News

DART’s Ride to Thrive program allows people who receive food assistance, housing assistance or workforce assistance to pay about half the cost of a regular bus fare. Riders who use this program must re-enroll every two years. Many Ride to Thrive customers will need to re-enroll in the program in fall 2024. 

Recently, DART, and specifically the long-term funding of our regional transit service, has been in the news as local elected officials disagree on how much each community should contribute to our regional transit system. These discussions come at a time when many communities are reassessing what they are willing to invest in as they confront a tough economy, high inflation, and state mandates on property taxes limiting the tax revenue they can collect to fund essential public services.

Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) and its governing body, the DART Commission, have launched an 18-month collaborative effort to establish a shared vision for how public transit can meet communities’ needs and connect people to vital destinations across a growing region.

DART made minor schedule changes to several local and express bus routes in late August.

The following routes were impacted: 

The Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) provided 3,504,072 rides across all transit services in Fiscal Year 2024 (July 2023 – June 2024), an increase of nearly 9% from the previous year.

Ridership grew on several DART services last year:  

Iowa State Fair parking is easy when you take a DART Park & Ride shuttle to the fair in 2025. 

DART operates shuttle services from three Park & Ride locations during the Iowa State Fair. By riding Park & Ride shuttles, fair-goers enjoy their trips to the Iowa State Fairgrounds without worrying about traffic or paying for parking.

You can park for free in parking lots specified at each location, purchase a ticket, and then board buses headed to Gate 10 of the State Fairgrounds.

DART is updating its Park & Ride locations across Greater Des Moines. Two new locations have been added, while several are no longer available. 

DART partners with the owners of each Park & Ride location to offer free parking near a bus stop. Look for the Park & Ride sign in each of the designated lots.  

DART plans to make several changes affecting customers on July 1, 2024. Scroll down to read about each change and why it is occurring. 
 

No Wi-Fi on Buses 

Wi-Fi will no longer be available on any DART bus effective July 1, 2024. Customers can use Wi-Fi for free at DART Central Station. 

On May 18, DART held its annual Roadeo competition, a timed driving skills course. Twenty competitors, from all over DART, participated to showcase their talents behind the wheel of a 40-foot and/or a smaller On Demand bus.

Here are the winners from the 2024 DART Roadeo: