Mountain Line in line for $6.2M grant

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Federal transit officials have recommended the local bus system receive $6.24 million toward the creation of a new express line serving the Northern Arizona University campus, downtown Flagstaff and nearby shopping centers.

The proposed 5.8-mile “Mountain Links” line would combine two existing local Mountain Line bus routes and the Mountain Campus Transit shuttle system already servicing the university to connect riders between NAU, the area of the Wal-Mart shopping center and the downtown district.

On Tuesday, Sherry E. Little, Deputy Administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, named the Mountain Links projects as one of 13 potential projects across the country to receive money for new or expanding transit systems. The other projects are slated for cities and towns in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon and Washington state.

According to information from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the project, which would begin operations in 2010, would cost about $10.41 million total. The proposal calls for buses to run every 10 minutes during peak hours and every 15 minutes during non-peak hours, 24 new stations, signal prioritization, and the purchase of eight hybrid-electric buses.

Mountain Links would carry an estimated 4,150 daily riders; in 2006, Mountain Line as a whole had 600,000 riders.

Although federal “earmarks” placed by U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Flagstaff, onto spending bills have benefited the bus system’s capital in the past, Mountain Line’s operations are funded largely through local tax dollars. Voters rejected a proposal in 2006 that would have doubled and made permanent the transit tax, which is set to sunset in 2010. The tax will reappear on this May’s city ballot.