Survey asks for pros and cons of Cedar Rapids area public transit

CEDAR RAPIDS - An online feedback forum is open for the public to comment and share ideas about what public transit should look like in the Cedar Rapids metro.

The Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization is calling on residents, businesses, service providers, and officials in Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Marion, Hiawatha, Robins, Ely, Palo, and Fairfax to offer their 'vision for transit in the Metro area.”

The so-called online town hall is open 24/7 at CorridorMPO.com. Those participating in the survey are eligible to enter a drawing for a 31-day bus pass.

The Corridor MPO also held a series of open houses on the subject this week at the Ground Transportation Center.

The feedback over the next few months will help flesh out concepts and prioritize goals to improve the transit system, the group said.

'One thing I can say at this point with 100-plus surveys completed people of all demographic groups and transit users and non-transit users want longer service hours,” said Brandon Whyte, multimodal transportation planner.

Other early feedback includes 33 percent of transit users use the service at least five days a week, 62 percent don't have a car or can't drive, and Route 5 is overcrowded.

Parsons Brinckerhoff, a consultant based in Kansas City, Kan., is collecting the feedback. The Corridor MPO recently hired the firm for $166,385 to conduct a study of the public transit system. The firm is expected to analyze existing conditions, revenue per mile, ridership, secondary services such as NTS and LIFTS, and conduct public input surveys.

The end result could mean new alignments of routes, new bus shelters, new waiting pads for riders, additional buses and better service. The study began in December and is expected to be complete in May.

The study could also guide how to best use a windfall of new resources in the coming years. The Corridor MPO plans to shift its allocation formula such that about 50 percent of federal surface transportation money goes to public transit. That's $1 million a year for four years beginning in 2021, up from zero.

Additional community meetings will be scheduled for this spring for feedback before the study is finalized.