Oskaloosa Rides Evaluating Route

Oskaloosa Rides

As Oskaloosa Rides enters its second year, organizers of the fixed route bus service are looking for ways to make improvements.

“We’re listening to a lot of feedback from community members and riders, as well as the bus driver, to find ways to make Oskaloosa Rides the best service possible,” said Amy Meyer, director of United Way of Mahaska County and one of the organizers of Oskaloosa Rides.

Meyer said it was always the part of the plan for all aspects of the route to not be set in stone.

“From the beginning, we wanted to treat the service like an experiment. There weren’t many examples of a community our size with a fixed route so we knew had to take some risks and leave the space to make changes.”

But the experiment may be paying off. Meyer said ridership has really grown throughout Oskaloosa Rides’ first year.

“Last summer, we had about 12 riders per day,” said Meyer. “This summer it was closer to 50 riders per day.”

Meyer said now is the time to look at how far the program has come, but also look to the future of how we can make it more accessible, more efficient and more utilized.

“We looked at where a lot of riders were getting on and getting off as well as areas where not a lot of people were taking the bus,” said Meyer. “We want to connect with as many riders as possible, although we realize that we can’t please everybody.”

Oskaloosa Rides was started with the goal of improving access to retail, healthcare and other services for people without a vehicle. The service runs from 9 AM to 5:30 PM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tickets are $1.

Anyone who would like to provide input about changes to the Oskaloosa Rides route is invited to a public meeting on Wednesday, October 7th at noon at the United Way building at 500 High Avenue West.