The Jule

Last updated
The Jule logo.png
Julebuses.JPG
The Jule fixed route buses
Foundedearly 1970s
Headquarters950 Elm St.
Locale Dubuque, Iowa
Service area urban area
Service type bus service, paratransit
AllianceDelaware, Dubuque, & Jackson County Regional Transit Authority
Routes6 Day, 4 Weekend night, 1 Seasonal Trolly Route
Hubs3 (Dubuque Intermodal Transportation Center & 2 transfer points)
Fleet28
Daily ridership876
Fuel type Clean diesel
DirectorRyan Knuckey
Website The Jule

The Jule, formerly known as KeyLine Transit, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Dubuque, Iowa. The Jule offers transit bus routes throughout the city, trolley-replica transportation in Downtown Dubuque and the Port of Dubuque, and on-demand paratransit "MiniBus" service citywide. As of the 2011 rebranding, the transit system and city are now both named after Julien Dubuque. In FY 2010, the Jule recorded 371,000 rides. [1]

Contents

The Jule is a municipal department of the City of Dubuque that began service following the city's takeover of the Interstate Power and Light Company's bus lines in the early 1970s. Today, the Jule is operated by the City of Dubuque, and is supervised by a director who reports to the Dubuque City Manager, Michael Van Milligen, and acts on policy as given by the Dubuque City Council, on advice of the Dubuque Transit Trustee Board. [2]

Overview

The Jule operates six Daytime bus lines: Gray, Green, Red, Medical Loop, as well as the North and South Shopping Circulators. The Jule also runs four Nightrider routes on Friday and Saturday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. All lines except the Orange run in a general pattern from downtown in the east to Kennedy Mall in the west, and then back downtown. These lines stop at all three major transfer stations: Downtown, Midtown, and the West Side. The Medical Loop runs from downtown and then north and south, stopping at no other transfer stations. The Jule operates Monday through Saturday citywide, with the earliest buses out at 6:15 a.m., and the latest out at 5:55 p.m. [3]

During the summer months, The Jule operates a trolley shuttle between the Downtown Transfer Station (West 9th & Main Streets) and the Port of Dubuque, with stops at the major tourist attractions in the area, including: Diamond Jo Casino, Grand Harbor Resort & Waterpark, Grand River Center, National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.

In addition to fixed-route buses, The Jule provides on-demand paratransit service through its "MiniBuses." These shuttles generally transport elderly and handicapped passengers from their homes to medical clinics, and other specific destinations. The service is available by appointment only. Jule currently has around 100 employees.

In 2018, The Jule's operations center moved to a new $6.2 million facility in Dubuque. [4]

Bus Fleet

In 2011, The Jule updated its 28 bus fleet with new clean diesel buses: four 35 feet (11 m) Heavy Duty Gillig Low Floor for Fixed Route Service, 12 30' Medium Duty ElDorado Aero Elite on International Durastar chassis for Fixed Route Service, 11 24' light duty Glaval Titan II on GMC Savanna Chassis for Paratransit, one light duty for Freightliner Sprinter for Paratransit, and two Trolleys for season fixed route trolley Service. As of 2023, The Jule consists of 18 Gillig Low Floor buses ranging from 29 feet (8.8 m) to 35 feet (11 m) for fixed-route service:

Fleet number(s)PhotoYearManufacturerModelEngineNotes
2500-25042022 Gillig Low Floor 29' Cummins L9
2680-2683 Julegillig.JPG 2011 Low Floor 35' Cummins ISL9
2690-26912002 Detroit Diesel Series 40
  • Originally Park City Transit buses, purchased in 2017.
  • Contingency fleet.
2692-2694 The Jule 2692.jpg Low Floor 29'
  • Originally Middletown Transit System buses, purchased in 2017.
2695-2698 The Jule 2695.jpg 2020 Cummins L9

[5] [6]

Bus Routes

Transfer Stations

Lines

The Jule operates 6 daytime bus lines and 4 weekend Nightrider lines which run throughout Dubuque. Beginning in January 2014, these existing routes will be abandoned in favor of a new hub and spoke model with express routes between the 3 transfer hubs. [7]

Fixed Route Ridership

The ridership and service statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. Per capita statistics are based on the Dubuque urbanized area as reported in NTD data. Starting in 2011, 2010 census numbers replace the 2000 census numbers to calculate per capita statistics. [12]

RidershipChangeRidership per capita
2002242,264n/a3.71
2003242,685Increase2.svg0.17%3.72
2004248,998Increase2.svg2.6%3.82
2006233,611n/a3.58
2007207,116Decrease2.svg11.34%3.17
2008269,337Increase2.svg30.04%4.13
2009293,216Decrease2.svg8.87%4.49
2010331,601Increase2.svg13.09%5.08
2011346,881Increase2.svg4.61%5.11
2013377,504n/a5.57
2014409,144Increase2.svg8.38%6.03
2015479,185Increase2.svg17.12%7.07
2016486,691Increase2.svg1.57%7.18
2017455,959Decrease2.svg6.31%6.72
2018445,817Decrease2.svg2.22%6.57
2019421,693Decrease2.svg5.41%6.22
2020333,244Decrease2.svg20.97%4.91
2021319,697Decrease2.svg4.07%4.71

See also

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References

  1. "Two Iowa transit systems honored for excellence" (Press release). Iowa DOT. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  2. "Iowa Office of Public Transit: The Jule Organizational Structure" . Retrieved December 24, 2006.
  3. "The Jule Transit Routes" . Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  4. Wong, Allison; KCRG-TV9. "Dubuque's Jule buses move to new operations center". www.kcrg.com. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  5. "PTMS Ranking - Transit Portal". secure.iowadot.gov.
  6. Carros, Adam; KCRG-TV9. "Dubuque to unveil new buses in 2021". www.kcrg.com. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  7. "The Jule System Overhaul" . Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  8. "Gray Line Routes" . Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  9. "Green Line Routes" . Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  10. "Orange Line Routes" . Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  11. "Red Line Routes" . Retrieved December 3, 2009.
  12. "The National Transit Database (NTD)" . Retrieved June 30, 2022.