we think we're the first to do that.
Olivia (04:19):
Really exciting. So can you unpack a little bit about what micro transit is for some of our audience? They might not all be working in the mobility space and I'm sure that’ll be helpful for them. So we'd love to hear more about that.
Inez (04:31):
Absolutely. Micro transit for us is taking a look at a system within a system. So it's like a little mini transit system within the bigger transit system. And so what we look at when we're doing our micro transit, for example, the Martin Luther King Center is the Martin Luther King Center is in one particular zone or area within our city. Well, we already provide our fixed route service in that area, but there are pockets within that community that we're not able to serve adequately. So what we do using a micro transit format is we help that community set up smaller areas that are on demand, where customers can call them directly and get transportation. A lot of times it's much faster because they're not having to ride the bus all over. It's more of a direct service. And it's more geared towards the customer's needs. And the service is free. So that way, if they transfer to our fixed route bus system, they're not double for the service. Uh, we count their mileage and things of that nature. Eventually we will be giving them additional technologies. So it can actually be on your phone or tablet, and you'll be able to call up the bus. It's more like a van, uh, to be able to come to your home and take you where you need to go.
Olivia (06:03):
Excellent. So you mentioned that, you know, Indianapolis is a car-centric city, you're doing lots of innovation and you've been doing a lot of green mobility, which is really exciting. And I know that one of the projects that you're involved with is called Indy Connect. Can you tell us a little bit more about this initiative?
Inez (06:20):
So Indy Connect is a total program that was put forth by the city. It's a great, uh, program where they're looking how they can turn Indianapolis into a greener city. So it's looking at how we can go electric and that is not just includes IndyGo, but the city as well, their cars, their trucks that they're using. Then they're looking at how we can have charging stations for electric to promote greener ways. It's looking at building initiatives and the reduction of the carbon footprint. Uh, so that, that is part of the Indy connect and the green initiative.
Olivia (07:03):
Excellent. And so bringing you back to some of the alternative mobility modes that you were mentioning, and some of the innovations that you're doing there, how has the public responded to those initiatives so far?
Inez (07:14):
Wow, well, we launched the red line, which is the first of our bus rapid transit lines or BRT in September of 2019. I think we cut the ribbon three weeks after I got here. So the response was overwhelming. The first week we had I believe about 64,000 people. And then through the whole month of September, we had over 230,000 individuals who took our service. Talk about a wonderful experience for this organization. We've had a lot of businesses that have opened along the red line corridor. You see a lot of housing initiatives that are going on. In January of 2020, we've seen, um, an 8% higher ridership than we saw last year, so things are going well. That's just one initiative. You know, we have our second line for our bus rapid transit system, which is our purple line. There will be three in total, red, purple and blue. So purple is our next one. And, and then we have technology initiatives. We've got a lot going on here. So Olivia, you gotta tell me exactly what you want me to talk about.
Olivia (08:43):
Busy, busy, lots of really exciting work being done in the mobility space in Indianapolis. That's for sure. So I think that the BRTs, so the bus rapid transit system that you mentioned are really interesting for our audience, because oftentimes when we talk about green mobility, we don't necessarily think about buses. It's not the first thing that comes to mind when we're talking about some of these innovations. You mentioned that there's been lots of multiplier benefits in terms of simulating local businesses, increasing the ridership and then also changing that incentive from, you know, going from a car to a bus, which is quite challenging to do, right? Because oftentimes people don't necessarily want to go from their car to a bus. Based on what you've shared, we'd be really interested to know what some of the cost measures are. And then maybe if you could let us know, you know, additionally, some of the benefits that have materialized, you mentioned it a little bit before, but love to hear a little bit more on your take and why do you think that BRTs are actually a really effective way of getting people moving in a city?
Inez (09:43):
Well, I think BRTs are essential and effective because it's always looked at the bus rapid transit lines are the precursor to looking at a rail system. The cost difference for rail is that we are averaging about $138 an hour to run a bus on the street. A rail car can run upwards of $700 an hour, and a rail car is on a fixed guideway. It is on two rails. It can’t make a left. It can't make a right. It can't make detours. It just can't do those things. But bus rapid transit can. It gives you a lot more flexibility when you have issues that go along. But I think the other added advantage that we've seen here for our community is the partnerships and the collaboration that we've had with our city. So although IndyGo is the bus company, because of the support of our federal government, we've been able to improve significant infrastructures along our roadways. So the paving along the streets, the signalization that goes along the sidewalks is better. We've been able to put in ADA crosswalk signals to allow persons with disabilities to be able to cross the streets safely. And then if anybody's ever been to Indianapolis, it had significant drainage issues. So if you were standing on the side of the street, waiting for the bus to come along, you probably got a shower of some kind, if it was raining that you didn't want, because somebody splashed you with water.
Olivia (11:32): I’ve been there, it’s not fun.
Inez (11:35):
It's horrible. So that has helped, uh, we changed up, we planted trees and flowers. We've talked about the connectivity of our bicycle and pedestrian pathways. We have a great trail here, the Monon trail. So there's part of that, but sidewalks, I love the city and now I've only been here a year, but it's sidewalk infrastructure. It just wasn't where it should be in a lot of areas. And the red line, when you go down the quarter, it's absolutely beautiful. Um, the stations, you know, they glow at night and they're really great. So, you know, it really has helped, but the frequency of the system, you know, is what is more comparable again towards rail. But I will say be, you know, given COVID right now, we were able to change our route of our bus slightly to be able to help the city and it's initiative to bring the restaurants more out into the streets for outside dining. If you to have a rail car, you may not have been able to do that because there are restrictions on how close you can actually stand or have a structure close to a rail system.
Olivia (13:01)
That flexibility is obviously paramount when you're trying to develop the mobility in a city. And it seems like based on what you were sharing is, you know, that theme of Indianapolis being very car centric. So even things like sidewalks and trying to make the city more friendly for pedestrians and non-car users is an ongoing process.
Inez (13:20):
Absolutely. We had folks who told us that they, you know, they're not a user of IndyGo, but they're so appreciative of the infrastructure that IndyGo put in on the red line, because there were no more bumps along the way. And because of the enhanced signals, they're able to get downtown, you know, just a few minutes faster than what they were able to.
Olivia (13:41):
Wow, so it's a bus project that has pleased the bus users, as well as the car users. That's no easy feat, very impressive.
Inez (13:51):
It was not like, was it, was it just wait a minute, you're going to, you're going to reap some benefit from this too.
Olivia:
Win, win win across the board. And you mentioned that you're focusing on, you know, the mobility piece, of course, and there's been a lot of work from beautifying some of the bus stops to improving the roads around and the infrastructure, has there been other work that your organization has done to really change the incentive around mobility? So really that shift from your car to using bus, to using other modes of transportation to get in and out of the downtown core?
Inez (14:29):
Well, we have a number of programs that we're working, that we have worked on, like partnering with the Indiana public school system because we want them to get some of their buses off the streets. Why have two of us rolling buses down the street when we all could do this a little bit better? So we've been working with them on programs to transition their students, working with employers to show the benefit of using public transportation, how an employee can come to work more refreshed, less stressed because they haven't had to sit in traffic for those periods of time. I mean, it takes time to go here, there to and fro. So those are some of the things that we've been doing in order to entice individuals, but I think the bus rapid transit lines is really going to be the thing, having it so close. We've talked with individuals who said, you know, I had a car when I moved here to Indianapolis, but I specifically located myself on the red line and I don't have to use my car anymore. You know, that is because they said it's frequent. I don't even have to think about a schedule. I just know it's going to be here every 10, 15 minutes and it's been great. And the hours that it runs has been. So I think to me, those are the things we've been really working on is education, educating the community on the benefits of transportation and how your single ability to use the service can, uh, help to reduce the carbon emission footprint as an individual within the community. And that all adds up into a larger scheme overall.
Olivia (16:26):
Incredible. This all reminds me of a quote that a former mayor of Bogotá shared. I'm sure you've heard it, that “the sign of a great city is not one where the poor have cars, but rather where the rich take transit.”
Inez (16:39):
Oh I love that yeah. Yes, yes. That is it absolutely is right. Because transportation is for everyone. Public transportation is for everyone. There are no them and those it's us. It is built for all of us, you know, and as I was saying, you know, about the school, students, you know, right now we have over 6,000 students from the Indiana public school system who are using public transportation and it just doesn't get them to and from school, we are building the minds and the patterns of those students for how they will travel in the future. They're able to use it to go to jobs, to go to additional training, extracurricular activities. Of course, I'm speaking for pre COVID, but the premise is there for them to have freedoms where their parents don't have to, you know, rely on, you know, picking them up. And it gives them a little bit greater freedom as they're building. So we believe this is just the start of that program and we're working with our colleges here as well to be able to boost those numbers as well.
Olivia (17:50):
Incredible. So very obvious to our audience that you're pretty excited about mobilizing your city. What would be some advice that you'd share to a local government looking to implement some BRTs of their own, perhaps for the first time?
Inez (18:06):
Communicate, educate, and listen. So you have to go into this with an open mind. We, as the transit individuals within our cities truly believe we know what is best for our cities, but take the time to listen to your communities and be open to suggestions. Now be mindful that if you're going after grant dollars from the federal government and things of that nature, that there are certain criteria that you have to meet. And this is where the education part comes into the community about understanding that there are just certain things that we may not, we hear you, but we may not be able to bend on like left turns into your establishment. But showing that, just going just another quarter of a mile, going to a now a covered light where you can make a U-turn, it's much safer for you and your community and the total benefits. Um, you have to always get folks to figure out what's in it for them.
Olivia (19:24):
Thanks for sharing that wonderful advice. So beyond paving the way in green mobility, Indianapolis is busy innovating in some other areas as well. I know we mentioned Indy connect at the start of this interview. What are other departments in your local government that you would say you partner with most frequently?
Inez (19:44):
Oh, uh, we call them DPW or the department of public works. They handle all infrastructure on the street, so we can't do anything unless we are collaborating with DPW and they are one of our greatest partners. We work together to look at our budgets on ideas and plans that we have that will make us more efficient. Then they look at it, was there an infrastructure thing that they need to do in that same corridor. And then we work together on the timing of those things, how we can all bring something to the table from a financial perspective, to be able to get that project taken care of. For example, we have a super stops that we're doing along our Delaware street corridor. We had to work very diligently with them. Well, they had a project already on the books to do a repaving of that street. So working together on a joint schedule, we're not coming behind them, ripping up work that they've already done wasting taxpayer dollars, yet still we're doing it at the same pace. Another great partner that we're working with is citizens energy group, or CEG we call them here. And the three of us DPW, CEG and IndyGo. I will tell you, my team has just done a fabulous job on putting together an agreement to take care of a sewer separation project. And please don't ask me technical questions because I'm not, I just know this water is all going in the same pipe and it really shouldn't be, and now we're going to help them separate it. That's as technical as I can get. And so this was a project that has been on the books for a very long time, but because of our purple line project and our ability to listen and be open to making some slight adjustments, this project is going to be done for our city in the next two years.
Olivia (22:04):
Amazing. So it seems like the BRTs are really great source of collaboration among multiple local government partners. Next question. Are there any products that make your job easier?
Inez (22:18):
Technology is critical for how we support our day to day lives. I mean we're on technology now. So I would say through COVID, having you know, zoom and WebEx and, you know, things that we just took for granted have become staple items for us. But when we're looking at how we're moving people, I think we're always looking to be at the forefront of innovation, uh, for, you know, transportation. We're going to be putting a brand new software system in called Ecolane in the next six months that will manage all of our micro transits, our paratransit services and things. Cause we, we need that one stop shop kind of software system that can do it all instead of having all of these little teeny things. So that's in a nutshell. And I know you've got a follow up question about what hasn't gone right.
Olivia:
Yeah, exactly. So perfect segue. You read my mind. What's something that you've tried that didn't work?
Inez (23:29):
The technology, the technology, the technology, all that glitters is not gold. Let us just tell you that. So we tried desperately to be the innovators when it came to bus headway management, what does that mean? So for the bus rapid transit line, there are segments of the system where we have side-by-side lanes. And then we get to an area where we go to a single lane. Well, I still have two buses running, one going North and one going South, but two buses can't meet up at the same time. So you have what's called headway management. So we tried to become innovators in how that was supposed to give you a green light and a red light to tell you when to go and when to stop. Great in concept, but it didn't work, didn't work. So we had to buy another software system to layer on top of that, it's become a very manual process and you know, the company's working hard to try and fix it to kind of come up with solutions. But I would just say being that innovator, you know, being that beta tester, you gotta leave yourself more time. You can't wait until it's time for revenue service and expect that everything is going to be great and glorious on day one. So that hasn't gone as well as we had hoped.
Olivia (24:56):
No, it's an important part of the innovation process. That's why we like to ask that question. And so opening it up a little bit more broadly now. What's something that excites you about the future of civic innovation just in Indianapolis in general?
Inez (25:12):
Oh my God. What excites me? What doesn't excite me because the sky is the limit right now. There's a lot of buzz about autonomous vehicles and we're not trying to get, not have people have jobs, but the technology of moving people in a car where there's not technically a driver, but a person who's on board helping with information to get you from point A to point B. That's exciting. Additional software systems, redesign of our city that is a little bit more focused on the movement of folks. And that's from a pedestrian standpoint on bicycles, within transit. There's just a whole culture of movement here within the city about how we connect all of the dots in moving people and what that looks like. So it's exciting.
Olivia (26:09): Very exciting, and an exciting note to end on. It's been really interesting to hear how Indianapolis is being bold and leveraging, you know, the BRT has all of these different modes of mobility to improve its connectivity within the city. We're really looking forward to hearing about more projects like this, and we'll keep our eyes peeled as you keep moving through the implementation of your various BRTs that are in the pipeline currently. Thank you so much for joining us today, Inez. It's been a pleasure.
Inez (26:37): It's been a pleasure, Olivia, thank you for taking the time to just talk about us here at Indy. Come on out and see us sometime.
Olivia: Would love that.
Lindsay (26:51):
This can be instrumental in creating quick and effective connectivity in your city when done right. They can also stimulate local businesses and help improve the environmental impact of your transit system. Thanks again to the IndyGo team for sharing your innovative work.
I'm Lindsay Pica-Alfano, and this podcast was produced by Govlaunch, the wiki for local government innovation. You can subscribe to hear more stories like this, wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a local government innovator, we hope you'll help us on our mission to build the largest free resource for local governments globally.
You can join to search and contribute to the wiki at govlaunch.com. Thanks for tuning in. We hope to see you next time on the Govlaunch podcast.