CHERYL MCELROY

Email Title: Reflecting on 2019 & Looking Ahead to 2020

To: All IndyGo

To be sent: Wednesday, Dec. 18

 

Hello IndyGo, 

 

I think we can all agree, 2019 was a huge year for us. When I stop to think about how transformative this year has been, I start to wonder when y’all slept. Mike Terry and I are both immensely grateful and humbled to be a part of this year’s historic changes that have revolutionized how Hoosiers and the world see Indianapolis. 

 

The Red Line is just one piece of a system-wide expansion, which will result in a 70 percent increase in service. We also improved our local service, proudly operating daily service on every route and extending our weekend service hours. With these milestones, we learned a whole new way of operating our service with our first all-electric fleet of BYD buses, changing the game for how many of us go about our everyday tasks.  

 

In 2019 alone, our service left a visible footprint on the city's infrastructure:

 

• We resurfaced 57 miles of roadway (filling some of those dang potholes).

• We upgraded 800 ADA ramps, improved 40 bus stops, built 34 station platforms, and laid 30,800 linear feet of sidewalk to make our community more accessible to everyone.

 

But our impacts weren’t only to the city’s landscape. We’ve generated new ridership and improved service for our new and existing riders:

 

• We had a record-breaking 250,000 riders within the first month of opening the Red Line.

• We established a pilot program with our partners at Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), reaching 5,800 student riders, that will continue to expand in 2020.

• We implemented a free 2-hour transfer ticket benefiting riders who need to catch another bus to get to their destination. 

• We steadily increased Open Door on-time performance.

 

We also significantly added to our IndyGo family and implemented helpful projects and programs for our co-workers:

 

• We built relationships with 339 new co-workers and watched our headquarters transform into an updated, efficient, collaborative space.

• We underspent our 2019 budget and enabled online solutions making it easier, faster, and more convenient to access pay statements, update open enrollment, and view our benefits. 

• We began developing a sound business continuity plan and became self-insured to save taxpayer dollars and keep us safe in unforeseen circumstances. 

• We kicked off Strategic Plan implementation to improve our culture, award innovation, track our performance, strengthen our partnerships, and enhance our customer experience.

 

We have a lot more to do in 2020. Our team is hard at work on the Purple Line, Super Stops, and our network redesign. We're modernizing our fare system, internal communications, and the pick system for Operators. We're also looking forward to launching MyKey and the retail sales network. We will continue to improve our building’s infrastructure and will expand with a new training facility for all employees. 

 

We’re emphasizing the importance of serving all of our ridership effectively with innovative programs such as mobility hubs and micro-transit programs, and seeing significant improvement in our paratransit, fixed, and rapid transit service. We are looking beyond transit and developing partnerships to impact and prepare for the future mobility landscape of central Indiana. 

 

Seeing this list of accomplishments and thinking of countless more makes me so proud. I want to extend my thanks to each and every one of you that made all of this possible in 2019. It’s nearly 2020 and we have so much planned. I can’t wait to get started as we continue in our mission to connect our community to economic and cultural opportunities through safe, reliable, and accessible mobility experiences.

 

Wishing you the best in the new year and hope to see you at the holiday meal tomorrow, 

 

Inez