Getting from Des Moines International Airport to the city

The route the guides still describe no longer goes there

• Until the middle of 2026 the answer to "how do I get into Des Moines from the airport" was DART Route 8, Fleur Drive, weekdays, straight down Fleur into downtown. The airport's own published bus page described exactly that.
• On 14 June 2026 DART replaced its entire bus network. DART's own notice says all current routes were replaced on that date, cutting roughly 27 routes to ten or eleven that run more often and seven days a week. Every route was free to ride from 14 to 30 June while people learned the new map.
• Route 8 survived the redesign in name only. It is now Route 8, Watrous Ave, and DART's published destination list for it reads: Fleur Cash Saver, Fleur Fareway, Southgate Shopping Center, SE 14th Street Hy-Vee. It comes down Fleur Drive and then turns east onto Watrous, well short of the airport.
• No route in the new network lists the airport at all. The full set is 2, 3 and 3L, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 9L, 11, 12 and 20.

How far away the nearest bus actually is

• DART's own schedule feed contains no stop at the airport. The closest stop served by an all-day route is Fleur Dr at Watrous Ave, about 2.2 km, or 1.4 miles, north of the terminal. That is a walk along an arterial road with luggage, not a connection.
• Route 93, Brody Middle School, stops a little closer, roughly 1.5 km away on Fleur Drive. DART states that school routes "are open to the public. Anyone can ride these routes", but the route runs on school days only and at about 07:52 and 15:52. It is not a service you can plan a flight around.
• DART On Demand, the microtransit that replaced some coverage, does not reach here. Its zones are Ankeny, Clive-Urbandale and Altoona.
• HIRTA, the regional agency the airport used to list, covers Boone, Dallas, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Story and Warren counties. Polk County, where the airport sits, is not one of them.

If you walk to Fleur Drive anyway

• The fare is $1.75 a trip, $4 for a day pass, $16 a week, $48 a month. Half fare is $0.75.
• Bring the exact amount in cash. DART's drivers cannot give change. You can also pay in the MyDART app.
• Service hours are 06:00 to 22:00 Monday to Saturday and 07:00 to 19:00 on Sunday, across the whole network.

What is left

• Ride-hailing. Uber and Lyft operate throughout the Des Moines region. The airport's published guidance puts drop-off at the airport entrance and pick-up on the south side of the terminal, outside the baggage claim exit.
• Taxis wait outside the baggage claim exit. Yellow Cab Company: (515) 243-1111.
• Limousine and sedan operators serving the airport include Chauffeurs of Distinction (515) 993-1996, CT Sedan Service (515) 423-5855, Luxxor Limousine (515) 868-1819, Majestic Limo (515) 650-5555 and NPI Limo (515) 864-1515.
• One caveat on the last two points: flydsm.com refuses automated readers, so the taxi, limousine and pick-up details here come from the airport's own page as captured by the Internet Archive in January 2025. The bus finding does not depend on that page at all; it rests on DART's current route list and schedule feed.