Rotary Wheel 5/1/2012
Rotary Wheel – May 1, 2012
From the April 24, 2012 meeting:
REMINDER - Northwest Rotary Club Fundraising Project:
Brad Helgamo from the Northwest Club was in attendance. He shared information regarding a fundraising project: The Charles Gabus Memorial Ride for bike riders of all abilities. The ride will start at the Gabus Memorial Tree Park in Urbandale (next to the Urbandale Library) on June 23, 2012. Rides are as short as 5 miles and as long as 70 miles with several options in between. Cost is $10/individual or $25/family. For more information, please check www.cgm-br.com or call Brad at 689-0004.
REMINDER - Bicycle Project:
Speaking of bicycles, don’t forget about our own bike project! Per Harold Hulleman, we are still taking donations of good used bikes! Help is needed to recondition them too. Please contact Harold to sign up and assist.
REMINDER - Farmer’s Market:
By now we have received the Farmer’s Market sign up information from President Jamie Bunn. To make this project as successful as possible, please follow the instructions to sign up to serve! If every club member does their part and works just 4 shifts (just two full mornings), that is all that should be needed. Everyone needs to help! The first Farmers Market is May 5! You can register at Google Calendar. Log on information is wdmrotary@gmail (or gmail.com) with the password of Market2012. IF YOU DON’T SELECT A TIME, THEN TIMES WILL BE SELECTED FOR YOU.
REMINDER - Clean Up I-235:
Adam Nelson is again heading this up. The date is May 5 and he needs a few more people to help out. This is a great way to have family involved. The plan is to meet at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines at 7:45 a.m. The time commitment is only about 1.5 hours. After that, you can enjoy the rest of your day and possibly check out the Farmers Market that also starts that same day! Contact Adam if you can assist!
ROTARY SHIRTS. T-Shirts are available for $10/each. These would be good to wear to the Farmer’s Market. Please order yours today!
3-Minute Speaker – Kurt Subra. Thanks Kurt! Kurt is a UNI grad and has been with the West Des Moines schools for 6 years.
SPEAKER – Elizabeth Presutti. Elizabeth is the head of Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART). From the DART website (www.ridedart.com) comes the following information:
Dart is the largest public transit agency in Iowa, serving 19 cities in and around Polk County to varying degrees. Those include Ankeny, Altoona, Alleman, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Elkhart, Granger, Grimes, Johnston, Mitchellville, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Runnells, Sheldahl, Urbandale, Windsor Heights, West Des Moines. The agency is operated with the support of local property taxes and fare revenue. Residents are represented by a nine-member board of commissioners.
Local and state leaders created the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority, or DART, out of the Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, in 2006. The move has enabled the agency to begin evolving into a more regional transit system.
From the Rotary presentation came the following:
- 4.18 million annual trips
- Ridership up 12% this year
- 15 employers purchased unlimited access for their employees
- DART operates 151 buses and 118 Rideshare vans
- 2,500 bus stops
- 35,706 bike rack users
- 2013 budget is $25.7 million. Of this amount 32% is from operating revenues (fares) with 68% being public and other support (other includes advertising).