Inez Evans, the new CEO of IndyGo, took the reins in 2019 just before the launch of the Red Line. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit Indianapolis. Indianapolis Star
IndyGo is reducing weekday service on its first bus rapid-transit system, the Red Line, from every 10 minutes to every 15 minutes. Service will drop to every 30 minutes on its northern and southern extensions.
The changes, which start Sunday, are the Red Line's first route-wide slowdowns to come out of IndyGo's regular review process. The year-old Red Line is currently scheduled to run every 10 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on weekends, occasionally with longer intervals in the evening hours.
Spokesperson Faith Chadwick emphasized that the changes are a result of that review, which takes place three times a year. The process looks to improve service efficiency by considering factors such as ridership and on-time performance, she said.
The Red Line isn't alone: Route 8 between Indianapolis International Airport and the Indianapolis Zoo will now run with 30-minute frequency instead of 15 minutes on weekdays, and Route 10 will move to a 20-minute frequency east of Lynhurst Drive and a 40-minute frequency on its westbound branches on weekdays.
IndyGo increased the frequency of both Route 8 and Route 10 in February, a little more than a month before the transit corporation moved all routes to a Saturday schedule six days a week due to the pandemic. Routes returned to their regular schedules on June 1.
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The new changes comes as IndyGo removes more than 500 bus stops in what it says is an effort to speed up service.
Service efficiency is also a reason for the reduced frequency, IndyGo said in a Monday morning news release. Eighty-two percent of fixed-route buses ran on time in August, according to IndyGo board documents. On-time performance has improved during the pandemic.
The transit agency also cited changes in travel patterns and reduced ridership.
IndyGo has seen a significant loss in ridership this year due to the pandemic, though numbers have started to rebound in recent months. Still, the transit corporation saw 43.4% fewer passenger trips in August 2020 than August 2019. Through the end of August, total passenger trips in 2020 were down 33.6% compared to the same time last year.
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The Red Line has not been spared from the ridership declines.
Before the pandemic, the Red Line averaged 4,700 passenger trips on weekdays, according to data presented at an IndyGo board meeting late last month. That weekday average sank to 2,500 passenger trips during the pandemic, falling as low as 1,442 on May 27, a Wednesday.
Last year Red Line ridership fell heading into the winter. This winter IndyGo will once again seek to keep its electric buses running on schedule despite decreased ranges in cold weather.
Instead of taking buses back to the garage to charge, IndyGo is building a temporary charging facility at 91st Street and Evergreen Avenue. They hope to be charging buses there by Nov. 1.
The site is temporary: It will be used until a permanent charging site is built at 6410 N. College Ave. in Broad Ripple. IndyGo's CEO told IndyStar that site should be ready "sometime next year." IndyGo will also build a charging site on the south end of the Red Line, possibly at 8925 S. Madison Ave.
BYD, the bus manufacturer, will foot the bill for the additional charging infrastructure, IndyGo says, because the buses did not meet the ranges promised in its contract.
For more information on IndyGo's bus routes, go to IndyGo.net/routes.
Contact IndyStar digital producer Ethan May at emay@indystar.com or 317-402-1058. Follow him on Twitter: @EthanMayJ.
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The Link LonkOctober 07, 2020 at 02:41AM
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/transportation/2020/10/06/indygo-bus-schedules-red-line-route-8-10-frequency-changes/3534123001/
IndyGo is slowing down service for the Red Line and 2 other routes - IndyStar
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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