Hunter
08/25/24
Iowa City Transit’s free-fare program’s first year numbers are in, and the pilot program has seen a significant uptick in ridership.
According to the city, more than 1.5 million individual riders took advantage of the new system in the last fiscal year ending June 30th, an increase of 43 percent.
Ridership has been rising since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic when in-school classes returned and people went back to their workplaces.
The pilot program, which is in its second year, was instituted with federal funds from the city’s American Rescue Plan Act, with the goal of decreasing carbon emissions and increasing transportation equity. After the two-year period ends, the city plans on funding the fare-free program with a combination of federal funds and funds from the city’s revenue stream.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports during the last City Council meeting, improvements like adding bus shelter space and moving toward a regional transit system were discussed.
Iowa City Transit saw peak ridership in 2010, when 1.94 million riders used the system. As of 2021, the city was ranked 16th highest urban area with the most transit travel by the American Public Transit Association. Iowa City Transportation director Darian Nagle-Gamm told the Gazette that she believes the city will continue to climb, joining 4th ranked Ames and larger metro areas like New York, San Francisco and Chicago.
She added that the ridership increase amounts to a reduction of roughly 31,000 metric tons of carbon, the equivalent of taking about 6800 vehicles off the road. It’s estimated that the free-fare program has saved residents about $1.3 million.