Fall 2017 SAVI Online Magazine Emagazine Fall 2017 FINAL | Page 7

This bus stop features sheltered benches and a safe curbed waiting area, which some potential Indy riders
consider an important aspect when deciding to use public transit.
talked about the Marion County
Transit Plan, which will be phased in
through 2021. It involves an increase
in the frequency of IndyGo’s regular
routes, the creation of three rapid-
transit lines, and other upgrades to
the system. The improvements are
funded by a tax increase that Marion
County voters passed in 2016 and
the City County Council approved
in February.
At the dinners, Hulse asked
members how they perceived
IndyGo and whether they used
public transit in their out-of-town
travels. The vast majority said they
never use IndyGo—though nearly all
of them use public transit when they
visit other cities.
“There’s this massive split in their
behavior between when they’re in
Indianapolis and when they’re in
another city,” Hulse says “Which
means that if it’s available, and it’s a
viable option, they’re going to use it.”
Polis found that, for the two
largest groups of IndyGo riders, half
are millennials (people under 35).
These are racially diverse riders who
are employed full-time or part-time.
They use the bus almost daily, and
they use it primarily to get to work
and for social reasons.
Opportunities aplenty
For some IndyGo riders, of
course, the bus is in fact the only
transportation option. James Taylor
sees them every day in his work
as the CEO of the John H. Boner
Community Center, a nonprofit that
offers community development and
life-skills programs in a low-income
neighborhood on the city’s near
east side.
Taylor says that IndyGo’s
improvements and expansion plans
are poised to have a dramatic,
positive effect on the people that his
organization serves.
“Access to transit is really
about economic opportunity and
educational opportunity,” he says.
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