IndyGo

When the US city of Indianapolis leaned into the enormous task of addressing the extended decline in public transit ridership, it looked to its own transportation body – IndyGo – to find an answer to the crisis. After witnessing a slow decline in passenger take-up since the 1970s, the city’s $1.2 billion dollar investment in a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route to coax people back to the bus initially resulted in the BRT The Red Line servicing a 14-mile-long high-density ridership corridor in 2019.

With a mission ‘to connect our community to economic and cultural opportunities through safe, reliable, and accessible mobility experiences’, IndyGo set out to achieve exactly that. Work commenced on The Purple Line BRT, a 15-mile route that provided access to 134,000 jobs, educational, retail and medical facilities. However, they were faced with a challenge: new ADA compliant bus stops to allow those with limited mobility to get on the bus more conveniently. However, sidewalk infrastructure conditions in densely populated urban neighbourhoods leading to the stops was an unknown quantity.

Briometrix awarded contract

Briometrix entered the Ford City: One Challenge for mobility-focused companies to offer creative ideas to address mobility issues in Indianapolis. With 120 detailed proposals put forward, Briometrix was one of four companies to be awarded a contract to help the city improve its public movement.

‘Our proposal had to meet a high bar to get accepted,’ says Briometrix CEO, Natalie Verdon.

‘We had to address a number of issues including access to jobs, healthcare and education, support for residents with disabilities and other challenges, creating equity, inclusivity and community buy in,’ she explains. It was one thing to spend millions on a transit route and bus stops – but achieving greater insight into the conditions of the footpaths that often made it difficult or impossible for those with limited mobility to get to the stop was critical. This was an important piece of the puzzle that would benefit the community as well as help IndyGo increase inclusion, accessibility and ridership. As Faith Chadwick, the IndyGo Public Information Officer, explains, ‘Having accessible bus stops is great but you have to be able to get to the bus stop. It is important to understand what aspects are limiting access to bus stops and what we can do to improve access.’

If Briometrix knows anything, it’s mobility access limitations.‘IndyGo needed to better understand sidewalk conditions leading to the bus stops that might be keeping people from making the journey,’ Natalie says.

Mapping analysis begins

Of course, every major city faces the challenge of directing a limited infrastructure budget, building relationships across government departments and mostly, improving connectivity to provide an incentive to ride on public transport – not to mention the public benefit analysis. ‘We began by mapping four areas, comprising 65 miles of sidewalks leading to 11 stops along the Purple Line,’ Natalie says, ‘We also considered various demographic and socioeconomic aspects such as sidewalk access to medical facilities, employment, retail and government buildings’.

The surveying took place over three weeks to develop a map with the best route and the geo tagged surveys that could be used for other departments to prioritise maintenance.

Data collection transforms accessibility future for Indianapolis

A colour-coded map with five points of difficulty rating was produced. But it wasn’t just a colour-coded map that made the project successful. ‘We were able to provide IndyGo with comprehensive visual and statistical data on sidewalk surface conditions, surface type, trip hazards, curb ramp conditions, vegetation encroachments, sidewalk furniture and additional obstructions leading to fixed route Purple Line stops,’ Natalie explains.

IndyGo provided the visual and statistical data to Public Works as well as other departments allowing them to see where problems existed and prioritise maintenance. The data means saving time and money for the City of Indianapolis – and starting some powerful conversations.

IndyGo’s Ryan Whilite, Manager of Special Projects and Regional Mobility Integration, says, ‘We were really impressed with the amount and quality of the data that we received through Briometrix. It was also clear in dealing with the team that they are passionate about their job and about the project, which I think came across pretty easily in conversations with them. And as far as the utilisation of the data, we worked with the team to get some better understanding of expanding this out to all of our rapid transit corridors’.

With assistance from the Briometrix team, today IndyGo is the living embodiment of their own slogan: Boldly Moving Our City Forward.