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Valley Regional Transit asks Garden City for $33,000; presents service gains and long-term MOU idea
Summary
Valley Regional Transit presented ridership gains in Garden City, requested $33,000 for ongoing service assessment, described capacity pressures on paratransit/Beyond Access and proposed a multiyear memorandum of understanding to stabilize regional funding.
Valley Regional Transit CEO Elaine Clegg told the Garden City Council on July 14 that VRT is asking the city to include a $33,000 service assessment in its upcoming budget to maintain and expand transit service that has shown recent ridership gains in Garden City.
The request followed a 2024 systemwide service change that VRT said produced 3,120 new rides in Garden City (a 70.7% increase at certain points) and a 1.78% year-over-year increase in Garden City ridership on its fiscal-year measure. "We're here tonight to talk to you about our annual funding request," Clegg said. She described an idea VRT is pitching to partners: a longer-term memorandum of understanding to create a predictable baseline contribution from member jurisdictions.
Clegg said the $33,000 request could be paid from one or more budget categories and emphasized the per-ride cost compares favorably to similar transit services. She described several local service developments: new half-hourly service on Route 21, a new Route 20 that added service into Garden City (producing 1,741 additional rides on that route in Garden City), and targeted stop and pathway improvements tied to State Street and Pierce Park projects. "These are just Garden City boardrooms. There's 1,620 more rides that were provided in Garden City alone," she said when describing Route 21 changes.
Clegg told the council VRT had implemented Beyond Access, a consolidated door-to-door service for older adults and people with disabilities covering Ada and Canyon counties, and that demand for that service was approaching capacity. She said VRT is exploring ways to commingle Beyond Access with other paratransit or on-demand services to increase rides without necessarily increasing cost.
On capital projects, Clegg outlined planned State Street improvements that include multiuse pathways and higher-amenity stops near Pierce Park and the fairgrounds. She also said VRT is developing Valley Connect 3, a long-range plan that envisions several corridors with 15-minute all-day service that would touch Garden City. "15-minute service on these two lines, we think, would be a game changer for making them reliable, and attractive for people to ride them more often," she said.
Council members asked technical questions. Councilman Greg Page sought clarification about ridership graphs that compare full-route totals (which can obscure local gains), and Clegg and VRT staff explained that Garden City-specific boarding counts differ from full-route totals because some rerouted or truncated routes removed downtown service while adding stops inside Garden City. Page also asked about VRT's Lyft partnership for first/last-mile connections; Clegg said the Lyft program provides rides to or from transit stops, and VRT is planning service to Micron though that connection was not yet finalized.
Council member Rasmussen asked whether VRT's fares are comparable to other systems; Clegg said VRT is relatively inexpensive (regular fare $1.50, discounted $0.75) and that VRT is reviewing fares to keep them simple and equitable. She cautioned that larger fare increases can reduce ridership among riders who have a choice while disproportionately affecting those without alternatives.
Clegg asked the council to consider the assessment in the budget process and offered to provide examples of longer-term agreements other cities use (percentage-of-budget or per-capita formulas) to smooth funding and require public hearings before changes in contribution levels. She said VRT can also increase local outreach and provide more frequent updates to partners if Garden City pursues an MOU.
No formal council vote was taken on the funding request at the July 14 meeting; Clegg said she would be available to answer budget questions during the city's budget process.
Ending: VRT left the council with data on local boardings, an outline of near-term capital projects that could affect Garden City stops, and a formal funding request the city may consider during budget adoption. Clegg said VRT would follow up with targeted outreach for Route 20 and offered to provide examples of proposed MOU language for council review.
