IPS Students To Ride IndyGo Buses This Year For Free

Updated Thursday, June 27 at 2:20 p.m.

This year Indianapolis Public Schools high school students will have the option to ride IndyGo buses to school—or anywhere—for free. Students can ride the buses even on weekends.

The service starts when school starts. Students will have a pass embedded in their IDs.

Dennis Tackitt, Chief of Transformation at IPS, says the yellow school bus-only transportation plan is financially unsustainable.

“Other cities have successfully combined, and integrated public transportation with yellow bus service,” Tackitt says. “We think that's a model that should work for us here at IPS.”

IPS transportation costs have increased in recent years. A factor is the new high school model that allows students across the district to attend schools outside their neighborhoods. 

He says students may benefit from the service in many ways.

“We’re hoping that it will give them a bit more latitude with where they can work, and we also hope that it will provide a service or be a service for them to explore our city and our community,” Tackitt says.

This is the extension of a pilot project started at Shortridge High School. It extends with the Red Line this fall. Tackitt says he doesn’t know if IPS will keep yellow buses in the future. That depends on how the Purple and Blue Line routes help.

A rough estimate for all transportation operations for IPS is about $40 million a year. The total cost for the partnership with IndyGo is not finalized.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story listed Dennis Tackitt as IPS Chief of Transportation. That was incorrect. He is Chief of Transformation.