116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Johnson County transit program unlikely to continue beyond pilot phase
Despite increased ridership, a future funding source for Trip Connect hasn’t been identified
Jan. 3, 2026 5:30 am
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
IOWA CITY — Johnson County’s Trip Connect pilot program, meant to provide transportation when other forms of public transit are not available, has seen a steady increase in ridership over its first full calendar year of service.
Since launching in mid-December of 2024, Trip Connect has completed more than 4,200 rides with the pilot program set to end June 30, 2026. It’s also seen a steady increase in ridership since the launch, averaging 494 rides per month since July, something county staff attribute to growing awareness about the program.
In January, Trip Connect’s first full month, there were 180 completed rides. In October, the service saw its highest usage with 616 completed rides, before dropping back down to 544 in November.
Despite the usage rates, county staff have recommended that the program not continue beyond the pilot phase due to funding constraints.
The pilot program is estimated to cost $700,000 in total. Through October 2025, the program cost a little over $380,000. It is funded through a mix of funds from Johnson County, North Liberty, Kirkwood Community College, a National Center for Mobility Management grant, an Iowa Department of Transportation special projects grant, an Iowa DOT grant and passenger revenue.
Trip Connect is a part of the Cedar Rapids-based nonprofit Horizons, which has contracted with Johnson County to provide the service. It offers $2 curb-to-curb service rides from 5 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and Sundays. Trip Connect operates throughout the Iowa City metro area and northern parts of the county and is exclusively for rides to school, work or job training.
Residents can book a ride in advance through the Trip Connect smartphone app or by calling (319) 363-1321 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays. Trip Connect operate two vans, one of them wheelchair accessible.
“We've been really pleased with our relationship with NTS, the horizons agency. They've done a wonderful job managing the entire operations aspect of it, and I think it's been really nice for the county to be able to check in, but not have to necessarily look at all the day to day aspects,” said Johnson County Mobility Coordinator Kelly Schneider.
Connectivity throughout greater Iowa City metro area
Trip Connect riders’ top destination is Walmart, split between the Coralville and Iowa City locations. Other top destinations include businesses in downtown Iowa City, various McDonald’s and Hy-Vee locations, Coral Ridge Mall, Kirkwood’s Coralville campus and North Liberty’s Geico office.
The majority of rides stay within Iowa City limits, and are an average of 6.44 miles.
“There's also a lot of trips from one city to another, and I think that this is proof that as a public transit user in Johnson County, you're not staying in your same town … There's a lot of people going back to North Liberty from Iowa City. So it just really gives us tangible data to say, to have a program like this, we need to work together,” said Schneider.
In September, the county completed a rider survey to better understand how riders were using the service. Schneider said the feedback indicated Trip Connect was being used in line with the main goal: to offer transportation when other public transit is not available.
“Most users within our service window are only using this from one direction, so it is kind of really wrapping around what existing public transit is going on here,” said Schneider.
In North Liberty, one Coralville Transit route goes through the city twice a day (around 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.) on weekdays. North Liberty also has decided not to renew its contract for the service and is exploring other transit options.
Other public transit entities, including the University of Iowa’s free Cambus service, have limited service hours or service areas. Cambus serves Kirkwood Community College’s Coralville campus, but only during the day.
The majority of Iowa City Transit routes, which are free, run from about 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and offer limited Saturday service. Coralville Transit offers weekday service during business hours, as well as one night route and a Saturday route.
Recommendation to not continue service over financial constraints
While the data shows a growing usage of the Trip Connect service, the county’s Social Services department is recommending to not continue the program beyond the pilot phase solely due to financial constraints.
Schneider said that at its lowest point, the service cost $55 per ride but has averaged around $69 per ride so far in fiscal year 26.
“… It's not an inexpensive service to operate … This budget season, here at the county, we're looking at ways to reduce budgets across all departments, and unfortunately it doesn't seem likely that this will be able to continue,” said Schneider.
The final decision on whether to allocate funding for the program is up to the Board of Supervisors when it approves the Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
The board has directed staff to put an update on the Trip Connect service on the agenda for the January 2026 joint entities meeting. The joint entities meeting is a quarterly meeting between the board, representatives from Johnson County municipalities and members of area school boards.
However, county staff said that in previous conversations with local municipalities a way to jointly fund the program moving forward was not identified. County staff plan to continue exploring various cost share scenarios for the program.
Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com
Get a weekly roundup of Johnson County news by signing up for my Johnson County Update newsletter.
Daily Newsletters