Part of the problem is IndyGo's computer system. Both their website (https://www.indygo.net/plan-your-trip/) and IndyGo's myStop app (promoted at https://www.indygo.net/plan-your-trip/track-my-bus/) don't always suggest the best stops. For example, if I ask to take the bus from "Indianapolis International Airport" to where I live, it suggests I get on the bus at that far off bus stop at "W. Perimeter Rd. & North Service Rd" instead of the one closest to the terminal. It also suggests I get off at a bus stop that is a block away from the closest bus stop to my address. (It suggests walking by the nearest bus stop on my way home!)
Adding to IndyGo's financial woes (if only a little bit), I can get free rides on the bus. How? There's been something wrong with their mykey app. If I select "Ride Now", it shows a QR code that is to be scanned on the bus. I did two roundtrip bus rides separated by about six months last year. It never scanned properly for me. However, they let me ride anyway because my phone's screen accurately shows a balance of $5. Who knows how many other people are affected by this, but it could be a large number as I think I saw it happen to another rider.
Yes, I'm no mind reader, but it does seem likely that incompetence and confirmation bias played big parts in this. Still--and, again, I'm no mind reader--the careful wording ("a properly located station at the airport") of the letter to the editor the Star quoted suggests to me that the writer exploited what he knew to be a misleading output in order to support his argument that "[t]raditional bus service is notoriously slow."
Also, although the article carried the name of an intern, it also had contributions from two staff members who have considerable experience in writing about IndyGo, so it would betray a remarkable lack of curiosity for neither of them to have questioned the hour and twenty-one minutes.
My experience is like yours. Despite its having been in operation now for over four years, the Red Line's pass-validation machines work for me only sometimes. And I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of riders don't pay.
Part of the problem is IndyGo's computer system. Both their website (https://www.indygo.net/plan-your-trip/) and IndyGo's myStop app (promoted at https://www.indygo.net/plan-your-trip/track-my-bus/) don't always suggest the best stops. For example, if I ask to take the bus from "Indianapolis International Airport" to where I live, it suggests I get on the bus at that far off bus stop at "W. Perimeter Rd. & North Service Rd" instead of the one closest to the terminal. It also suggests I get off at a bus stop that is a block away from the closest bus stop to my address. (It suggests walking by the nearest bus stop on my way home!)
Adding to IndyGo's financial woes (if only a little bit), I can get free rides on the bus. How? There's been something wrong with their mykey app. If I select "Ride Now", it shows a QR code that is to be scanned on the bus. I did two roundtrip bus rides separated by about six months last year. It never scanned properly for me. However, they let me ride anyway because my phone's screen accurately shows a balance of $5. Who knows how many other people are affected by this, but it could be a large number as I think I saw it happen to another rider.
Yes, I'm no mind reader, but it does seem likely that incompetence and confirmation bias played big parts in this. Still--and, again, I'm no mind reader--the careful wording ("a properly located station at the airport") of the letter to the editor the Star quoted suggests to me that the writer exploited what he knew to be a misleading output in order to support his argument that "[t]raditional bus service is notoriously slow."
Also, although the article carried the name of an intern, it also had contributions from two staff members who have considerable experience in writing about IndyGo, so it would betray a remarkable lack of curiosity for neither of them to have questioned the hour and twenty-one minutes.
My experience is like yours. Despite its having been in operation now for over four years, the Red Line's pass-validation machines work for me only sometimes. And I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of riders don't pay.