MPO briefs officials on Crandick corridor reuse: rail, bus rapid transit or 'pop up metro' under consideration

Kevin Ralston, executive director of the local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), presented options to regional officials at a January 2025 joint entities meeting for reusing the Crandick rail corridor between North Liberty and Iowa City.

Ralston said planning‑level work over the last decade produced multiple studies — a 2015 passenger‑rail conceptual study, a 2016 Iowa City–North Liberty focused phase, a 2018 rails‑to‑trails review, a 2020 commuter rail study and a recent bus‑rapid‑transit (BRT) feasibility analysis. He summarized three current options: a diesel multiple‑unit passenger rail, bus rapid transit using electric buses, and a leased pilot known as the pop up metro light‑rail demonstration.

"The corridor I'd like to talk about today is really this 9 mile stretch," Ralston said, describing the alignment from Penn Street in North Liberty to Burlington Street in Iowa City. He said the passenger‑rail concept envisioned seven stations, about a 25‑minute end‑to‑end run, roughly 5,300 daily rides Monday–Friday and a capital cost originally estimated at about $60 million (inflated to current dollars in the studies). Annual…