There was a psychiatrist, a librarian, a substitute teacher and a graduate student in biomedical engineering. There was an Amazon warehouse worker who’d just finished his night shift, and a man who’d lost his driver’s license because of an incident in Florida that he didn’t want to talk about.
They were all riding Iowa City’s buses one sunny November morning, and they were all amped about the same thing: That everyone got to ride for free.
Iowa City eliminated bus fares in August 2023 with a goal of lowering emissions from cars and encouraging people to take public transit. The two-year pilot program proved so popular that the City Council voted this summer to extend it another year, paying for it with a 1 percent increase in utility taxes and by doubling most public parking rates to $2 from $1.
50 States, 50 Fixes is a series about local solutions to environmental problems. A few more to come this year.
Ridership has surpassed prepandemic levels by 18 percent. Bus drivers say they’re navigating less congested streets. People drove 1.8 million fewer miles on city streets, according to government calculations, and emissions dropped by 24,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. That’s the equivalent of taking 5,200 vehicles off the roads.
“You don’t have to figure out your bus pass. And before, it was $31 a month, which adds up,” said Vincent Hiser, 71, as he rode the No. 1 bus one recent Monday from his job at Bread Garden Market to the mobile home he shares with his 3-year-old Cavapoo, Ruby, and 13-year-old cat, Roy Rogers.
Free city buses are relatively rare in the United States. The idea has been getting a new look recently, after Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race with a promise to make buses free. However, critics have described the plan as pie in the sky, and Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York recently voiced doubts.
But in Iowa City, a college town and home to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, objections to free buses, and even parking fee increases, have been muted. One exception was in the summer of 2024, when fees on parking meters downtown were increased to $3 from $1.50. After nearby businesses complained, the city reduced the cost to $2.25. That increase felt reasonable, said Betsy Potter, executive director of the Iowa City Downtown District; the rates hadn’t been raised in 11 years.
Ms. Potter said downtown businesses supported free buses because they helped bring people downtown and decreased workers’ transit costs. “It is a walkable downtown, but it is not a walkable city,” she said. “It has been a big success.”
Darian Nagle-Gamm, the city’s transportation director, said that the unknowns in federal and state funding, along with proposed property-tax changes, meant that the city would most likely have to review the program every year. But there was eagerness for fare-free buses to stay, she said. “The transit system is one of the greatest tools communities have to combat climate change and reduce emissions,” she said. “You can make a pretty immediate impact.”
Ms. Nagle-Gamm said the idea for the program began with a chat she and the city manager had in 2018 about a book titled “Free Public Transit: And Why We Don’t Pay to Ride in Elevators.” The city wanted to improve its transit system and increase its use while reducing household expenses. Also, as part of a climate action plan, Iowa City wanted to replace 55 percent of vehicle trips with sustainable alternatives like walking, biking and taking transit by 2050. Fare-free buses, officials decided, could help meet those goals.
In 2021, the city starting running more buses, streamlining routes and seriously considering waiving the $1 fares. In 2023, the City Council voted to pay for a two-year fare-free pilot with Covid-19 relief funds.
When the day came, the city threw a launch party. Artists decorated bus shelters with decals of butterflies, bees, wind turbines and flowers. Jazz bands were hired to play on downtown sidewalks. A booth was set up where people could write thank-you cards to bus drivers.
“You can make buses free, but it’s also important to make them convenient and appealing,” said Sarah Gardner, the city’s climate action coordinator. “We have 70-some years of marketing telling everyone that personal vehicles are great, and the ticket to freedom. Bus ridership doesn’t have that same kind of P.R. arm around it.”
Ridership eventually grew to 118 percent of prepandemic levels, compared to the average nationally transit ridership-recovery levels of 85 percent.
William Porter, a night-shift worker and regular rider, said people’s moods seemed to lift since the fares went away. But he would like the adjoining city of Coralville, which charges $1 for adult riders, to do away with fares, too. “I think they should make it for both cities, since people commute back and forth,” Mr. Porter said.
There were early concerns that fare-free travel would heap extra burdens on bus drivers, drawing homeless people or anything-goes behavior. Yet several drivers said that not having to ask passengers for payment or transfers has led to less friction with riders.
It also speeds up travel, they said, because no one was delaying things by rummaging for money. According to the city, on-time arrivals have increased by 13 percent. “There’s less dealing with the fare box and finagling over fares, but it’s definitely been busier,” said Justin Jones, who’s been driving city buses for Iowa City for 15 years, one recent morning just before starting his route.
Then he climbed into the No. 10 bus, which travels between downtown and the west side of the city, crossing the Iowa River, and set off.
A few minutes later, Abbas Mahadi, 20, climbed aboard, holding the hand of his 6-year-old cousin, whom he was chaperoning to elementary school. Free transit, he said, was essential for his family. “If you didn’t have free buses, it would be too much for us,” Mr. Mahadi said.
As the bus rumbled along, more people hopped on, including a doctoral student who had become a regular because parking at the university was too expensive. Another student, Abby Kloha, a 21-year-old who is majoring in translation and Spanish at the University of Iowa, said that instead of stressing out behind the wheel, she was able to spend her bus ride studying Japanese vocabulary. “It kind of feels like a time saver,” she said.
Bus No. 10 pulled to a stop in front of an elementary school, and Mr. Mahadi led his young cousin down the steps and across the street. Mr. Jones idled the bus a few moments more, waiting until Mr. Mahadi hopped back on board. Then Mr. Jones shifted into gear and carried on his way.
Cara Buckley is a reporter on the climate team at The Times who focuses on people working toward climate solutions.
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