Ridership and Service Data

Our bus system has devolved over the years due to declining revenue from all of our funding sources. As a result, we provide the least amount of bus service of any major city in the nation. To put it in perspective, IndyGo provided more than 15 million passenger trips in 1980, whereas today annual trips average around eight million, which is impressive given the city has half the bus service it did 30 years ago and current bus lines, such as the Route 8, are delivering more than 100,000 trips per month.

Regionally, Indianapolis compares itself to cities such as Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton as well as Louisville and St. Louis. Each of these cities has considerably more transit service supporting their areas than IndyGo. When considering the cities we compete with for conventions and recruiting new businesses—such as Charlotte, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix and Orlando—they all have transit systems that offer two to three times more service (buses, frequency and hours of operation) than Indianapolis.

Our competitive advantage to lure new businesses, support existing businesses and attract more conventions to our region is eroding along with our bus system. In order to reverse this trend, our community needs to support new dedicated funding for transit. Currently, mass transit supporters are asking local elected leaders, community organizations and the general public to sign a petition for the Indiana General Assembly to authorize a referendum on transit funding in 2012.

Here is a breakdown of IndyGo Fixed Route ridership data over the past five years. It includes ridership for all IndyGo services except Open Door, IndyGo ICE routes and the Green Line Airport Express.

2012 Ridership

2011 Ridership

2010 Ridership

2009 Ridership

2008 Ridership

2007 Ridership