City Notes: Charles City Public Transit provides rides for many people, many places

By Tammy Elthon, Transit Provider

I am Tammy Elthon. I am running daily operations of the Charles City Public Transit Service. Circle K Communications signed a contract with the city of Charles City to handle daily operations August 1, 2018.

We now have a year “under our belt” as they say of operating this service. In the past year we have learned a lot about this government-subsidized transit bus service. First being this is a very needed service in Charles City. Second, it’s an expensive service for the city of Charles City to run.

In the city we run three transit buses from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pricing to ride in the city limits is $1 or a white ticket for elderly/disabled, $1.50 or a blue ticket for students, and $4 for an orange ticket for general public.

Rides are generally booked in advance by calling the transit phone number, 641-715-1314, this being especially important if you are trying to get to an appointment at a specific day and time.

We do receive some phone calls all day with people being more flexible to wait for the next available bus for a ride.

The county/regional route has one bus that operates from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and makes three scheduled runs to Mason City each day. Pricing to ride within Floyd County is $2 or a pink ticket for elderly, disabled or students, and $4 for general public.

Pricing to ride to Mason City out of the county is $3 or a yellow ticket for elderly/disabled/students and $5 for general public. Rides must be booked 24 hours in advance for this bus. The transit bus leaves Charles City heading over to Mason City at 7:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. daily.

The Charles City Public Transit has more than 950 passengers in the system that we regularly provide rides to, including elderly, disabled, school children, Foster Grandparent volunteers and the general public.

We currently have one full-time driver, five part-time drivers and three substitute drivers. There are two people that run dispatch and answer the phone back at the office.

The three in-town transit bus costs are offset with subsidized funding by the city of Charles and North Iowa Council of Governments (NIACOG) who obtain funding from the U.S. DOT.

County/regional transit is supported by Floyd County and NIACOG with U.S. DOT funding as well.

These combined efforts allow for ride costs to the public to be between $1 and $5, when actual cost per ride is considerable higher when you factor in wages, gas, insurance, bus repairs and lease of the transits.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of a city that allows for people to live independently by providing rides to doctor’s appointments, to schools and day cares, grocery stores, and any other places where transportation is needed.

If you would like to schedule a ride with the Charles City Public Transit or have any other questions on how the transit service works, please give us a call 641-715-1314.