New Bus Routes for Urbandale in June

Urbandale is getting a new local bus route and extended or improved express bus routes in June, according to a DART plan that will be presented to the public tonight at the

The public presentation tonight from 5 to 6:30 p.m. is geared to explain the changes to residents, said Gunnar Olson, DART's public information officer, who will be speaking tonight.

Tonight's meeting in Urbandale is one of nine this week in the metro area. There will be three tomorrow in Des Moines libraries and one tonight at 7 p.m. at the West Des Moines Library. 

Three express buses -- those that pick up passengers in Urbandale early in the morning, travel nonstop to downtown Des Moines, and then bring them back in the late afternoon -- will serve the city.

• The #91 bus, which starts in Johnston and serves the Pioneer Hi-Bred campus will be realigned to serve Urbandale as well. The route used to travel along Lower Beaver Road downtown, but now will travel along Merle Hay Road. Click on the second pdf above to view.
• The #92 Hickman Express now will be extended all the way out Hickman Road to what is now a park and ride lot at Dahls grocery store at 156th and Hickman. The third pdf above shows the route.
• The existing #93 Northwest 86th Express changes very little. The fourth pdf above shows that route.

New for Urbandale will be #73 bus, which will function as a commuter and On Call bus for Urbandale and Windsor Heights, and also as Urbandale's only local bus service with frequent stops along the route. 

The #73 bus will travel through Windsor Heights, go north through Urbandale on 72nd Street, cut over to 70th Street and go past and then travel west on Meredith Drive out to 128th Street. The first pdf above shows the route.

Olson said that in addition to functioning as a local-route bus like those in Des Moines, the route will incorporate Urbandale's On Call service. For a premium fare of $3.50, the bus will pick up passengers who call ahead to book and who want to be picked up within a mile of the bus route (the area shown in pink on the route.)

The route links the east and west parts of Urbandale by bus for the first time. 

According to Urbandale's 2011 Citizen Survey, just 4 percent of Urbandale residents surveyed said they rode a public bus in 2011. When those results were announced last month, Tom Gayman, the Urbandale councilman who sits on DART's board, wondered aloud if the city should spend tax money to increase bus service here. 

The 2012 changes are the beginning of a long-term plan to improve mass transit in the metro area, which would require more tax money, according to DART.