IndyGo On Board Survey
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), in cooperation with the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo), is conducting a survey on all local bus routes in the region starting in September in order to inform transit planning.
During this period, interviewers with tablet computers will ask randomly-selected passengers questions about their transit trips. Responses to these questions help IMPO and IndyGo plan for future transportation projects. The survey does not collect personal identifying information (PII), so if you are approached by a surveyor, please consider participating to help inform future transit planning!
Prize Rules and Regulations (click to download)
Participants have the option to provide contact information that enters them into a drawing for a 31-day pass from IndyGo. This drawing and all prizes are subject to the above rules and regulations. Thank you for participating!
Get Updates
For updates and involvement opportunities on this project and others, please subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter, teMPO. The newsletter includes regional project updates, upcoming educational and public input opportunities, and useful transportation news.
Frequently Asked Questions
The survey is a study of how people use transit to travel in the Indianapolis region. Questions focus on trip behavior and demographics. Your responses will help the IMPO and IndyGo better understand travel patterns and choices of transit riders. This information will be used to support transit planning and operations activities.
Onboard transit passenger studies are typically conducted every five years. The region’s last survey was conducted in 2016.
The IMPO hired a contractor to conduct the onboard transit passenger survey, with the cooperation of IndyGo. The people you see on the bus administering the surveys are contracted employees. The data, however, belongs to IMPO and IndyGo.
Interviewers with tablet computers will randomly select passengers to take the survey. (The tablet computer tells the interviewer who to pick based on a random number formula.) Random selection is necessary to ensure that the data are statistically valid. The survey is also available to be taken on paper, online, or over the phone. While volunteers are not allowed to take the survey, we appreciate your participation if you are selected.
The survey will be available in English, Spanish, French, Creole, and Hakha Chin in online and paper formats. Participants will be able to identify the language they feel most comfortable speaking. These options will be available to individuals that feel most comfortable taking the survey in these languages.
Your individual survey will take about five minutes to complete.
IndyGo is required to collect specific demographic data about passengers including race, household income, and language proficiency in order to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This information is submitted to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approximately every five years. By understanding ridership, planners are better able to predict how recommended service improvements will perform. Please keep in mind that personal information is removed from all records, and the results are aggregated (a measure that ensures your privacy and anonymity by presenting total responses instead of individual submissions).
If you are selected more than once, we would appreciate your participation each time you are selected.
Official survey staff members wear an identifying uniform and carry a surveyor identification badge. They carry tablet computers and will never ask you for information such as your social security number or bank account information.
Please note a description of the interviewer, and email the project manager at info@indympo.org below. Please include all relevant information (date/time/location/route of encounter, reason for concern), so that the matter can be investigated.
Yes, the survey has options to complete via a phone call, paper survey, or online.
Yes. All persons riding transit during the survey period are included in the random selection methodology. Interviewers can assist customers with disabilities in completing the survey, or they can provide a paper version of the survey, the option to complete it later by phone, or a handout with details about how to request accommodation.
Published reports will summarize the survey data, but will not disclose Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
A summary report will be available when the study is complete in 2023.
No. To ensure the anonymity of survey respondents, personal information will not be included in the final data files.
This information will allow the IMPO and IndyGo to implement enhancements to the system that make it more effective, reliable, and efficient. The ultimate goal is to better meet travelers’ needs.
Surveying of all transit lines is expected to be finished by fall of 2022. Survey results and final report will be available in 2023.
The IMPO receives transportation planning funds from the federal government that are being used to pay for the survey. IndyGo provided the local dollars required to match federal grants.
The survey consultant and the IMPO are required to protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information (PII). Key provisions include storing PII on secure computers, protecting it from unauthorized use, and destroying PII after an agreed-upon time period.
Also, as previously noted, published reports will summarize the survey data, but will not disclose PII.