Good news for regional transit

Two recent developments could be good news for the future of regional mass transit.

The Iowa City Council voted 6-0 last month to hire a consulting firm to study the prospects for converting the existing Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway into a bus rapid system route between Iowa City and North Liberty. A bus system given its own dedicated traffic-free route could be more reliable, faster and convenient than regular bus systems.

Dreams of making CRANDIC a passenger rail route between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City have faded. CRANDIC’s owners have made it clear that they no longer want to seek to revive the rail service in partnership with local governments. They’re open to other uses, such as rapid transit busing, but don’t want to operate the new system.

“The end goal of the study is to allow local stakeholders the opportunity to compare elements of the completed passenger rail studies with elements of a completed bus rapid transit study,” said Emily Bothell, senior associate transportation planner with the Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County, according to reporting by The Gazette’s Tom Barton.

Bus rapid transit, Bothell said “is just another alternative form of transportation that local stakeholders wanted to consider and whether it would function better or worse than passenger rail.”

Bus rapid transit is a promising idea. It makes sense to study all transit options as vehicle traffic multiplies on I-380.

The second piece of good news came from the Iowa Department of Transportation, which will continue funding 380 Express bus service between Cedar Rapids and Des Moines through 2026.

The service was created to help commuters avoid road construction associated with rebuilding the I-80\I-380 interchange. More construction projects are being planned, so the DOT is going to continue 380 Express service.

The 380 Express stops at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Coralville’s Iowa River Landing and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Since 2019, 380 Express’ total ridership tops 275,000. We’d like to see a more robust effort to inform commuters of the 380 Express option.

Regional transit has considerable benefits both for consumers and the environment. Public transit cuts traffic congestion and carbon emissions. At the very least, it’s worth investigating what’s possible.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com