Iowa DOT News

AMES, Iowa – Dec. 13, 2016 – Today, the Iowa Transportation Commission (Commission) approved more than $400,000 in Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) projects for six transit agencies and the Iowa Department of Transportation. The Commission approved the funds for eight projects submitted by the following six entities.

• Cedar Rapids
• Ames (CyRide)
• Sioux City
• Muscatine
• East Central Iowa Council of Governments (Region 10) (Cedar Rapids)
• Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (Region 11)

JARC projects will provide transportation and other support services to help persons on welfare and other low-income persons find and keep gainful employment.

Cedar Rapids, Ames, Sioux City, and Muscatine will provide specialized transportation services to area businesses. Region 10 will fund two mobility managers in the region to provide a single point of access for customers and promote transit services to the community. HIRTA will create a voucher program to provide transportation services to individuals facing difficulties accessing employment opportunities.

The Commission also approved more than $500,000 in New Freedom (NF) projects for five transit agencies and the Iowa DOT. The Commission approved the funds for six projects submitted by the following five entities.

• Sioux City
• Muscatine
• Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (Region 1)
• Regional Transit Authority (Region 8)
• Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (HIRTA) (Region 11)

The NF projects will expand services to persons with disabilities and go beyond minimums established by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The Sioux City project will provide vouchers to expand mobility services for eligible paratransit passengers. The Muscatine project will accommodate transportation requests within the city of Muscatine and 0.75mile beyond our published routes per ADA guidelines. Region 1 and Region 8 will fund mobility manager positions that will provide a coordinated communitywide transportation service network. The HIRTA project will enhance their scheduling software to enable partner organizations to communicate through a central repository and eliminate confusion brought on a high volume of phone calls and emails.

The Commission also approved a proposal submitted by the Iowa DOT that will fund a statewide project with remaining JARC and NF funds. This project will convert all fixed-route transit systems to General Transit Feed Specification and allow public transit agencies to publish their transit data in a common format for public transportation schedules and associated geographic information. The project will improve public transit access and information to both limited-income and disabled populations.

A listing of the individual projects and funding amounts is available on the Iowa DOT’s website www.iowadot.gov/transit/funding.html.

For more information, contact: Sree Mitra at 515-239-1806 or [email protected]

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