DART was founded in 1973 as the Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority, commonly known as the MTA. Formed by a partnership of the cities of Des Moines, West Des Moines, Clive, Windsor Heights, and Urbandale. The MTA eventually developed a 14-county carpool and vanpool system in addition to its bus system. By 2006, population growth in varying regions of central Iowa led to Polk County and nineteen cities forming a regional transportation agency following changes to Iowa law in 2005. Sunday service was added for the first time in 2007. In 2008, a free shuttle linked downtown Des Moines with the Iowa State Capitol. In 2012, a $21 million bus transfer station was opened on the south end of downtown, ending decades of using Walnut Street as a transit mall. DART Central Station serves as a major hub for many of DART's local buses. Today, DART services Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Clive, Des Moines, Grimes, Johnston, Pleasant Hill, Polk County, Urbandale, West Des Moines and Windsor Heights. DART is represented by a board of 12 Commissioners, one from each member government it serves. Commission meetings are open to the public, and information can be found on the DART website.
Structure
DART utilizes a hub and spoke system, designed to favor commuters, as opposed to point-to-point system. Most local routes run through downtown Des Moines. DART also has express routes that stop in Downtown Des Moines and On Call routes that operate within specific zones in the Greater Des Moines area.
Flex Connect is a new on-demand service DART is testing that connects riders in the Flex Connect zone to DART buses. Flex Connect replaced Flex Route 73 in Urbandale and Windsor Heights. With Flex Connect, riders in the zone can book an Uber, YellowCabCo. taxi or a DART accessible vehicle to take them to and from one of three transfer points: Gloria Dei Park & Ride, Buccaneer Arena Park & Ride or Merle Hay Mall. From there, riders can connect to DART buses via routes 5, 14, 16, 50, 92 or 93. Flex Connect operates Monday – Friday, from 5:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
