DART Bus Information
Thanks to a Principal Foundation grant, DMPS students at North High School and
Harding Middle School can ride DART free any time of day, regardless of how close to
their school they live. The free rides will be offered throughout the 2022-23 school year
and analyzed to see if they increase attendance or educational outcomes.
DART rides for Des Moines students
Under this project, free rides are extended to most Harding and North students. At all
other DMPS middle and high schools, students will be assigned transportation by their
school. Middle school students who live more than two miles and high school students
who live more than 3 miles from the school are assigned to either a yellow bus or DART
for transportation to and from school. Students assigned to DART can ride DART for free
at any time with their school ID. Students who are not assigned to DART for transportation
to/from school can ride DART for free with their school ID after 4:30 p.m. on school days,
and any time of day during school breaks and on weekends.
To ride DART, students scan the DART QR code on their student ID on the farebox at the
front of DART’s buses. Students must scan their physical ID, DART will not accept photos
of a student ID on a phone or other device, or for ID’s to be shared between students.
Code of Conduct
Students should be aware that their ability to ride DART for free is a privilege that can be
removed. Students are expected to follow both DART’s general rider guidelines, and
the district’s Code of Conduct whenever they are on a DART bus, or when they are at a
DART bus stop or at DART Central Station downtown. We will continue to work with DART
as we’ve done in the past to identify any student found not to be following these
guidelines or code of conduct, and in some cases, students could have their ability to
ride DART for free removed and could be prohibited from using DART’s buses.
Questions?
We’re grateful to Principal Foundation for funding this initiative, and to DART for working
with us to provide this expanded access to students. As a reminder, if you have
questions about the transportation you were assigned, to replace a lost ID card, or to
learn more about how to use DART’s services, please see your school’s administrators.
DART has resources available for students to learn more about schedule times and trip
planning options. For those, please visit ridedart.com/DMPS.