Access and mobility are essential to maintaining individual freedom to pursue the activities of daily living as one sees fit. Having access to reliable transportation options enables access and mobility. To advance this goal, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) seeks to ensure individuals who are unable to use public transportation have access to paratransit services. These services typically provide on-demand, door-to-door service. Federal statute requires the provision of these services within a public transit agency’s service area, defined as a ¾ mile buffer around local fixed-route service.
At IndyGo, this service is known as Open Door, which operates every day and is uniformly available throughout Marion County, beyond the requirements of federal law. Individuals with disabilities can apply for eligibility with IndyGo’s Customer Service Center and have their disability verified by a qualified professional. Once a rider is determined to be eligible, he or she may book open door trips, participate in the lottery for taxi vouchers, and access local fixed-route at no cost. All Open Door trips have an established fare of $3.50 per trip and must be booked one to three days in advance.
The Paratransit Operational Analysis (POA) is intended to address identified issues that have resulted in declining quality of service provision and identify potential opportunities to improve service. The final report will provide recommendations to improve paratransit service.
Preliminary Existing Conditions Summary
The objective of the Preliminary Existing Conditions Summary Report is to provide a preliminary identification of major themes identified thus far in the consultants’ assessment of IndyGo’s ADA paratransit services that are likely to persist throughout the study. Subsequent study efforts will build on these preliminary findings with a more comprehensive assessment of IndyGo’s paratransit services as requested for this “Paratransit Operational Analysis.”
View Summary here.
Existing Conditions, Peer, and Preliminary Considerations and Options Report
This report documents the findings of Tasks 2 and 3 of IndyGo’s Paratransit Operational Analysis. Study efforts were structured to meet the following objectives and included stakeholder meetings and interviews to understand community and rider experiences and expectations:
- To provide a comprehensive assessment of IndyGo’s existing paratransit operations and comparisons to industry standards, best and/or emerging practices, and peer agencies. The study analyzed operations for a time period of three-and-one-third years, from January 2016 through April 2019.
- To provide a brief overview of preliminary considerations and recommendations based on the findings from the previous bullet-point.
View report here.
Identification of Opportunities, Systemic Challenges, and Agency Options and Fiscal Impact Analysis
This report documents the work performed for the Identification of Opportunities of the Paratransit Operational Analysis for IndyGo. This report builds on the preliminary options for IndyGo’s ADA paratransit service as presented in the previous report, focusing on the service delivery options. The fiscal impact analysis estimates operating costs for the options for a five-year period of time. Considerations for the same-day service for ADA riders are also identified, including possible revisions to the dialysis and lottery voucher programs. View the report here.
Recommendations of Policies, Procedures and Practices
Documented recommendations to Open Door service. Recommendations should be described according to their expected benefits as well as cost implications. These recommendations will help inform the IndyGo Board of Directors about possible policy decisions and ramifications of those decisions.
Final Report
The Final Report provides an overview of the findings and recommendations of the Paratransit Operational Analysis (POA). Several improvements have been made to the ADA paratransit service since the beginning of the report, but there are several other areas that could use additional attention, including conditional eligibility, same-day service, and the ADA paratransit service area. The report highlights the inherent challenges presented to delivering efficient service when IndyGo applies the ADA complementary paratransit regulations to the entirety of its service area.
Public Outreach
During the POA process, IndyGo instructed its project team to conduct outreach to stakeholders, Open Door riders, and members of the Mobility Advisory Committee. The process and results are outlined in this final public outreach report.
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