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DART tells Johnston council ridership is rising; launches 'Reimagine DART' redesign
Summary
DART CEO Amanda Wonke told the Johnston City Council that ridership has increased in recent years (Johnston recorded just over 10,000 fixed-route boardings in FY24) and outlined a region-wide 'Reimagine DART' system redesign and a property-tax allocation formula that shares 50.8% among suburbs.
Amanda Wonke, chief executive of regional transit agency DART, briefed the Johnston City Council on Wednesday evening about regional ridership trends, service types in Johnston and a planned system redesign.
Wonke said DART provided more than 3.5 million trips last year and that nine in 10 of those trips are for work or earning income. She reported Johnston had just over 10,000 fixed-route boardings in fiscal year 2024 and that paratransit trips in the region steadied at about 8,000. Wonke noted DART knows the origins of paratransit users and said 44 riders are residents of Johnston while about 150 others come into the community for appointments, work or shopping.
Wonke described DART’s property-tax allocation as roughly 49.2% retained for the City of Des Moines and 50.8% shared among suburbs, with the shared portion apportioned half by population and half by service tier. She said that moving Johnston from tier 4 to tier 3 (a 7-day service threshold) would add roughly a 15% share of the suburban portion to Johnston’s contribution, and estimated a $200,000 homeowner would pay about $60 per year for DART service under current calculations.
Wonke introduced "Reimagine DART," an initiative to build consensus around shared regional transit goals and complete a system redesign by December 2025 aimed at aligning service types (fixed route, microtransit, vanpool) with community needs.
Council members asked about on-time performance and occasional trip cancellations; Wonke said staff will follow up with data on missed or canceled stops and reiterated that on‑time performance is a top priority. Council and the mayor thanked Wonke for the presentation and encouraged continued outreach to businesses and DMACC (which participates in the unlimited-access fare program for students).
