Purple Line surpasses one year mark, becomes IndyGo’s most successful route

INDIANAPOLIS — IndyGo is looking at a notable milestone–it’s been just over a year since the Purple Line opened for riders from downtown Indianapolis to Lawrence.

“Since the start of this year, we’ve had about 800,000 riders on the Purple Line and to put that into a little context, the Purple Line is our number one route,” said Lisa Soard, director of communications with IndyGo. 

According to IndyGo, ridership has been fantastic since the start and it only continues to grow.

“The Purple Line is within walking distance to 130,000 employers and 58,000 neighborhoods, so it just makes that access to careers and cultural institutions and everything that much easier,” Soard said.

When the Purple Line was built, there were huge infrastructure upgrades that came along with it including new street paving, sidewalks and improved drainage. One year later, IndyGo is looking ahead to what else it can improve.

“Safety and security is always our top priority for our riders and for our team,” Soard said. “We’re adding some transit safety officers to the already robust security personnel and security team that we have. (For) our riders I think that’s some of the feedback that we’ve received and some of the things that they’d like to see.”

IndyGo is also adding new equipment next summer that Soard said will make paying for rides more efficient. 

“They will be able to use a debit card, credit card or even their phone to pay for rides, so it makes it much easier to hop on a bus and take a ride through the city.” 

In the meantime, IndyGo is working on its newest route, the Blue Line.

“We are very excited,” Soard said. “We broke ground and started construction on the Blue Line. It launches in 2028. It’s 24 miles and it will be our third and final BRT (Bus Rapid Transit Line) line.”

The Blue Line will take riders from the Indianapolis International Airport through downtown and out to Cumberland. 

“We are looking forward to the faster, safer, and more reliable transportation along that corridor,” Soard said. “We are looking forward to the infrastructure and the economic development that we can bring to that corridor.”

Construction is expected to continue on the Blue Line for the next two to three years.

“Be patient with us,” Soard said. “Construction is always that way, but it’ll be a smooth ride. It’ll be faster, safer and more reliable on the Washington Street corridor.”

To learn more about the Purple Line, click here. To learn more about the upcoming Blue Line, click here.