PRESCOTT - Virtually every day since summer, employees with the Northern Arizona Council of Governments have had to turn away people who were in need of transportation.
"Since June 30, we have not had a day when we didn't receive a phone call" from someone who needed a ride, Teri Drew, the regional director for the Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG), told the Prescott City Council this week.
Ever since money ran out for the city's Transit Voucher Program six months ago, the needy and disabled people who had come to depend on the low-cost rides that the program provided had nowhere to turn.
But come Jan. 1, the long drought in the program should be over.
At Tuesday's combined study and voting meeting, the City Council approved an agreement with NACOG to administer the reinstatement of the voucher program.
Drew said she expects the program to start back up on the first of the new year.
Officials explained that the city recently received word from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) that it would receive about $60,000 in Local Transportation Assistance Fund money.
The money, which comes from Power Ball Lottery revenue, has traditionally been the city's source to cover the bulk of the cost for the Transit Voucher Program.
When a question arose this past summer about whether the state would disburse the money, the city discontinued the program.
That left hundreds of people without a way to get to urgent daily needs such as job searches, doctors' appointments, and grocery-shopping trips.
During the year from July 2008 through June 2009, NACOG handled 52,491 requests for rides - most for basic needs, job searches, and medical reasons.
In an effort to build in flexibility, local transit advocate Lindsay Bell suggested Tuesday that the city approve the agreement with NACOG on a six-month basis, with the option for extensions.
That way, Bell said, the city could opt to later change the contract to allow for an "enhanced" voucher system that would serve the general public as well as the needy.
Bell pointed out that officials have long considered expanding the voucher program to include the general public by using federal transit money through the Central Yavapai Metropolitan Planning Organization. She urged the City Council not to restrict the program with the yearlong contract.
But Community Development Director Tom Guice said the contract already allows for flexibility through a cancellation clause.
The council ultimately approved the yearlong contract, which will take the program through December 2010.
Along with the $60,000 in state lottery money, the city will provide a $15,000 match, bringing the total available for the coming year to about $75,000.
In addition, Drew said NACOG recently received another ADOT grant for $50,000 to provide work-related rides. That portion of the program has been operating since November, she said.
Without a full-scale public transit system, the tri-city area has made do for the past five or six years with the Transit Voucher Program, which has helped qualifying low-income, disabled, and elderly residents.
Throughout the summer, NACOG has continued to administer the voucher program for Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Dewey-Humboldt.
Beginning Monday, the Prescott vouchers will become available at NACOG for the month of January. The vouchers are available on a first-come first-served basis, Drew said. NACOG's telephone number is 928-774-1422, and the address is 221 N. Marina.
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, December 18, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Working for a staffing agency I hear from many applicants that they have to refuse jobs because they have transportation issues. The fact that we live in a town with no true public transit system is a joke. Somebody in office should make public transportation a reality in Prescott/P.V. . Did you know Chino Valley is considering a small community route? Bravo for them.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Kale
I was in Clarkdale last weeekend and was surprised to find out that Cottonwood/Clarkdale/Sedona have a most amazing public transit system. It links all three towns and some lines go around the individual towns. Check out www.verdelynx.az.gov. It makes you wonder what's wrong with our local government when they can't provide us with the same kind of services as Cottonwood, Sedona and Clarkdale. Are we that much poorer? Or just uninspired.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Timmeah
Tom, you don't think that this effort (and a worthwhile one it is) doesn't involve tax money? What exactly do you think the lottery is? And while I know that the world revolves around the party of Me, Myself and I, looking past your nose may allow the revelation that there are others in the community who would indeed be allowed a better life with affordable transportation and the associated benefits of less pollution, less traffic, less wear and tear on your streets and on and on.
Posted: Thursday, December 17, 2009
Article comment by:
Tom Steele
A mild BRAVO for NACOG. This is "THE" program most in need in our area. A new transportation authority to provide fixed route bus service would require a new bureauacy to meet the feds requirements for funds and also would require a new tax on all of us. I urge Prescott Valley and other served communitys to support increased contributions to the means tested NACOG voucher program.
