Red Line (IndyGo)

IndyGo Red Line
Northbound IndyGo BYD battery electric bus at Statehouse Station
Overview
System	IndyGo Rapid
Operator	Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation
Garage	IndyGo Headquarters 1501 W. Washington Street
Vehicle	BYD K11 (60-foot articulated battery-powered electric transit bus)
Status	Operational
Began service	September 1, 2019
Route
Route type	Bus rapid transit
Locale	Indianapolis, Indiana
Start	66th Street & College Avenue station, north of Broad Ripple
Via	Julia M. Carson Transit Center in Downtown Indianapolis
End	University station (Campus Drive & Shelby Street)
Stations	28
Service
Ridership	1,013,324 (2020)
Route map Phase 2 Grand Park (Lot C) Westfield (Main/Wheeler) SR 32 151st/US 31 146th/Clay Terrace Carmel (Main/Rangeline) City Center/Rangeline Monon Trail Guilford/City Center Pennsylvania/City Center 116th/Pennsylvania 106th/Pennsylvania 96th/College Hamilton Co. Marion Co. I-465 86th/College 71st/College White River Phase 2 Phase 1 66th/College Indiana Central Canal Broad Ripple (Broad Ripple/College) Kessler/College 54th/College 52nd/College 46th/College 42nd/College   Purple Line Park/38th 38th/Meridian 34th/Meridian 30th/Museum (30th/Meridian) Fall Creek/Ivy Tech (Fall Creek Pkwy N Dr/Meridian) Fall Creek 22nd/Meridian 18th/Meridian Methodist Hospital (18th/Capitol) 14th/Capitol I-65 9th/Capitol Vermont/Capitol Statehouse (Court/Capitol) Julia M. Carson Transit Center New Jersey/Virginia Fletcher Place (Merrill/Virginia) I-70 / I-65 Fountain Square (Woodlawn/Virginia) I-65 Pleasant Run (Pleasant Run Pkwy S Dr/Shelby) Raymond/Shelby Garfield Park (Southern/Shelby) Troy/Shelby UIndy (Campus/Shelby) Phase 3 Phase 1 Phase 3 I-465 / I-74 Thompson/Madison Edgewood/Madison Southport/Madison Stop 11 Rd/Madison County Line Rd South/Madison Marion Co. Johnson Co. Greenwood (Main/Madison) Smith Valley/Madison ← {{{previous_line}}}  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

The Red Line of IndyGo is a bus rapid transit line serving parts of central, northern, and southern Indianapolis. The first phase of this transit route entered service on September 1, 2019, and was originally free for the first month; the free service was extended to the second and third months due to problems with the fare collection system. The Red Line links Broad Ripple to the University of Indianapolis via Downtown Indianapolis.

History

A Red Line station under construction in Fountain Square in July 2019.

On May 31, 2018, IndyGo began construction of the Red Line, the city's first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line. The first phase of the system opened on September 1, 2019, after about 15 months of construction and testing. The $96.3 million project included a $75 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Two additional BRT lines (Purple Line and Blue Line) are presently planned, along with proposed extensions on both ends of the Red Line. The Red Line has been assigned IndyGo Route #90.

Features of the Red Line include level boarding, dedicated bus lanes, and doors on both sides.

The Red Line serves Marion County with eventual service extensions planned to County Line Road/Madison Avenue at the southern boundary with Johnson County and a still undetermined alignment to the northern boundary with Hamilton County. A Johnson County extension to Smith Valley Road in Greenwood has been approved with early design work funded. A Hamilton County extension to Grand Park in Westfield has been proposed with early design work funded.

At introduction, every second BRT vehicle continued along the then proposed route of the Red Line beyond the completed BRT stations as "Route 90 - Red Line Local." This local line stopped at traditional bus stops to continue service to the northern and southern boundaries of Marion County. Due to traffic issues and low ridership, IndyGo discontinued this service. Since then, northbound service terminates at the 66th/College station and southbound service terminates at the University (Campus/Shelby) station. Dedicated local routes now provide supplementary service with Route 901 traveling as far north as 91st Street and Route 902 traveling as far south as County Line Road.

Due to Red Line buses failing to meet contractually obligated mileage ranges, bus manufacturer BYD paid for them to be retrofitted with inductive charging plates. These plates enable inductive charging of the buses en route to reduce service disruption. One inductive charging station was installed near the 66th/College station, another was planned near Madison Ave/County Line Rd, and a third planned near Ivy Tech Community College – Lawrence Campus.

On the morning of April 24, 2024, a Red Line bus on 38th street caught on fire. All four people got off the bus with only two having slight injures. Police arrested a 45-year old man and preliminarily charged him with two counts of arson. IndyGo estimated the total damages to the bus and station at $2 million.

Station listing

There are at present 28 stations on the Red Line, of which 13 are shared with the Purple Line (Route 92).

Station	Type	Opened	Neighborhood(s)	Connections	Notes
66th Street	Curbside (NB only)	September 1, 2019	Broad Ripple	Route 82	North terminus of Phase 1; wireless vehicle charging site; NB vehicles terminating use protected signal at 66th Street to make U-turn to SB College via Old College Avenue
Broad Ripple	Center Island			Routes 19, 82	south of Broad Ripple Avenue
Kessler			Meridian–Kessler		south of Kessler Boulevard East Drive
54th Street					at Bungalow Court, north of 54th Street
52nd Street					mid-block, between 51st and 52nd streets
46th Street				Route 19	south of 46th Street
42nd Street					north of 42nd Street
Park	Median Station		Meridian–Kessler, Mapleton–Fall Creek	Routes 2, 4, 38, 92	Purple Line WB converges/EB diverges with the Red Line at College Avenue and 38th Street
Meridian/38th	Center Island		Mapleton–Fall Creek, Crown Hill	Routes 38, 92	south of 38th Street
34th Street				Route 92	north of 34th Street
30th/Museum				Routes 30, 92	north of 30th Street; serves the Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Fall Creek/Ivy Tech				Route 92	north of Fall Creek Parkway North Drive; serves Ivy Tech's Downtown Indianapolis Campus
22nd Street			Near Northside	Route 92	south of 22nd Street
18th Street				Route 92	north of 18th Street
IU Health				Route 92	south of 18th Street; serves IU Health Methodist Hospital
14th Street				Route 92	north of 14th Street
9th Street			Downtown	Route 92	south of 9th Street at Arch Street
Vermont				Routes 3, 6, 10, 15, 34, 37, 92	north of Vermont Street
Statehouse				Routes 8, 24, 92	south of Court Street, north of Washington Street; serves the Indiana Statehouse
Julia M. Carson Transit Center	Transit Center Bay	June 26, 2016		Routes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21, 24, 25, 26, 28, 31, 34, 37, 38, 56, 92	NB Bay "G"; SB Bay "L", Purple Line Bay "D"
New Jersey	Curbside (NB, SB)	September 1, 2019		Routes 13, 26, 56	southeast of New Jersey Street
Fletcher Place				Route 26	northwest of Merrill Street
Fountain Square			Fountain Square	Route 26	northwest of Woodlawn Avenue
Pleasant Run			Near Southside		between Pleasant Run Parkway South Drive and Iowa Street
Raymond			Near Southside, Garfield Park	Route 13	north of Raymond Street (NB); south of Raymond (SB)
Garfield Park			Garfield Park		north of Southern Avenue (SB); south of Southern (NB); serves Garfield Park
Troy			Garfield Park, University Heights	Route 16	north of Troy Avenue (NB); south of Troy (SB)
University	Center Island		University Heights	Routes 29, 31	South terminus of Phase 1; SB vehicles terminating discharge passengers, then use Shelby, Mills, Madison, and Hanna to return to NB Shelby; serves the University of Indianapolis

See also

• Transportation in Indianapolis

External links

• IndyGo Red Line home page