An ongoing study aims to improve public transportation in Scott County.

Davenport, Bettendorf, Eldridge and LeClaire are asking residents to participate in a survey to share their experiences and thoughts on local transit services.

Davenport Transit Division Manager Jeff Wolf said the regional study was funded by each city, in addition to a $125,000 state transportation grant, and is being conducted by contractor AECOM. Wolf said AECOM has worked with the city of Davenport’s transportation services before, as well as with MetroLINK in the Illinois Quad-Cities.

A transit study has not been conducted since 2016, he said, which was before some businesses frequented in the area even existed.

“We started hearing from riders a lot, ‘Hey, do you go out to Amazon, Kraft or Sterilite?’” Wolf said. “We also know that ( Eastern Iowa) Industrial Park is almost completely built out, and there are a lot of businesses that just weren’t there that people now ask if they can get out there. Same thing with the TBK Bank ( Sports Complex).”

Bettendorf Transit Operations Manager Austin Whelan said the TBK Bank Sports Complex area’s economic growth was a big driver for the city to reevaluate its existing services, particularly following the addition of UnityPoint and MercyOne Genesis facilities. According to previous reporting, MercyOne Genesis purchased land in the area in late 2024 and UnityPoint followed suit in the spring of 2025.

In the roughly 400 recorded replies to the survey thus far, Whelan said the initial feedback includes a large percentage of respondents indicating that they regularly travel to the TBK Sports Complex area, in addition to the industrial park in northwest Davenport.

Another focus of the study, he said, is ensuring transit connection points between cities align in a timely manner. While connection points between services currently exist, Whelan said there are some time gaps in trips that don’t line up well for riders, such as the one located at North Ridge Shopping Center in Davenport.

“You can go between Bettendorf and Davenport systems there because both ( Bettendorf and Davenport transit systems) go by, but we don’t go by at the same time,” Whelan said. “So, if you’re going from one system to another, you might have a 15-minute wait, but if you’re going the opposite direction, it’s a 45-minute wait.”

Whelan said the goal is to create a “seamless network” of transportation for riders across the Quad-Cities, despite individual transit services and city border lines.

The survey is also seeking feedback from non-riders, particularly in the cities of LeClaire and Eldridge, where there are currently no city-wide transportation services.

LeClaire City Administrator Dennis Bockenstedt said the only public transit currently available to residents is paratransit, River Bend Transit on-call services, which is the same for Eldridge. Bockenstedt said the study will help determine if the city of LeClaire requires regular transportation services in the future, and so far, he said residents have shown strong interest and participation in the survey.

“Determining whether or not there’s a need or desire now is the first step,” Bockenstedt said. “Whether or not it makes it past the first step, we’ll find out, but if there is a need established, there’s a lot of steps that would need to be taken for something to get established.”

Bockenstedt said the partnership between the four Iowa cities has been in the works for about a year.

Eldrigde City Administrator Nevada Lemke said that while Davenport and Bettendorf have been leading the study, she’s grateful the city of Eldridge was looped in because the city most likely would not have been able to pursue the study on its own due to its smaller population size. Although Eldridge is growing, Lemke said there are many services, such as a one-stop grocery stop, that the city still lacks, requiring residents to travel out of town.

Similar to LeClaire, Lemke said the survey will provide Eldridge with a better idea of what the demand or potential users would be for public transportation in their community. She said during the city’s stakeholder meetings, local leaders and businesses were excited about the opportunity of public transit.

“The school, HyVee, our medical facilities, [and] the YMCA. All of those leaders came together. They came to the input sessions, and they were really engaged,” Lemke said. “So, I know that they put forth the effort to get the word out there to individuals that the study was being done.”

The survey is open to the public until June 30, and initial findings are set to be released in a draft report early next year.

Illinois transit study coming soon

A similar transit study is in the works in Illinois.

MetroLINK Chief of Staff Jennifer Hirsch said it is “merely coincidence” that the Illinois study is happening around the same time as Iowa’s, but noted it was great timing. However, Hirsch said MetroLINK is working closely with Davenport and Bettendorf partners to ensure seamless travel on both sides of the river.

“Times have changed and so have people’s travel needs and destinations,” Hirsch said. “We want to make sure our service is completely aligned with what our customers and communities needs, so we will be doing a very similar process to what our Iowa partners are working on.”

The project is still in the beginning stages, Hirsch said, but she anticipates work to be finished within 12-18 months.

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