INDIANAPOLIS — IndyGo is extending free rides for the Red Line, offering Indianapolis residents and visitors an opportunity to experience the new service without a ticket through November 10. IndyGo’s Board of Directors approved the decision during its monthly meeting.
The decision is being made for two reasons. First, several Red Line riders have experienced issues with service during the first month of operations. Second, it recently became clear that new ticketing machines for the Red Line would not be fully operational by an agreed-upon deadline.
As of late September, ticket vending machines are unable to accept bills for cash transactions, and the user interface for administering the fare system is behind schedule. Due to these project delays, IndyGo is unable to launch the new fare technology, and therefore cannot begin collecting fares on the Red Line by October 1.
Since opening on Sept. 1, the Red Line has received overwhelming public interest with people boarding the service more than 64,000 times in the opening week.