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Commission accepts $1M UDOT grant and picks Via Transportation to run Moab–Arches shuttle pilot
Summary
Grand County accepted a $1,000,000 UDOT Transportation Investment Fund grant to run a pilot shuttle between Moab and Arches National Park and awarded the operator contract to Via Transportation after a working-group recommendation; votes were split 4–3 on both the grant acceptance and operator selection amid debate on costs and public benefit.
The commission voted to accept a $1,000,000 grant from the Utah Department of Transportation to fund a Moab–Arches shuttle pilot and later approved awarding the operator contract to Via Transportation following the shuttle working group’s recommendation. Supporters said the pilot will produce real operational data and answer questions about cost sharing, routes and impacts; detractors questioned whether the grant was the best use of public funds and raised concerns about the program’s short initial seasons and cost exposure for the county.
Chair Melody McCandless framed the pilot as a data‑gathering exercise: "A pilot shuttle is not a finished system. It will have rough weeks and hard learning. Many of the questions that people are asking about cost, about timing, about who pays for what are exactly the questions that this pilot exists to answer," she said. The commission approved acceptance of the UDOT funds and the Via operator award (both recorded as 4–3 votes). Staff will draft the operator contract consistent with the RFP and a cooperative management agreement with the National Park Service and return a final contract for ratification.
