Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) operates mass transit service in Greater Des Moines. It is the largest public transit agency operating in the state of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

History

DART was founded in 1973 as the Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority, commonly known as the MTA. Formed by a partnership of the cities of Des Moines,

West Des Moines West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas, Warren, and Madison counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. A majority of the city is located in Polk County, a minority of the city is located in Dallas County, and small portions extend into Warren and Ma ...

, Clive, Windsor Heights, and Urbandale. The MTA eventually developed a 14-county carpool and vanpool system in addition to its bus system. By 2006, population growth in varying regions of central Iowa led to

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

and nineteen cities forming a regional transportation agency following changes to Iowa law in 2005. Sunday service was added for the first time in 2007. In 2008, a free shuttle linked downtown Des Moines with the Iowa State Capitol. DART has offered a free Park & Ride service during the

Iowa State Fair The Iowa State Fair is an annual state fair held in Des Moines, Iowa in August. It began in 1854 and has been held on the Iowa State Fairgrounds since 1886. It is based in the state capital Des Moines, Iowa over an 11 day period in August. Wi ...

since 2006. Free wifi connectivity began to be offered on all buses in 2018. This was implemented at the same time new fareboxes were installed, which required an internet connection. DART began a pilot

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program in October 2020, starting with seven

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buses on route 60 (Ingersoll/University). The pilot program was funded by a grant from the

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...

, with a local match from MidAmerican Energy. DART is represented by a board of 12 Commissioners, one from each member government it serves. Today, DART services Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Clive, Des Moines,

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, Johnston, Pleasant Hill, Urbandale,

, Windsor Heights, and greater

Structure

DART utilizes a

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system, designed to favor commuters, as opposed to point-to-point system. The network was redesigned in 2012 to utilize the new DART Central Station, which most local and express routes terminate at or pass through. A secondary hub around

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connects multiple western routes. A northern crosstown route 50 (Euclid/Douglas Crosstown) was added in 2018. DART also has On Call routes that operate within specific zones in the Greater Des Moines area.

DART Central Station

Located at 620 Cherry Street in downtown Des Moines, DART Central station serves as the primary hub of the DART system. Built in 2012, the $21 million bus transfer station was opened on the south end of downtown, ending decades of using Walnut Street as a transit mall. DART Central Station has been certified LEED Platinum, the highest certification of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System of the U.S. Green Building Council. The site was selected in part due to proximity of the historic

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depot, which is hoped to have passenger rail service in the future.

Routes

Local routes

Express rush hour-only routes

Former routes

*2 Kingman (Discontinued on June 8, 2004 due to budget crisis) *9 Express Service (Split into Routes 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, and 96) *10 Pleasant Hill (Discontinued on April 25, 2010 due to budget crisis) *12 Urbandale Business Park (Discontinued on April 25, 2010 due to budget crisis) *51 Merle Hay Crosstown (merged with Route 5 on August 23, 2015) *71 Ankeny / Delaware Avenue (Discontinued on November 23, 2012) *73 Urbandale / Windsor Heights FLEX (peak only, 20-30 minutes; replaced by DART Flex Connect on October 13, 2019) *90 Airport South Business Park Express (Discontinued on June 10, 2012; replaced by extension of Route 8) *91 Merle Hay Express (Discontinued on October 1, 2017; replaced by extension of Route 5) *97 SW Park Avenue Express (Discontinued on November 22, 2003 due to budget crisis) *Windsor Heights Express (replaced with new Urbandale Express and On Call Service on March 4, 2002) *Urbandale Express (replaced with new Urbandale Express and On Call Service on March 4, 2002) *Summer Special (replaced with new Urbandale Express and On Call Service on March 4, 2002)

Shuttles

* The LINK (free) * D-Line Shuttle (free) *Iowa State Fair Park & Ride Shuttle

Flex Connect in Urbandale/NW Des Moines

Flex Connect is a new on-demand service DART is testing that connects riders in the Flex Connect zone to DART buses. Flex Connect replaced Flex Route 73 in Urbandale and Windsor Heights. With Flex Connect on weekdays, riders in the zone can book an Uber, YellowCabCo. taxi or a DART accessible vehicle to take them to and from one of three transfer points: Gloria Dei Park & Ride, Buccaneer Arena Park & Ride or Merle Hay Mall. From there, riders can connect to DART buses via routes 5, 14, 16, 50, 92 or 93.

On call

* Ankeny * Bondurant *Easter Lake * Grimes

Fleet

Fixed Route Ridership

The ridership and service statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. Per capita statistics are based on the Des Moines urbanized area as reported in NTD data. Starting in 2011, 2010 census numbers replace the 2000 census numbers to calculate per capita statistics.

References

External links

Official Site
{{Iowa public transit Bus transportation in Iowa Transit agencies in Iowa Ankeny, Iowa Urbandale, Iowa