(Atlantic) Southwest Iowa Transit Agency (SWITA) was recognized as the Iowa rural public transit system with the largest ridership in fiscal year 2021 by the Federal Transit Administration.
SWITA has continued to show tremendous growth in ridership despite the decline many other agencies have seen since the pandemic. The award itself was delayed because of the pandemic. For the award year (2021), SWITA provided 377,547 rides. SWITA will hold the title for 2022 and 2023 as well with 480,229 rides and an unprecedented 526,300 rides respectively. Workforce ridership is one specific area of growth for SWITA and ridership has more than doubled from fiscal year 2020 at 43,363 rides to fiscal year 2023 at 99,286 rides.
SWIPCO Executive Director John McCurdy…
SWITA transportation is accessible to everyone including the disabled population and elderly. SWITA vehicles are equipped with wheelchair accessibility and one personal care attendant rides free. SWITA transportation is affordable: taxi rides are $2.50 per trip or $2.00 per trip for elderly clients (60 years and older) with collaboration from Connections Area Agency on Aging; medical trips are $30 per hour; Summer Fun Bus rides are $1 per trip or $40 for the full summer; other special trips are $40 per hour.
SWITA transportation is available for all residents in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby counties.
SWITA was recognized during the Breakfast of Transit Champions at the 2023 Midwest Transit Conference in Kansas City on September 8th.
