Photo courtesy of HIRTA

A growing concern of residents in rural Dallas County is access to public transportation.

Services throughout the County are available through Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Authority (HIRTA), though recently they’ve begun to scale back their operation. At a recent Supervisors meeting, Redfield resident Pauletta Cox addressed the Board during open forum. She had been paying for transportation through HIRTA to get to dialysis appointments at healthcare facilities in the Des Moines metro area, but was recently informed that Redfield was no longer in their service area. She said there were many others like her in places like Dexter, Linden, and unincorporated Dallas County who will no longer be able to access rides through HIRTA.

Supervisor Kim Chapman is the County’s representative on the HIRTA Board, and he said the organization is in the midst of a financial crisis. He added, there are few solutions currently available, so drastic cuts have been necessary. He pointed out that HIRTA is seeking supplemental funding from civic entities throughout their seven county coverage area, and the City of Adel has already pledged money on their fiscal year 2021 budget. However, Chapman said that won’t help the present situation, so residents like Cox will have to wait and see if service returns after July 1st.

Currently HIRTA is operating in Perry, Adel, and the Dallas County portion of the metro.