In 2023, more than 7 billion trips were taken on America’s public transit systems, in towns, cities, and rural areas across the country. Demand for transit is growing, as the cost of car ownership increases and fewer young people express interest in driving. Moreover, as America’s population ages, an increasing number of people will lose the desire or ability to drive. Transit provides an affordable option that allows everyone—including older adults, people with disabilities, youth, and people without cars—to continue participating in the economic and social life of their community.
To meet this demand, transit leaders are finding innovative ways to provide service. Too often, however, these agencies must make difficult trade-offs, shifting and even cutting services as resources are insufficient.
Small Cities, Big Moves focuses on transit in small cities—places with populations between 50,000 and 200,000, of which there are over 300 in the United States. Transit serves an essential role in these communities, yet they are rarely studied.
Flagstaff, Arizona is the case study feature of this week’s quick takes—read on!
High in the mountains of northern Arizona, Flagstaff is a fast-growing urbanized area of 79,842 people where residents and visitors alike enjoy opportunities for outdoor recreation all year round. With health care facilities, educational institutions, and a wide variety of businesses, Flagstaff also serves as the regional hub for the surrounding Coconino County, which is twice the size of the state of Maryland. As more new residents arrive, the need for affordable transportation has grown, and the Mountain Line Transit Authority has stepped up to meet the need.
Mountain Line is an independent transit authority providing service to the city of Flagstaff and the surrounding area through fixed-route service, on-demand microtransit, vanpools, and ADA paratransit. Eighty-three percent of city residents live within ¾ mile of transit, but the frequency of that service varies: The nine fixed routes include one that runs every eight minutes and one that runs once an hour, while most run at a 20- to 30-minute frequency. Service runs seven days a week, with service on weekdays starting at 6:00 a.m. and ending at 10:00 p.m. Mountain Line has also added a winter route that serves the snow recreation areas, where 2- to 3-hour traffic delays were becoming common.
Mountain Line did not cut service during the pandemic but still saw a 50% decrease in ridership across the system, with ridership on routes serving students down by 75% and a 30% decrease in ridership on all other lines. Post-pandemic, ridership has remained strong, but the agency has at times had to restrict service due to a shortage of qualified drivers (an issue affecting transit agencies nationally after the pandemic). From that challenge, a new partnership emerged. The Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) was also facing a shortage of drivers, leading to overcrowded school buses and long rides for students. Realizing the situation was unsustainable, the school district eliminated yellow bus service for out-of-district middle school students and all high school students within the city limits. FUSD partnered with Mountain Line to encourage those students to ride the city buses instead, using passes supplied by FUSD. Mountain Line rose to the challenge, working closely with the school district to educate students and their families on nearby routes and how to use the bus system. As a result, more than 1,000 students (about 60% of those eligible) are now riding public transit to school, reducing traffic in school zones and saving money for the school district. FUSD Superintendent Mike Penca says he “doesn’t know what we would have done” without Mountain Line.
Mountain Line is also a key component of the City of Flagstaff’s Regional Plan 2045, which aims to create a vibrant urban core that can accommodate continued population growth and keep the regional economy strong. Flagstaff’s residents have also recognized how important transit is to the daily life of their community. In 2023, when a regional hospital proposed to relocate to an area without transit access, voters rallied against the move, noting, among other things, the challenges that the lack of transit would create for patients, families, and staff.
In November 2024, voters in Flagstaff approved a nearly 70% increase in the portion of the sales tax dedicated to transit, bringing it to a half-cent per dollar and allowing the city to continue supporting Mountain Line’s 5-year growth plan. The growth plan includes service to more areas, later hours on Fridays and Saturdays, and an increase in both weekday and weekend frequency. Voters supporting the tax recognized the importance to the regional economy of supporting the tourism and hospitality industry, which requires a significant weekend and evening workforce.
While city and county contributions and rider fares contribute to Mountain Line’s success, federal funding provides the majority of Mountain Line’s resources. All of the authority’s buses have been purchased with federal funding, and the authority intends to use federal funding to replace its current buses as they reach the end of their useful life. If federal funding were reduced, the impact would be felt by riders. As CEO and GM Heather Dalmolin noted, “If I have to replace buses with 100% local funding, that’s less service I have on the streets.” On the other hand, steady, robust, and reliable federal funding provides the security needed for Mountain Line and the community it serves to make the investments needed to improve and expand service and keep the regional economy moving.