“It’s just so much more convenient”: Iowa City residents reflect on fare free transit

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Last October, Iowa City transit hosted just over 105,000 riders.

This October, that number jumped to over 150,000.

“We’re very excited. With the first three months of data in, we’ve seen a 44% increase in transit ridership, and that’s 135,000 more people just in the first three months compared to last year.” said Iowa City Director of Transportation Services Darian Nagle-Gamm.

Nagle-Gamm says those increases aren’t just coming from previous passengers, they’re coming from new ones, too.

Like Emily Zerbonia, A University of Iowa student who says the program makes getting to class much easier.

“It’s awesome being able to take the bus since it’s free. It gets me right to where I need to go, the library, the downtown interchange, it’s just so much more convenient having the buses free. I don’t have to worry about parking my car.” said Zerbonia.

Or Francisco Trejo, a newer passenger who says the free fare allows him to prioritize other expenses.

“Now that I don’t have to worry about the fare I save up that little bit of extra money every day in order to support myself going to college here. I use the money in order to save up to buy books, to buy food, to pay rent for my apartment.” said Trejo.

As for funding, the city says fare fees made up less than 10% of their annual revenue, and the economic stimulation from riders using that money elsewhere is better for the city’s economy overall.

But Nagle-Gamm says the best part of this new program is the feedback she hears from passengers.

“We were really thrilled to see so many in the community hop on board, send us positive notes, tell us thank you for the service we’re providing to the community. So we’ve been thrilled to see how much the community’s really gotten behind this pilot project.” said Nagle-Gamm.

For the next two years, the program is funded by Federal COVID relief money. But Iowa City Transit says they’re in the early stages of figuring out how to extend the program after that money runs out.

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