$8.1 million federal grant will help Cedar Rapids cover bus service losses due to coronavirus

CEDAR RAPIDS - Until city bus service was suspended due to coronavirus restrictions, ridership in Cedar Rapids was running ahead of the 1.25 million passenger count the transit department recorded last year.

'We were up a couple of percent and planning to expand our services,” Transit Manager Brad DeBrower said Monday.

An $8.1 million federal grant - part of $25 billion Congress included for transit systems in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act - should provide a bridge to resuming a semblance of normal operations when the buses start rolling again.

The transit budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is nearly $11 million.

For the time being, the city has suspended bus service through May 15, and most of the department's 55 workers, including more than 40 drivers, are on paid administrative leave.

The grant money is intended to help cover operations and personnel costs, according to the federal Department of Transportation.

'Our hope is that we'll have a healthy workforce, ready to go when operations resume,” DeBrower said.

So far, he said, the department hasn't had any employees test positive for COVID-19.

DeBrower has no idea when operations will resume. Before suspending service March 25, the city had taken steps to limit social interactions by suspending the collection of fares and asking riders to limit the number of people on a bus to 10 at most.

DeBrower expects those policies to continue as service is resumed.

'We expect it will take some time before people get more comfortable being out in public again, so we expect low ridership and low revenue,” he said. 'The grant will help offset those losses so we can maintain similar level service.”

With city buses not rolling, Linn County LIFTS and Neighborhood Transportation Service at Horizons have been filling the void. Fares for those services have been waived.

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