Bondurant, Pleasant Hill explore paratransit-only DART service
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DART is exploring a new paratransit-only service option for Bondurant and Pleasant Hill.
Why it matters: The move could maintain door-to-door, wheelchair-accessible transportation for people with disabilities, even as the transit agency plans to cut more than a dozen bus routes in July.
Catch up quick: DART this year launched its "Reimagine" project to modernize and better align services with travel patterns.
- The proposed network would shift most bus services to eight routes that run every 30 minutes most of the day, and two others that would run every hour.
Friction point: Much of DART's $43.4 million annual budget is distributed among nearly a dozen metro governments, based on a formula that has been a source of contention in recent years.
- Des Moines' city government recently agreed to pick up a larger share, ramping up its contribution from about a third to almost 50% over the next few years and increasing a franchise fee to help cover it.
Yes, but: Grimes ended its membership this year, and Pleasant Hill will withdraw its membership in July, eliminating regular bus service to those communities and decreasing the agency's revenue by more than $1 million annually.
- Meanwhile, next year's proposed networks could not expand service in Bondurant, even though it is one of the fastest-growing areas in the metro.
Driving the news: Bondurant and Pleasant Hill would pay a tax rate of 10 cents per $1,000 of valuation, along with full reimbursement for paratransit services, under the proposal.
- Bondurant's contribution to DART would decrease from approximately $334,000 to about $43,500; Pleasant Hill's would decrease from roughly $477,500 to around $127,500, according to estimates DART provided to Axios.
The intrigue: The paratransit-only model will be part of a three-year study and will only be available to communities with 20,000 or fewer residents and whose boundaries are more than 50% disconnected from the system's fixed routes.
Between the lines: The proposal allows Bondurant and Pleasant Hill to keep paratransit service without risking the overall regional transit network, Erin Hockman, DART's chief strategy officer, tells Axios.
Stunning stat: Every $1 invested in public transportation yields $5 in economic returns, according to the American Public Transit Association.
What's next: Bondurant and Pleasant Hill city leaders must vote and report back to DART by Dec. 31 and Jan. 15, respectively, on whether they will withdraw their memberships from DART or proceed with the paratransit option.