20 College Students Take to the Streets to Educate on Transit

Street Team to debut Friday at City Market; Transit Ambassadors launch May 23

College students from IUPUI, Indiana University, Ball State University and George Washington University will take to the streets starting tomorrow to educate the public about the Marion County Transit Plan.

These transit street team members will answer questions and provide information to the public about improvements proposed in the plan. The participating students will be easy to spot: They’ll wear bright blue “Ask me about Transit” shirts and operate remote-control toy buses to attract attention.

The street team will debut Friday between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. at City Market during Bike to Work Day festivities. They’ll also be at the Broad Ripple Art Fair over the weekend.

Indy Connect – the partnership of IndyGo, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Central Indiana Regional Transportation Authority – hired the students for a street team that will attend fairs, festivals and events to educate the public about the specifics of the Marion County Transit Plan.

On Nov. 8, Marion County voters will have the opportunity to improve mass transit by voting in a referendum to fund the Marion County Transit Plan. With approval of the proposal, residents will pay 0.25 percent income tax to increase IndyGo’s service by 70 percent, shorten waits and extend evening hours and weekend service, as well as to add three rapid transit lines (Red, Blue and Purple) in high-ridership corridors. For more information, visit www.IndyConnect.org, or see a street team member.

In addition to the Indy Connect street team, IndyGo will deploy more than 50 trained volunteers to act as transit ambassadors at the new downtown Julia M. Carson Transit Center, at stops around town, and on buses. Working May 23 through July 2, the transit ambassadors will assist riders with using the IndyGo bus system and share information about upcoming IndyGo route changes and project updates.

The new Julia M. Carson Transit Center will open in June, and along with it will come changes to many of IndyGo’s routes, including new ways to transfer between routes downtown. The transit ambassadors will help people learn the downtown route changes and how to use the new transit center, all with the mission of offering a warm welcome, information and a friendly face.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Jen Thomas, [email protected], 317-441-2487