PLEASANT HILL, Iowa — The city of Pleasant Hill will officially withdraw from the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) in 2026 following a city council vote Tuesday night.
That could mean DART will no longer offer its buses or paratransit services within city limits.
Pleasant Hill has been a member of DART for more than 15 years, but city officials say ridership levels remain low. In addition, Pleasant Hill taxpayers currently pay more than $400,000 for the city to maintain DART membership.
"A significant increase in local ridership would be necessary to provide a positive rate of return on investment to Pleasant Hill taxpayers," the city manager wrote in the city council agenda.
City leaders ultimately voted 4-1 to withdraw from DART services. Ross Grooters, a councilmember and DART commissioner, was the only member to vote against the withdrawal.
"I believe that there is an economic value to DART," Grooters said before the vote. "I believe that everybody has a right to transit in our community, and I wholeheartedly support us remaining in DART and committed to that."
City councilmember Amanda Lundstead told Local 5 that the council's action doesn't necessarily mean the end of the road for DART in Pleasant Hill.
"An accurate way of looking at it is that this starts a 21 month process," Lundstead said. "However, we have the opportunity to change our mind on that process.”
Pleasant Hill isn't the first city to announce its intention to withdraw from DART: Grimes opted out of DART membership back in November 2023. DART will cease operating in Grimes in July of 2025.
Several community members from Pleasant Hill and neighboring cities also spoke at the meeting, sharing how losing access to DART would impact their lives.
"It's important to me that Pleasant Hill be a diverse and growing and a welcoming city, and I want to have that continue," said Janice Hawkins, a Pleasant Hill resident. "I don't want us to appear elitist and say, 'Well, you can live in our city, but, oh, you don't have a car? We don't have transportation.'"
Losing paratransit services was a major concern for some speakers, including Heather, a paratransit user from east Des Moines.
"If you withdraw from DART, a lot of people are going to be stranded. And they can't take Uber, because Uber is not wheelchair accessible," she said.
In an interview with Local 5, Pleasant Hill resident Jaunette Figgous said she relies on DART's paratransit because she has medical conditions that prevent her from driving herself.
“For people who have durable medical equipment, Lyft and Uber is not an option," Figgous said. "I'm a person who has visible problems and using apps are not even conductive.”
According to DART, over the past two years 125 riders have taken trips into or out of Pleasant Hill on paratransit.
Figgous said she was upset to hear that her primary mode of transportation to get to medical appointments and other places around the metro will likely go away in 2026.
“I'm really disappointed, but I'm more disappointed that nobody was there at the council meeting to represent people with disabilities and to advocate for their accessibility," Figgous said.
Prior to the vote, DART CEO Amanda Wanke and two DART commissioners urged the Pleasant Hill City Council to postpone the vote to allow for further conversations.
"The value of public transit is really far more than just the number of people who ride the Route 10," Wanke said. "It's the opportunity that public transit brings for a healthy and thriving region, for all of our citizens, and it drives economic development and quality of life."
The city will officially withdraw from DART services and activities on June 30, 2026.
Momentum Des Moines, a grassroots organization that advocates for public transportation improvements, released the following statement to Local: 5:
"We are disappointed and saddened by the Pleasant Hill decision to leave the DART commission as this will result in less funding and less service for transit in our metro. Regional economies function best when member communities are investing together into the services needed to provide transportation solutions for all individuals and not just those who are able to own and operate personal vehicles. We will continue to educate our local elected officials of the importance of public transportation, and the link between how we design and build our communities that directly affect the ways in which public transportation functions in our community. Despite this short term setback, we will continue to fight for a Des Moines and metro that is accessible, livable and sustainable for everyone."