NAIPTA's Mountain Line drives along Forest Avenue during the Thanksgiving weekend snowstorm in this 2019 file photo.
The Mountain Line public bus system was awarded a $5.5 million dollar grant from the Arizona Department of Transportation to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure near transit stops.
The grant supports what city officials call “first mile / last mile funds,” which are used to enhance Flagstaff’s transportation network by improving access to public transportation.
“We know that most people access transit stops by walking or biking, and this grant will allow us to create an integrated transportation network by improving access and connectivity to our stops,” said Northern Arizona Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority Board Chair Steve Peru. “Mountain Line is proud to partner on a project that not only benefits transit, but the Flagstaff community as a whole.”
Mountain Line applied for the grant in partnership with the City of Flagstaff. The city agreed to contribute transportation tax funding equivalent to 20 percent of the grant, or $1.4 million. The additional funds bring the total investment to $6.9 million.
“This grant represents an exciting new level of partnership between the City of Flagstaff and Mountain Line,” said Flagstaff City Councilmember Jim McCarthy. “Working together, they have successfully brought a $5.5 million federal grant to bike and pedestrian projects in our city. Their collaboration is allowing local tax dollars to go farther and to get more projects done.”
Earlier this month, Flagstaff City Council was briefed on a plan to promote walking and biking within the city known as the Active Transportation Master Plan.
The bike and pedestrian projects will be prioritized based on the master plan list of projects near transit stops.
“These ‘first mile / last mile’ connections are integral to a multimodal transit system, allowing seamless travel on foot or bike to and from transit stops,” the city said in a release.
City planners told the council they plan to encourage walking and biking by increasing the convenience and comfortability of city infrastructure. This includes adding sidewalks to more than 60 miles worth of streets that are currently lacking, along with increasing the space designated for bike lanes.
“We don’t need to recreate planning for transit, we just need to make sure we are taking advantage of the relationship between transit and walking and biking,” Multi-Modal Transportation Planner Martin Ince told the council.
In addition to the grant, Mountain Line also received more than $445,000 for a Technology Upgrade Package. The funding will be used to implement Wi-Fi hardware, Transit Asset Management software, Transit Signal Priority (TSP) hardware for buses and mobile ticketing. The technology upgrades will allow Mountain Line to “streamline processes and improve service efficiency and reliability for customers,” the release said.
