IndyGo directors approve $300K for 2 mobility pilots

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — The IndyGo Board of Directors has given the green light to invest up to $300,000 to fund two mobility pilots aimed at boosting transportation options for Indy residents.

The pilots were identified through the Ford City: One Challenge that wrapped last month.

The two projects funded by IndyGo are in addition to two selected by the selection committee and are slated for launch in 2020. 

IndyGo is set to partner with the MLK Center, 40 W. 40th St., to pilot a neighborhood-based microtransit service that is wheelchair-accessible and includes family friendly vehicles to connect Midtown residents to jobs, school, health care and other routes. 

IndyGo also says it will work with Briometrix on its City on Wheels proposal to digitally examine 61 miles of sidewalk infrastructure along the Red Line bus rapid transit. The project will collect data from local residents who use wheelchairs and the findings will inform the development of pedestrian infrastructure along the Purple and Blue Lines.

“We were impressed by how the pilot proposals hit at the core of our strategic goals at IndyGo,” said IndyGo Board President Juan Gonzalez in a statement. “We are constantly looking for smart solutions to those mobility barriers in our city and these two solutions respond to what MLK Center and Briometrix heard from our community.”

IndyGo will partner with Central Indiana Community Fund to release the funds to the two additional pilots. The MLK Center will receive four vehicles along with 100,000 for maintenance. Biometrix will receive $58,000.