Story and photos by Cyndy Hardy

SEDONA, AZ – June 23, 2008 – Public suspicion of how Sedona RoadRunner transit system riders are counted ranges from fudged numbers to fancy gadgets that count a rider twice by electronically scanning both legs when a rider boards the shuttle.

A recent two-hour ride on a Thursday afternoon to investigate these claims proved anticlimactic regarding the gadgetry; however, there may be reason to believe counts are sometimes inaccurate.

“I suspect many of the people who use the bus get on and off several times,” said resident Carol Wirkus in a June 6 email.

“For example, a tourist might board in Uptown, and then get off at both Tlaquepaque arts & crafts village and Hillside Sedona, before returning to Uptown. I also suspect riders are counted as they board the bus, which means this example of a single rider would be counted as three passengers during his or her one round trip bus ride,” Ms. Wirkus said.

According to this reporter’s observations, riders are recorded manually by the shuttle drivers on a series of 10 counters, reminiscent of pre-electronic cash registers. There is one counter for each major bus stop on the route.

As each passenger boards the shuttle, the driver clicks the counter and each hour the counts are transferred to a paper tally sheet which is filed at the end of the day, according to one driver, whose name is withheld.

The counting system is subject to human error.

“Sometimes I forget to count,” the driver said. As people boarded during this ride, many had questions about the city, the shuttle service and local attractions, which the driver answered jovially, sometimes not entering the rider counts until everyone was seated.

When there is heavy pedestrian traffic, riders simultaneously enter through the front and back doors of the shuttle as others step off. “It’s hard to count them all,” the driver said.

One man stepped aboard the shuttle at the Uptown municipal parking lot to ask the driver about the shuttle service hours. The man stepped off the shuttle with an answer and a RoadRunner brochure.

“Do I count him?” the driver asked rhetorically. He did, stating the RoadRunner administration has no clear guidelines for counting such an incident, but the driver considered he had “served this guest while the man was on the bus.”

On the return trip about 20 minutes later, the man reboarded with three companions who had no destination in mind – they just wanted to ride the shuttle around to see the city.

And yes, he was counted again, at which those who say officials are double-dipping the counts may find fuel to their fire.

FORTY-PLUS TOURISTS rode the Sedona RoadRunner circulator shuttle during a recent two-hour investigation into perceived ridership count inaccuracies

But while the driver’s judgment on this count may be questionable, more than 40 passengers served during the two-hour investigation were transported. Some were returning to where they originally boarded the shuttle.

Transit planners look at ridership just like transportation planners look at vehicle traffic, according to Jeff Meilbeck, general manager for the Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Transportation Authority; which manages the city transit program.

“Just like car trips, every one-way trip is counted,” Mr. Meilbeck said. “Think about it, when a car drives into Sedona to visit Uptown, it counts as one trip. When the car drives to Hillside for lunch, it is another trip. Transit is no different.”

This paradigm is a hard-sell to local naysayers.

Sedona Mayor Rob Adams and others in the community have questioned both the validity of the rider counts and whether the benchmarks were properly set. Mr. Adams tried to divert six months of city funding for the transit system on May 27. His effort lacked council support; however, newly-seated council members may reconsider his plan in the future.

If the council does scrutinize the RoadRunner, it will certainly look at cost/benefit data, with which some in the community find fault.

“We hear cost figures that I doubt are complete,” Ms. Wirkus said. “What is the real cost per rider on the bus? If a single rider making a round trip is counted three times – and it could easily be more than three times – what is the cost per rider?”

Transit costs are calculated per trip, not per rider, according to Mr. Meilbeck. The formula is to divide the annual budget by the annual ridership, he said.

The current cost per trip is about $7.48, including the commuter route; which covers expenses such as fuel, maintenance, repairs, liability insurance, utilities, grant management, planning, and current facilities, he said.

The figure does not include about $500,000 NAIPTA estimates to build a new shuttle storage facility in Cottonwood. The Sedona City Council has not bought off on that project. And building costs are amortized – not included in cost-per-trip calculations, Mr. Meilbeck said.

Flagstaff’s Mountain Line transit system operates at about $3.28 per trip, according to Mr. Meilbeck. The RoadRunner’s cost per trip is higher than anticipated for two main reasons: the cost of bio-diesel fuel and the cost of doing repairs and maintenance on the shuttles, he said.

“Holding down costs and increasing ridership results in a more efficient system and the RoadRunner needs to find those efficiencies,” Mr. Meilbeck said.

Despite public perception that the shuttles often run empty, transit official and some city officials say Phase One has met the benchmarks and exceeded ridership projections, citing more than 80,000 served in its inaugural year, according to official documents.

The main obstacle to Phase Two, which includes increased service to West Sedona and possibly additional commuter service, is federal funding, according to officials.

“RoadRunner has been a success in that we did what set out to do, however, I believe we can do better and look forward to engaging the community,” Mr. Meilbeck said.

NAIPTA is seeking applicants who represent economic, educational, social and cultural diversity for a new public transportation advisory commission, according to a NAIPTA press release.

Commission members will participate in a series of seven meetings between mid-August and mid-October, requiring approximately 20 to 30 hours of attendance, to evaluate the performance of the RoadRunner and make recommendations to the NAIPTA Board of Directors and the Sedona City Council before December 31, 2008.

Those interested in serving on the commission should email Mr. Meilbeck at jmeilbeck@naipta.az.gov.

© 2008 Cyndy Hardy. This article may not be reproduced, republished or distributed without written permission from the author. Contact the author at cyndyhardy@msn.com.