North Liberty edges closer to bus service

NORTH LIBERTY - Residents in North Liberty soon could take a ride on the growing city's pilot intracity bus service.

The North Liberty City Council approved recommendations Tuesday made by the city's nine-member Transit Advisory Committee. It was formed last fall to create a detailed plan to provide transit services on a trial basis.

The committee recommends the city expand on its SEATS paratransit services with a hybrid service that would provide a fixed-route for about four midday hours per day.

Amy Johnson, chairwoman of the Transit Task Force committee, said contracting with SEATS is the best available option for a pilot transit program.

'Given the resources we had, this was the most cost-effective and low-risk option we had,” she said.

The trial program - intended to begin this summer - will be paid for with $50,000 set aside last year by the council. For the trial, one of SEATS's 14-passenger buses will be used, but the city could buy a bus for long-term needs. The council has set aside an additional $50,000 for the program for the coming fiscal year.

The proposed bus route would run every 40 minutes, stop in high-density and residential areas, and allow for four to six complete circulations per day.

A rough outline of a preliminary bus route is bounded by Forevergreen Road on the south, 230th Street on the north, Kansas Avenue on the west and Dubuque Street on the east.

A proposed fare for the service is $1 on-route pickup and $2 for off-route stops. The service would be able to deviate from the fixed-route to serve residents who call in advance.

Further data will be collected after the service launches to ensure regularity for bus stop times.

'For it to be successful, it needs to be somewhat regular on times,” Council member Jim Sayre said.

Once specific details are completed, the city can pursue a 28E Agreement with SEATS for the pilot program.

Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said the board had not formally discussed the SEATS contract, but said he is 'excited about the possibility.”

North Liberty's contract with Johnson County's paratransit service SEATS, which provides rides to the elderly and people with disabilities, costs the city about $25,000 a year, or about $30 per ride.

The intracity route would not affect the existing SEATS service.

North Liberty's only other transit system entails a single route from downtown Iowa City to North Liberty provided through a contract with Coralville. The service, came with the cost of $80,000 in 2014, largely because of to low ridership.

The route started in 2006 and averages 68 riders a day between both trips, but five to 12 of those are picked up in Coralville along the way, Wheatley said. The average annual ridership is 13,600 people.

The task force did not provide recommendations on the future of the city's existing transit services.