March 19, 2024

HIRTA growing, expanding in Jasper County

Ridership continues to grow in Jasper County for the Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency.

Operations manager Brooke Ramsey gave a report on the organization, along with funding requests, to the Jasper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

“Fiscal year 2016, through May, we provided 54,270 rides in Jasper County which is up from the previous year by about 2,200 rides,” Ramsey said. “We did almost 160,000 miles and more than 19,000 hours of services.”

A new informational feature the organization created last year was TAG, or Transportation Advisory Group. The group consists of participants from Impact Community Action Program, Jasper County Veterans Affair, RSVP and Optimae among others who meet to discuss the activities of HIRTA.

“They help us do research on unmet needs and help find focal points for decisions that we will make in increasing services moving into the next fiscal year,” Ramsey said. “There is one in each county and as a region they meet at least once a year. All seven of the counties come together to look at bigger ideas, projects and concerns for the region as well.”

Another new partnership for HIRTA is with the Goodwill Career Connection Center for a “Job Seek” program to assist those in community actively looking for work. Funded with grants from Theisen’s and the Iowa Department of Transportation, Job Seek will provide free transportation to up to 10 interviews and to a job up to two weeks after a position has been accepted.

“(It provides) transportation after they have accepted a position to get them through to get their first paycheck. It is going to be a wonderful partnership,” Ramsey said.

Other additions and changes within the organizations include additional trips to Des Moines on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, up from previous years when only two days of transportation were available. HIRTA is also in partnership with the Newton Convention and Visitors Bureau to provide a shuttle service to the Iowa Speedway on race weekend.

“At the first race this year, we did 188 rides, drove 375 miles and had the buses in service for 33 hours just for that one weekend,” Ramsey said.

Future projects for the organization include a potential customer web portal that would allow customers to go online to request their rides and pay for them in advance. Another piece of the web portal will allow for facilities, such as the hospital or Optimae, to request rides for their customers.

The board approved $32,785 in funding for HIRTA, an amount that was included during budget discussion earlier this year.

“You’re busy, you are a growing program,” supervisor Joe Brock said.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com