On Oct. 25, Sedona City Council members unanimously doubled down on the fare structure they had previously proposed in January for the city’s yet-to-be-implemented microtransit system.

City transit manager Robert Weber summarized the fare policy developed by city staff in accordance with the council’s previous directions in January. Under this proposal, the regular one-way fare would be $6, with half-price fares available to those over age 60, disabled individuals, veterans and Medicare and Medicaid recipients. Children under age 5 would ride for free. Passengers would also be able to purchase a multi-use pass at either a 17% or a 31% discount.

But $6 fares and discounted passes are not what Sedona residents say they want. In October 2018, the city of Sedona ordered a Transit Needs Assessment, which included a survey of resident expectations for what a reasonable fare would be:

• 32% of residents wanted low fares of $0.50 to $1 for one-way trips within Sedona, with a higher fare for trips to the Village of Oak Creek.
• 26% of residents wanted flat one-way fares of $1 to $3 regardless of destination.
• 26% of residents wanted free travel within Sedona and fares between $1 and $2 for one-way travel to VOC.
• 16% of residents wanted the microtransit service to be free regardless of destination.

Of the written comments submitted by survey participants, 56% mentioned free or low-cost fares, at least for locals.

The city’s Transit Advisory Committee, which includes three citizen representatives among its six members, made comparable recommendations to the council. The committee unanimously rejected the city’s proposal for a 17% discount on a multi-use pass. Half of the members were willing to accept a $6 base fare with a 31% discount on a multiuse pass. The other half of the committee rejected this option as well, suggesting instead that the service be free for at least the first six months, with a final fare, if any, to be decided at the end of that trial period.

For purposes of comparison, the Verde Shuttle charges $1 for trips within Sedona.

“A tie is a loss,” Mayor Sandy Moriarty commented on the contrast between the TAC’s recommendations and the council’s intentions.

However, only outgoing Councilman Jon Thompson considered a free fare model for the microtransit system.

“I really sympathize with the idea of having a trial period,” he told Weber, pointing out that the city could see unfavorable publicity if potential riders were to protest $6 fares on social media.

Thompson instead suggested that the city find alternative methods of offering free trial rides, such as temporarily making rides free within certain areas to encourage curiosity and help people see how the system works.

His colleagues disagreed.

“I think you’ve over-thought this,” Councilwoman Jessica Williamson told him. “I just think we need to charge something. I think that’s the right thing to do.”

She added that the idea of complicating the process of getting the system running with experiments “sets my teeth on edge.”

Weber strongly opposed the notion of free fares or even $1 fares.

“I will delicately phrase this — that it does attract elements to the system that can do two things: Drive down ridership and drive up public safety responses due to behavioral problems,” Weber told the council.

He claimed that when fares were suspended in California during the COVID-19 pandemic, the result was an increase in assaults on riders and operators, and that the public wanted to see fares return in order to “discourage that element.”

While Weber admitted the free trailhead shuttles are working fine, he also stated that those have “a different clientele.”

Thompson also pointed out, with regard to the proposed one-way fares, that locals using the service will need a round trip “more often than not” and asked if city staff had considered passes that could be used twice in the same day to accommodate round trips.

“I don’t know how we would do that,” Weber said, stating that paying for a single ride with each boarding is “pretty standard in the industry.”

“I’ve been on buses before where you get a transfer,” Thompson reminded him.

Weber and Thompson then discussed the legality of free fares for locals.

“As recently as yesterday, Robert, on the phone, I asked straight out, we cannot give special fares to residents, and you said yes, ‘that’s true,’” Thompson reminded Weber.

“That’s what I got from the FTA,” Weber answered. “Basically, don’t do it.”

“Wait a minute,” Thompson objected. “Don’t do it is, like, that’s a bad choice, as opposed to, it’s against the law.”

“We can go back and [City Attorney] Kurt [Christianson] and I can regroup on that, and push back on the FTA, if that’s a direction,” Weber said. The council was not disposed to make that a direction.

In the end, all members of the council voted to preserve the fee structure as currently planned, with the exception of the proposed 17% discount for a multi-use pass, leaving the 31% discount as the only multi-ride option. The proposal will now move into a 60-day public comment period that begins once the city formally posts notice of the planned fares.

“I look forward to hearing from the public,” Councilwoman Holli Ploog said.

“I hope the public comments are going to be consistent and close enough to what we’re recommending that the new council doesn’t have a hell of a difficult time changing anything,” Thompson said.

As Thompson also recognized, the composition of the City Council will have changed by the time the public comment period closes. Incoming Councilman Brian Fultz has stated that if the goal of the microtransit program is to reduce traffic congestion, it should be free in order to encourage people to use it.*

Expected usage remains an open question. When queried by Councilman Tom Lamkin about his expectations for ridership, Weber replied that it is difficult for the city to estimate ridership before service starts.

“It’s really hard to even say that I’m even accurate with some of my assumptions,” Weber said. “I would be happy to see at least 15% fare box recovery from our operating costs, which would be a nice start.”

The city’s fiscal year 2022- 23 budget for public transit is $2,346,050. Recovering 15% of this amount from passengers, or $351,907.50, at full fares would require 58,651 microtransit riders per year, or approximately 282 riders per day, four days a week.

Sedona’s microtransit service was originally scheduled to begin operation on March 3, 2022. Weber now estimates that it may be launched in the second quarter of 2023.

• * Editor’s Note: The print edition and first online edition of this story incorrectly stated “incoming Councilman Pete Furman has also indicated that he would support a free fare model.“ This was incorrect; only Brian Fultz made this statement.