Officials at the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority are beginning to prepare for changes to its system following the approval of its redesigned network this week.

The DART commission voted Tuesday to approve the redesigned network that reduces fixed route service but increases the frequency of its routes, a move leaders say will increase access to jobs in the metro.

The decision comes as Bondurant decided to withdraw from DART, citing too few riders from the community to make remaining in DART viable.

The redesign is the first major change in bus routes and services in more than a decade. In addition to increasing access and travel times, the redesign reduces service by 10% to limit property tax growth, DART leaders said in a news release.

DART officials said the redesign is needed to better meet the evolving needs of riders, which have changed as the metro has grown. 

Under the redesigned network, the number of fixed routes will decline from as many as 27 to 10.

The new fixed route network will go into effect on June 14, with DART On Demand Service beginning in Ankeny, Clive, Urbandale and Altoona in Fall 2026.

Under the redesigned network, the average resident will be able to access 15% more destinations within 45 minutes on weekdays, and 89% more weekends, with 7% more residents having access to public transit on weekdays, a release said.

Amanda Wanke, CEO of DART, said now that the redesigned network has been approved, staff is working to be ready when the changes go into effect.

Those changes include route names, branding, new bus stop designs, fare changes, staff schedules and training, she said.

“So there’s a lot here in the next few months,” she said.

According to the agency’s website, 60% of its riders take the bus to get to and from work. More than 60% of its riders are between the ages of 25 and 64, with 14% being under 18 and 7% being over the age of 65. Another 14% are between 19 and 24.

Data provided by DART also shows that 61% of riders do not have a working vehicle in their home, about an equal number don’t have a valid driver’s license, and 85% of those who ride DART have a total household income of less than $50,000 a year.

DART ridership increased to more than 3.75 million rides for fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30, an increase of nearly 7% over the previous year.

Monday’s vote was the culmination of a multi-year process that began when DART started collecting input from its member communities and riders about what they wanted in a public transit service. The agency launched its Reimagine DART initiative, a multi-step effort to redesign the bus route network and address funding challenges, in fall 2024.

Since then, DART offered more public input opportunities for stakeholders and earlier this year began work to draw new maps based on what they learned.

Wanke said she’s proud of the DART team and the region for coming together to get the redesigned network across the finish line.

“The ability to work together as a staff, as elected officials, our community to collaborate and work together to move towards a shared goal, I’m really proud of our team and our community for making this happen,” she said.

Bondurant’s decision to give its notice of intent to withdraw from DART did not come as a surprise and will not affect the future of DART’s new network, Wanke said.

She said DART has known for a few months that Bondurant was considering leaving the system, and that officials from DART and Bondurant have been engaged in conversations about the city’s future in DART.

Bondurant has 18 months before DART service would end. It joins Grimes and Pleasant Hill as metro communities that have given notice or withdrawn from DART.

Bondurant Mayor Doug Elrod said there are only about 12 riders who use the Bondurant service, with nearly all of them using it to get to the Amazon facility in the community, the only fixed route serving Bondurant. And with the schedules those individuals work, they aren’t likely to visit local businesses, he said.

There is also only one neighborhood within three-quarters of a mile from the Amazon facility that is served by paratransit service, a federal requirement for transit agencies.

The city’s annual contribution to DART is $333,000, and the council determined it was no longer cost effective to continue participating in DART, Elrod said.

Elrod said he has discussed with Amazon about the effect ending DART service will have on their facility in Bondurant. He said he will be meeting with the facility’s general manager in January to further discuss how the Amazon workforce will be affected.

With an 18-month waiting period before service ends, Elrod said the city will continue talks with DART about options to serve the community, including expanding paratransit service community-wide. He said he has asked DART to transition Bondurant’s service to paratransit over the next year to see how it goes.

“My hope is that that will give us enough time to understand whether our community would leverage the service of paratransit,” Elrod said. “It would create a value add for my community. We would be able to serve more people, and if at the end of the year we can find that value, then perhaps we can change the council’s mind and stick with it long term if there is a value there.”

The decision to expand paratransit community-wide in Bondurant will be made by DART in the coming months.

Bondurant has not begun to look at alternatives for public transit, he said.

“We’re still kind of right in the middle of this and trying to figure out what these next steps are,” Elrod said. “I’m hopeful it will work out.”

Whatever happens with Bondurant, the effect on DART and its redesigned network will be minimal, Wanke said.

“We have known this was a possibility and we have prepared from a budget standpoint for the impact of that withdrawal,” she said. “The impact is pretty minor given they have limited service.”

Past coverage:

DART launches effort to redesign public transit

Seeking sustainable transit

DART begins process of drafting new network