No matter who you are, transportation impacts your life in many ways. Whether you bike to work, take the bus to school, drive across the highway system, fly out of IND or get deliveries brought to your door, our transportation system is vital to keeping people and things moving about. It takes a lot of work and coordination to design, maintain and keep those systems flowing. Many passionate young folks are involved in the transportation industry and strive to be the next leaders taking us further in the 21st century. That’s where Young Professionals in Transportation Indianapolis comes in. We are a group of 20 & 30 somethings who are transportation planners, engineers or enthusiast who come together in support of professional development, networking and volunteer opportunities related to the industry.
Here’s a look at some key events we’ve had over the last two years.
Our first event was a technical tour of IndyGo’s main headquarters. We got to learn about IndyGo’s transit plans including running buses more often, three bus rapid transit lines and a new fare payment app. We also got to go behind the scenes in the garage and learn all about how the buses are maintained.
Occasionally, we feature outstanding Distinguished Speakers who are prominent people involved in all aspects of transportation. We were fortunate to have Joe McGuiness who is the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Transportation come speak to us about his career and work at INDOT.
We believe in giving back and volunteering to make our community a better place. We participated in a Cultural Trail Clean Up Day and will be looking at similar opportunities to clean up around IndyGo bus stops in the future.
Did you know that Indianapolis is home to one of Amtrak’s national maintenance facilities? Young Professionals in Transportation Indianapolis got access to Amtrak’s Facilities with a tour and a run down of the operations. The tour gave YPT insight into the workings of the nations passenger rail system. We got to see some of the historic trains, a gutted train for cleaning, the paint shop and so much more.
Sometimes our events are just about fun! Our favorite social event is a transit pub crawl. This is exactly what it sounds like. We will use IndyGo to visit various bars and pubs in the city usually stopping at about 4 places along the way.
To be a part of Young Professionals in Transportation you only need two things to be passionate about transportation and to be young at heart. YPT Indianapolis is open to all that meet these criteria. Simply go to yptransportation.org/indy and select “Join YPT”.
Meet Jerome Horne
Jerome A. Horne is the Ridership Experience Specialist at the Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IndyGo). Currently, he is working on revamping IndyGo’s wayfinding program, focusing on better ways to get information to riders and figuring out innovative solutions to integrate technology into the transit system. Prior to this, he was the Special Projects Coordinator focusing on outreach and research for the agency’s capital projects and updating the agency’s service standards for fixed route buses. He joined IndyGo in 2016 as the Community Engagement Coordinator where he successfully started the Transit Ambassador Program which is a group of trained volunteers who assist with outreach and communication efforts dealing with IndyGo service improvements and changes. Jerome is the founder and current Board Chair for the Young Professionals in Transportation Indianapolis chapter, Deputy Director of Communications for Young Professionals in Transportation International, 2018-2020 Transit Cooperative Research Program Ambassador and a member of the American Public Transportation Association Emerging Leaders Program Class of 2022. In his free time Jerome enjoys, working out, biking, dancing, riding transit for fun, checking out local coffee shops, reading and listening to podcasts.
