Total ridership on Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority services reached 4.7 million rides in the last fiscal year (July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014), an increase of more than 5 percent over the same previous period.
The ridership increases follow recent investments made in public transit, including expansions of service in 2012 and 2013 under the DART Forward 2035 Plan, the opening of DART Central Station in 2012, and the launch of the MyDART Trip Planner in 2013. DART made additional service improvements service in Greater Des Moines in August, including a new route in Urbandale and increased frequency on seven local and express routes in Des Moines and metro suburbs.
“What this shows is that if you add and improve service, people will use it more,” DART General Manager Elizabeth Presutti said. “Public transit in Greater Des Moines continues to improve, and I encourage people who haven’t been on a bus lately to give it a try.”
Increased ridership in Greater Des Moines reflects a national trend of growing use of public transportation. In March, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported that public transportation use in the United States rose in 2013 to 10.7 billion trips – the highest number in 57 years.
