IndyGo partnered with two community groups, the MLK Center and the Near Northwest Response Team, to provide area residents with access to essentials such as groceries and prescriptions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Midtown-Get-Around is one of two mobility pilots selected to receive funding from IndyGo as part of the agency’s commitment to exploring different ways of providing transportation services in the Indianapolis area. The Midtown-Get-Around is a microtransit solution for residents served by the MLK Center, funded by IndyGo, and managed by the MLK Center.

Originally, the Midtown-Get-Around was designed as a circulator and door-to-door transit service intended to reduce transportation barriers and increase user confidence with transit. In mid-March, as the needs of the community changed with the development of COVID-19, IndyGo and the MLK Center worked together to adjust the pilot scope to meet those needs. With that in mind, the focus of the Midtown-Get-Around shifted to grocery and prescription deliveries to those unable to access these essential services on their own. To date, MLK Center has made more than 175 deliveries. MLK Center will be delivering Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Residents requesting a delivery from the website must sign up before 8 a.m. on the day they need delivery, or on a Tuesday or Thursday. The order form is closed until 1 p.m. on delivery days.

IndyGo has also partnered with the Near Northwest Response Team to provide no contact nonperishable food deliveries to families in need. IndyGo is donating the use of paratransit vehicles to assist the Response Team in making deliveries and staging pick-up locations. Every week since mid-March, the Response Team has provided food to about 100 Indianapolis Public School students, 250 vulnerable families, as well as more than 500 seniors through collaboration with the Northwest Faith Partners.