In this episode, we speak with Jerome Horne, ridership experience specialist for IndyGo, about Indianapolis's ongoing transit transformation and some of the key elements in building a reliable and effective bus system. Indianapolis makes a great case study for car-dependent cities looking to overhaul under-performing transit systems or even start from scratch.

Some of the topics we cover in this episode include:

Reasons to prioritize the bus over the train

The ridership vs. coverage dilemma

Why frequency means freedom

Getting the details right: bus stop spacing, amenities, and schedules

Why grids are better than hub-and-spoke systems

How to do public engagement that actually reaches the people who use (or would use) transit (and how Indianapolis did it)

Why it matters who you send to public meetings in different neighborhoods

How this transit makeover got funded (and why it succeeded where other cities' transit measures failed)

The Red Line, Indy's first BRT (bus rapid transit) line that launched in September 2019: what has gone well and what hasn't

Challenges so far, relating to: running the US's first-ever all-electric BRT fleet, introducing a new fare system, and finding enough drivers to staff the expanded system

Should transit be free to use?

IndyGo's new CEO, transit agency culture, and why it's important for transit decision-makers to use they system they run

Transit-related book recommendations!

Find Jerome on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Check out the incredible International Micro Museum of Transit, curated entirely by Jerome. And if you're up to it, take a peek inside New Urbanist Memes for Transit-Oriented Teens (you don't have to be a teen to join).

*Note: We had some issues with the audio files on this episode. You might notice the occasional brief skipping. :( We think it's still very listenable, but we apologize for the less-than-ideal sound on this one!