DART ridership rises 2.5 percent, express rides fall with low gas prices
The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority posted a 2.5 percent gain in ridership in the year that ended in June.
Ridership rose to 4,429,136 from 4,319,624 overall. The gains appeared to come from the popularity of a relatively new route serving Valley West Mall and Jordan Creek Town Center, another along Douglas Avenue, and the fairgrounds route that recently set a record for ridership during the Iowa State Fair.
Route 16, which serves Douglas Avenue, was up 6.4 percent, to 449,742 from 422,813. That ridership was second only to the fairgrounds route’s 467,797, which was up 4.6 percent from 447,255. Route 52, which serves Valley West and Jordan Creek via Interstate 235, grew by 26.5 percent, to 181,830 rides from 143,789. That route was added in November 2012.
Route 17, serving Hubbell Avenue and Altoona, gained just shy of 14 percent, to 252,889 rides from 221,928.
On the down side, DART continued to suffer losses on all of its express routes. The biggest drop came on the Westown Express, Route 94, at 18 percent. Altoona Express lost 14 percent. The other losses were in single digits, with Northwest 86th Express losing the least, at 1.7 percent.
DART officials have said that lower gas prices are likely to blame for the downturn on express routes, which are popular with commuters when fuel prices soar.
RideShare traffic was down 5.5 percent, D-Line shuttle was off 16.7 percent, and the Link shuttle was down 2 percent.
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