Iowa Transportation Commission approves transit programs
AMES, Iowa – July 15, 2008 – The Iowa Transportation Commission approved funding of discretionary projects under three public transit programs at their meeting Tuesday, July 15, 2008.
For the Public Transit Infrastructure Grant program, the Commission approved projects allowing construction of new facilities at four transit systems, including constructing new Davenport CitiBus offices at the city’s public works facility; reconstructing the vehicle cleaning area of the Ames Cy-Ride facility; adding new vehicle storage and vehicle washing capabilites at Region 9’s River Bend Transit facility on the north side of Davenport; and constructing additional vehicle storage space at the Western Iowa Transit System facility in Carroll. The Public Transit Infrastructure Grant program was created by the Iowa Legislature in 2006 to assist Iowa’s public transit systems with a portion of the cost of new or improved facilities to support their public transit services.
The federal Job Access/Reverse Commute program supports transit services designed to assist low-income persons in accessing jobs, training and child care services. Based on applications received earlier this year, the Commission approved a total of $1,071,068 to partially fund 28 projects submitted by the following15 transit systems: Cy-Ride in Ames; Cedar Rapids Transit; Coralville Transit; Keyline Transit in Dubuque; Iowa City Transit; Muscabus in Muscatine; Ottumwa Transit Authority; Blackhawk County Metropolitan Transit Authority in Waterloo; Region 1’s Northeast Iowa Community Action Transit system based in Decorah; Region 2’s North Iowa Area Transit system based in Mason City; Region 3’s RIDES system based in Spencer; Region 8’s Delaware, Dubuque and Jackson County RTA based in Dubuque; Region 9’s River Bend Transit based in Davenport; Region 12’s Western Iowa Transit System based in Carroll; and Region 16’s SEIBUS system based in Burlington.
The federal New Freedom program assists transit services designed around the needs of persons with disabilities to provide services that go beyond the levels required under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Based on the applications received, the Commission approved $378,335 to provide partial funding for 17 projects submitted by the following 15 transit systems: Cedar Rapids Transit; Dodger Area Rapid Transit in Fort Dodge; Iowa City Transit; Muscabus in Muscatine; Ottumwa Transit Authority; Sioux City Transit; Region 1’s Northeast Iowa Community Action Transit based in Decorah; Region 3’s RIDES based in Spencer; Region 6’s PeopleRides based in Marshalltown; Region 7’s Iowa Northland Regional Transit Commission based in Waterloo; Region 8’s Delaware, Dubuque and Jackson Counties RTA based in Dubuque; Region 11’s Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency based in Des Moines; Region 12’s Western Iowa Transit based in Carroll; Region 13’s Southwest Iowa Transit Agency based in Atlantic; and Region 15’s 10/15 Regional Transit based in Ottumwa.
A listing of the individual projects and funding amounts is available on the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Office of Public Transit Web site (www.iatransit.com).
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Contact: Peter Hallock at 515-239-1765 or peter.hallock@dot.iowa.gov
