What opens for delegates in 2028
IndyGo awarded nearly $250 million in Blue Line construction contracts on 19 December 2024. Gradex Inc. won Package A at about $208 million for roadway work. F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co. won Package B at about $34 million for the stations. R.L. Turner Co. won Package C at about $6 million for the East Side Mobility Hub. The line opens for service in 2028, and IndyGo's project page names late 2028.
The route runs 24 miles from the Indianapolis International Airport to the town of Cumberland by way of downtown. It uses I-70, Holt Road and Washington Street. Thirty stations sit at half-mile to one-mile spacing, and every station serves this route alone. The line follows the current Route 8.
What a delegate meets at the airport end
The airport is the west terminus. A delegate lands, boards a 60-foot articulated bus and rides into downtown on a published timetable. Weekday service runs 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday runs 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday runs 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. A bus arrives about every 15 to 20 minutes at peak.
The vehicles carry doors on both sides and onboard bicycle storage. Stations offer level boarding, step-free platforms, in-median locations, real-time arrival screens, lighting, security cameras and blue-light emergency phones. Platforms carry windscreens and drip-free roof eaves. Transit-only lanes and signal priority hold the schedule when surrounding traffic slows.
The full fare is $2.75 for two hours of travel. A daily cap sits at $6.00 and a weekly cap at $24.75. Children age 5 and under ride free with a fare-paying rider. Fare capping runs through MyKey+ only, and IndyGo discontinues the older MyKey card on 1 September.
The downtown stations land where the groups go. The Statehouse Station is planned at Washington Street and Capitol Avenue. The Convention Center Station is planned at Maryland Street and Capitol Avenue. The Julia M. Carson Transit Center serves as the downtown transfer point with 19 covered bus bays.
The hotel package the line touches
Visit Indy counts 13 properties and 5,500 hotel rooms connected under one roof downtown. Its current development list carries the Signia by Hilton Indianapolis at 803 rooms for December 2026, the Kimpton at 167 rooms in 2027, the Ritz-Carlton at 176 rooms in 2028 and a Renaissance conversion at 378 rooms in 2028. The Indiana Convention Center's Facility Guide counts 4,721 rooms connected to the building, 7,175 within a six-block radius and 4,570 committable group rooms.
The Westin Indianapolis International Airport adds an airport-side option in 2027 at 253 rooms. It connects to the airport terminal garage and carries a full-service restaurant, a fitness center, a rooftop bar and meeting space. Visit Indy describes it for guests on early departures.
RFP timing on 2028 and later dates
Contract the airport leg as a forecast until IndyGo commits to a month. The published documents to attach are the station list and spacing, the service hours, the fare schedule and the construction page. No group fare, no held block and no delegate seat guarantee sits in the published record for the Blue Line. Ask IndyGo for a group product and a reserved-block term before you write the transfer into a contract.
A planner holding a 2028 or 2029 date can open the airport transfer conversation now. Confirm the timetable and the station openings against IndyGo's construction page before the contract is signed.
The construction window to flag now
IndyGo plans construction impacts between 2025 and 2028 across 12 construction areas. Work in the Holt Road to Rockville Road segment is scheduled for late 2026 through 2028. The Arlington Avenue to Shadeland Avenue segment is scheduled for late 2027 through mid-2028.
The downtown segment carries the delegate-facing closures. On Maryland and Washington streets from West Street to Capitol Avenue, lane closures cover curb ramps, pedestrian improvements and station construction, with a minimum of one lane open in each direction. The northern eastbound lane approaching Maryland and West streets stays closed for the duration of the project. Between Rockville Road and Belmont Avenue the westbound diversion runs north onto North White River Parkway, west onto Michigan Street and south onto Holt Road, with eastbound access in a single lane.
Local access stays open through the work. IndyGo runs a community toolkit with "Open for Business" signage, a property access map and print collateral, along with two construction liaisons on business hours and a weekly newsletter.
Send delegates the weekly update link and a detour map with the final confirmation. Ask IndyGo for the coach staging plan, the airport-station luggage arrangements and the pedestrian management plan at the downtown stations. None of the three is published.