Bondurant leaves DART while commissioners approve major system changes

Des Moines County Regional Transit Authority commissioners quickly approved a plan to overhaul central Iowa’s bus system with fewer routes but more frequent trips.

But leaders were dismayed to learn of another member community’s plans to withdraw from the system.

Bondurant will resign his membership after the vote to be held at the City Council meeting on Monday, December 1. The decision marks the third city to leave the DART system in the last two years.

Bondurant’s membership expires on July 1, 2027. Pleasant Hill’s membership expires June 31, and Grimes is already done.

The system currently serves 10 cities and Polk County.

Bondurant Mayor Doug Elrod told the DART Board of Commissioners at the Tuesday, Dec. 2 meeting that the City Council’s 3-2 vote to leave came after a lengthy discussion about whether it made sense to continue paying given low ridership. Elrod said an estimated 12 people boarded the bus at Bondurant.

“There’s a feeling in our community that there’s really no value to public transportation in Bondurant,” Elrod said.

Still, Elrod said the city is interested in reinstating DART. intermediate passageDoor-to-door bus service for disabled people. Pleasant Hill is also interested in maintaining paratransit service.

DART commissioners, including West Des Moines Mayor Russ Trimble, lamented Bondurant leaders’ decision to withdraw. Nearly 60% said it was more important than ever to keep members together to preserve bus service for riders who use public transportation to get to work.

“I see this system starting to implode. And if we don’t get things under control and realize there’s a greater good out there, we’re going to be in trouble,” Trimble said. “I’m asking everyone to come together for the betterment of our region and figure this out for all the people for whom this service is a lifeline.”

Trimble also praised DART staff for their work on the Reimagine DART plan to make bus service more efficient.

DART CEO Amanda Wanke previously told the Des Moines Register that the Reimagine concept is the system’s first major renovation since it was founded in 2006. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.“

DART leaders said: The changes are designed to provide the region with a more trustworthy environmentWhile the all-day system also recognizes trade-offs: some areas will lose coverage, commuter routes will be cut and passengers may face longer walks to reach their stops.

More: ‘A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’: DART seeks public comment on bus system overhaul

Passengers can expect fewer routes overall but more frequent service where demand is highest. The agency is planning an approximately 10% reduction in total service hours to address budget constraints.

Still, the average Des Moines metro resident will be able to reach 15% more destinations in 45 minutes on weekdays and 89% more on Sundays under the new system, according to a Dec. 2 news release from DART.

According to DART, fixed route changes will begin in June 2026, followed by new microtransit zones or on-demand transit rollout in the fall.

What happens to routes and frequency?

DART has 27 fixed bus routes in its current system. Only one of them has buses that run every 15 minutes on most weekdays, with the frequency decreasing on weekends. Thirteen runs every 20 to 60 minutes on weekdays and every 60 to 80 minutes on weekends. The other 13 routes operate only during peak weekday commute hours.

The redesign will replace this network with 10 major routes. The focus is shifting from heavy-traffic-only commuter buses to all-day, all-week service on the busiest streets.

Four of these 10 routes have been designated “core corridors” and will carry buses every 15 minutes for most of the day:

• University Avenue corridor: From DART Central Station along University Avenue to downtown and Drake, west to Valley West Mall in West Des Moines.

• Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway corridor: DART Central Station along MLK to Polk County River Place.

• Ingersoll Boulevard corridor: From DART Central Station along Ingersoll Boulevard to 42nd Street.

• East University Boulevard corridor: from DART Central Station along East University Boulevard to Hubbell Boulevard.

On the remaining six routes, buses will run less frequently: most will be scheduled at 30-minute intervals, while two routes will be scheduled hourly. Many of these routes branch off from core corridors.

DART spokeswoman Sarah Welch said West Des Moines chose to pay for the new Route 20, which would provide limited weekday service to West Des Moines after details of the overhaul were announced earlier this year.

What do service hours look like?

Service hours will also change. Buses will operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to Saturday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

Compared to today, weekday flights will start one hour later and end one hour earlier, and on Saturday they will end one hour earlier.

How will buses change in the Des Moines suburbs?

To support fixed routes, DART plans to add three weekday microtransit zones in Ankeny, Altoona and Clive/Urbandale. Also called optional transit, microtransit service It allows the driver to request a pickup via an app and be driven to the destination in a multi-passenger vehicle such as a car, minibus or small bus.

The service will operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

Can two cities receive intermediate public transportation services?

Bondurant and Pleasant Hill are considering participating in a three-year interim transit program, Welch said.

Welch said the program is aimed at DART member cities with populations of 20,000 or fewer whose borders are not connected to the fixed route system. Only Bondurant and Pleasant Hill are subject to these restrictions.

According to the DART memo, DART asked Bondurant and Pleasant Hill to decide whether they would participate in the program by Dec. 31 and Jan. 15, respectively.

Des Moines Register reporter Nick El Hajj contributed to this story.

Virginia Barreda is the Register’s Des Moines city government reporter. He can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vbarreda2.

This article first appeared in the Des Moines Register: Bondurant leaves DART as commissioners approve major system changes