How DART Responds to Transportation Needs During Major Events

At DART, we’re proud to support our community’s transportation needs. While our primary goal is to get people to and from work, school, healthcare and other important destinations, we are occasionally able to help people reach major events in our region. You may have seen DART buses providing trips to and from the Iowa State Fair each August or taking bicyclists between Water Works Park and downtown Des Moines when RAGBRAI made an overnight stop in Central Iowa in 2023.

When major events come to town, we do our best to respond to increased transportation demands. If it fits within our budget, we may add capacity to one or more bus routes to support passengers using our services and ensure DART operations run smoothly. This allows us to take more people where they want to go!

Full Buses, Full Benefits

There are several benefits to increasing our capacity to serve more people when big events come to town.

It’s Efficient 

• Public transit cuts down on traffic and parking problems surrounding large events, helping keep our buses running on time.

• It helps more people attend events by making it easier to get there.

It Shows the Value of Public Transit 

• For some people, riding DART to an event might be the only time they take the bus— and it allows them to see how easy and useful it is.

• Even if you don’t ride the bus, you might hear about our services through the news or social media.

It Helps Us Earn Federal Dollars 

• DART gets a portion of our federal funding based on how many miles our buses travel and how many trips people take.

• When people use our services, it helps increase the dollars we receive to support our overall infrastructure and operations.

Case Study: DART and the Iowa State Fair

The Iowa State Fair has partnered with DART for nearly 20 years. In 2024, we provided more than 272,000 rides during the Fair — setting a new record!

DART provides bus service to the Fairgrounds year-round, seven days a week. During the Iowa State Fair, DART enhances service between the Fairgrounds and multiple Park & Ride locations across Greater Des Moines. We can provide this service by adding more buses to Local Route 1 and placing the route on a temporary detour. Without dedicating more vehicles to Route 1, we wouldn’t be able to meet the higher transportation demands seen during the Fair.

How do we pay for the extra buses?

• Riders pay a $3 round-trip fare, with discounts available for seniors, kids and other groups. This is slightly below the cost of a round-trip ticket on our fixed route buses.

• Since Route 1 provides service to the fairgrounds all year, the Iowa State Fair helps cover the annual cost of the route.

The Iowa State Fair relies on DART to help people get to the fairgrounds. For the first time ever in 2024, both Saturdays of the Fair sold out of parking. Without DART, thousands of people might not have been able to attend.

Did you know? When DART launches all new bus routes in June 2026, we will continue to have a bus route near the Fairgrounds. Route 12 will provide service every half hour, for most of the day all week long on East University Avenue, allowing us to continue serving fairgoers in the future.