T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, Marshalltown Public Works Director Heather Thomas, Transit Administrative Assistant Kathy Holtry and driver David Mossman show off the two major awards Marshalltown Municipal Transit (MMT) won during the June 24 city council meeting.

During the city council meeting on June 24, members of the Marshalltown Municipal Transit (MMT) team were celebrated for two major milestones: receiving an award of recognition from the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Region 7 among small urban transit systems in Iowa after recording a 63 percent increase in ridership from fiscal year 2021 to 2022 — the highest jump in a four-state region — and being named the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) small urban transit system of the year for FY2023.

“Thank you to MMT staff for their passion and commitment to providing this service to the public. It’s great to see that Iowa DOT and FTA recognize their efforts and the community’s use of the service continue to increase,” Marshalltown Public Works Director Heather Thomas, who oversees the department, said.

The commendations on their own are both impressive, and for MMT Director Kevin Pigors, who spoke to the T-R Tuesday after returning from a vacation, they provide proof of an agency moving in the right direction despite recent staffing challenges.

“I’m proud of our team for all of their hard work and dedication to our passengers,” he said.

One of the key factors behind the state award, he added, was the continued increase in ridership (over 20 percent in the last year), which Pigors attributes to the end of the pandemic, the economy and more usage among students attending both the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) and Marshalltown Community College (MCC).

“That has really increased, and then we’re also seeing an increase in the summertime months with ridership going to the aquatic center and the parks, really utilizing our service to go there,” he said. “I think we’ve done a good job in promoting our bus system, conveying to the public that it is safe (and) it is cheap to really go wherever in town.”

During budget discussions earlier this year, the council approved a modest increase in the levy for the bus service and cutting one route due to staffing issues and lower demand, but Pigors feels the situation has improved then.

“We are finally at full staff so we don’t have to cut services. As far as the budget cuts, we did consolidate some routes. We did cut back on hours of service, but with this 20 percent increase in ridership, that should help us get more federal and state grant money to continue the service,” he said.

According to Pigors, they have one potential hire pending and are still looking for one more person, but the overall picture is much less dire than it had been. Currently, MMT has six drivers, one dispatcher, a mechanic and the director himself on staff.

As for other major goals, he hopes to continue outreach efforts with the MCSD to help families in need of transportation and increasing awareness of MMT in the community. The upcoming free Fourth of July shuttle, he said, will provide a major opportunity to do just that along with the Iowa Developers Conference scheduled for this fall.

“I feel really good about where we’re going and the potential that we can serve the community (even more),” Pigors said.

And as for explaining the transit system to residents who may not be familiar with it, he had a simple sales pitch.

“It’s a dollar to ride. It’s cheap. It’s easy to ride. Our drivers are friendly. Our office desk is friendly. Give us a call. We’ll talk with you step by step on how to ride the bus,” Pigors said. “I’m really excited about this Thursday, and I think the community will learn a lot about our transit system, our buses, how they’re clean, they’re newer buses. We go to all schools during school time. We go to the mall, the high school, we go everywhere in town — IVH, to work, the grocery stores, Walmart, Hy-Vee — really, we go everywhere, and the wait time really isn’t that bad. You can go pretty much wherever you want in town within a half hour to 45 minutes. It’s not like you have to wait an hour and a half, two hours. It’s pretty quick.”

Marshalltown Municipal Transit can be reached at (641) 754-5719.

——

Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.