The city of Sedona has pushed back its microtransit program to the fall, as plans are still being discussed.
“The trailhead shuttle will be free and open to the public, but we are looking right now at microtransit, which now potentially because of vehicle delivery we will not see it in operation until next fall,” Transit Manager Robert Weber said.
At Sedona City Council’s last meeting on Jan. 25, Weber and Assistant City Manager Andy Dickey presented the latest plans for the curb-to-curb microtransit system, including the proposed fare rates and available locations.
The microtransit service’s main goal is provide service to the trailhead shuttles, particularly to the Cathedral Rock and Soldier Pass trailheads that the U.S. Forest Service will consider closing the lot to the general public during peak hours.
“This is a very very high level of service …. Right now it’s a pilot program, we are only going to have a few vehicles,” City Manager Karen Osburn said. “My concern is that if we make it so accessible that any resident basically gets their own personal chauffeur from place to place at a very inexpensive cost then all the sudden demand will be as such that we can’t meet it.”
Initially, staff recommended the microtransit charge $5 for a one-way ride, $12 for a day pass, and $95 for a monthly pass. This would also include half-prices for passengers who are over 60 years old, with disabilities, veterans, and Medicare cardholders, based on the Federal Transit Act requirements.
Weber warned the council to keep in mind that the temptation to raise fare prices would actually, in turn, lower revenues for the microtransit, as popularity decreases due to the higher prices.
But council members directed staff to increase the one-way trip to $6, change the monthly pass to a bundle purchase option and add an Arizona resident Medicaid discount to the half-prices These numbers are not fully set until it is brought back for a vote in the next few months.
“I will be passionate about this issue because I do think we need to make things accessible for people who do not have the same income than other people in Sedona generally are thought to have had,” Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella said.
In addition to these fixed rates, Weber is currently suggesting the radius for the microtransit service be available ¾th-of-a-mile off of State Route 89A, from the Western Gateway Community Focus Area all the way through Uptown, as well as down to Hillside Sedona on State Route 179.
“You just have different public amenities closer or further from you, depending on where you live,” Osburn said. “I think it’s going to be very, very challenging to just say we have to cover every citizen in West Sedona so we don’t discriminate.”
All council members agreed with the route zoning, with exception of Kinsella. And staff reiterated that the pilot program will all be studied for improvements by the time that the full-blown transit system is up and running in the next two to three years.
Weber said that he intends on setting up a resident-based Transit Advisory Committee, that could advise council to change the radius and prices depending on the success or problems.
So far, one of the main discussion locations for a park-and-ride for transit are located across from West Sedona School in West Sedona and at Church of the Red Rocks on State Route 179.
At the next Planning and Zoning meeting, the conditional use permit for the park and ride at Church of the Red Rocks will be discussed, and according to Osburn, if it is not recommended then the route for the trailhead shuttles on State Route 179 will be abandoned. The former Ranger Station parcel on Brewer Road is not being considered as a Park-and-Ride location.
“We had a transit system here in the past and it died for a number of different reasons, whatever they are, I don’t want this to fail,” Vice Mayor Scott Jablow said.
