The baby pictured is now 19 and those cheeks are but a distant memory but the way he regards the bus with joy and possibility really captures how we feel about the potential for more equitable access to transportation in Coralville.

The current update on fare free busing in Coralville is that the work continues.

Councilor Knudson made a request at the last council meeting (September 8, 2026) that a discussion of a fare free busing pilot program be put on a work session agenda.

The agenda for this coming Tuesday’s council meeting (September 22 at 6:30 pm with work session to follow) has been published. The item is not on the work session agenda. Nobody has communicated with us about it at all so we are drawing the conclusion that his request is being ignored.

This reflects a fundamental problem with our city code: only the mayor has the authority to place an item on the agenda.

If you’re thinking to yourself that doesn’t sound like democracy, that’s also what we are thinking.

We have verbal commitments of majority support on the council of a discussion of the fare free pilot program and we have robust public support of the ways this program would change lives in Coralville.

We have surrounding cities with similar programs singing their praises about how they’ve improved their communities.

We are asking community members who care about equitable access to transportation to keep the pressure on.

Will you email the council and let them know what this program would mean to your family, your friends, and your neighbors?

Will you attend a city council meeting to speak during public comment to force council to acknowledge that real people in our community are asking for supportive infrastructure?

If you’ve never taken the bus and never plan to take the bus, will you consider the privilege you hold that allows for this?

Equitable access to public transportation is fundamental to quality of life for so many people for so many reasons and is disproportionately meaningful for disabled people, people without documentation, and financially disadvantaged people.

Your voice on this topic is essential regardless of whether you love busing as much as we do.