Urbandale council hears DART’s ‘reimagine’ transit options; members lean toward ridership model

DART staff presented two conceptual alternatives for a redesigned regional bus network to the Urbandale City Council on April 1, underscoring a choice between a higher-frequency “ridership” network and a broader “coverage” network that uses microtransit zones.

The presentation, led by Amanda Wonke of DART and consultant Ricky Ngueta of Jarrett Walker & Associates, reviewed current ridership and paratransit use in Urbandale, fiscal constraints tied to property-tax funding, and a schedule that asks the DART commission to take direction in early May and vote on a recommended level of service on May 19.

Why it matters: the two concepts have different goals and implications. The ridership concept concentrates service on fewer corridors with more frequent buses to expand the number of jobs and destinations reachable within 45 minutes; the coverage concept spreads service more widely using microtransit zones to keep many more residents within walking distance of some transit, but at lower frequency and lower capacity.

"Ridership has surpassed those pre pandemic levels and is at about 22 to 23,000 total in, in Urbandale," Amanda Wonke said, citing DART ridership and noting heavy use of paratransit. Wonke said about 70 paratransit users are Urbandale residents and roughly 200 are riders from other cities who come into Urbandale for services and shopping.

Ngueta, the consultant, described the two approaches using the standard trade-off transit planners call "ridership versus coverage," and…