At the Pella City Council meeting Monday night, Julia Castillo and Brooke Ramsey, representatives from HIRTA, spoke to the council about the services their organization provides. Recently it was suggested that it may be both beneficial to riders, and more efficient for the city if the two joined forces. HIRTA stands for Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency, and gives passengers from seven county’s, including Marion, rides for a small fee. Pella City Administrator Mike Nardini says that one benefit is that HIRTA is a door to door service, meaning that they can assist riders into the vehicle and then into their final destination. The current service provided by the city is curb to curb, meaning that they can not assist passengers in this same way. Also, HIRTA provides about 40,000 one way trips each year, while the city does approximately 5,000.