From: "FRIENDS OF TRANSIT NEWS" To: "Friends of Transit" Subject: Ahwatukee Foothills shuttle plans proceed E. Valley ride services expanding Date: Thursday, September 06, 2001 10:37 PM I wanted to pass this article on to those of you who did not see it in Wednesday's Arizona Republic. David Schwartz david@friendsoftransit.org http://www.friendsoftransit.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahwatukee Foothills shuttle plans proceed E. Valley ride services expanding By Patricia Biggs The Arizona Republic Sept. 06, 2001 In a valley where much ballyhoo has been made over freeways and light-rail solutions to traffic congestion, two communities have quietly designed free shuttles linking neighborhoods with business areas. Tempe, which began its Neighborhood Flash service in April, is calling it an "amazing" success. Ahwatukee Foothills, while still dickering over the exact route, is scheduled to have vehicles on the road in November. Transit workers in both areas say the shuttles are a way to get people from neighborhoods to regular bus routes, shopping, schools and businesses. The Phoenix Citizen Transit Commission meets today to discuss the latest plan for Ahwatukee Foothills. It has attracted a lot of citizen input, including a protest of a plan to run the shuttle along pricey, mountainside Equestrian Trail. "It feels great to know they listened to what we wanted," said Mary Oertle, a real estate broker in Ahwatukee Foothills who went door-to-door gathering signatures against the proposed Equestrian Trail route. Oertle, 44, said she might use the shuttle on a Friday night to go to dinner, but otherwise it won't work for her. Tempe's shuttle route logs 12,000 to 19,000 riders a month, compared with about 20,000 riders on two combined Mill Avenue routes of full-size buses. "We're really happy with the ridership numbers," said Sue Taaffe, a transit information specialist for Tempe. The residential area shuttle is popular with Arizona State University students because it runs east and west between Evergreen Road and Priest Drive, past apartments and the campus. "It's pretty convenient," said Bret Blumenthal, 18, an ASU freshman. "It's free, it's air-conditioned." The shuttles are scheduled to run every 15 to 20 minutes. The Ahwatukee Foothills shuttles will seat 15 and use unleaded fuel. Transit officials are expecting 8,000 to 12,000 riders a month. Scott Miller, senior transit planner for Phoenix, said the service is being offered in Ahwatukee Foothills because the streets are not built on a grid system, thus making it difficult to operate full-size bus routes. "This is a means of actually going into the neighborhoods to get people," Miller said. Eventually, the shuttle route will take riders to the first Ahwatukee park-and-ride lots where people can catch buses headed into downtown. Both cities' shuttles are funded by transit taxes passed by voters. Phoenix is budgeting $800,000 a year for the shuttles, and Tempe's budget is $850,000. The major kink in Tempe's new service has been the electric-hybrid vehicles, which had to be pulled off the street after a month because of brake problems. Tempe is the first city to use the vehicles. The contractor, Advance Vehicle Systems Inc., based in Chattanooga, Tenn., is providing vans and buses to carry the load until the problems are resolved. Tempe won't pay for the vehicles until they are up to standards. Reach the reporter at patricia.biggs@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-7961.