Title
Briefing to Council Regarding Atomic City Transit Saturday Service Pilot Program and Bandelier Service Update
Body
Saturday Service Pilot Program
During the 2019 budget hearings, Council approved $250,000 for a weekend transit service pilot program from White Rock to the Los Alamos downtown district during the Bandelier Shuttle service time frame (mid-May through mid-October). The main goal was to provide visitors returning from Bandelier with the opportunity to also explore downtown Los Alamos and surrounding businesses. Council also desired this service be available to the Los Alamos County community as well. The pilot service, originally conceived as a fixed route service model, was scheduled to begin in the Summer of 2020, but was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID in the Spring of 2020. Since COVID, maintaining staffing levels at Atomic City Transit (ACT) for regular weekday service has been a challenge and delayed consideration of implementing a Saturday Service Pilot until 2025.
With a change in National Park Service resources in 2025 leading to changes to Bandelier Shuttle Service and the implementation of the SPARE MyRide App and Software, it allowed ACT to implement a 13 Saturday Pilot On-Demand Transit Service from August 2 through October 25.
The On-Demand service provided door to door service within and between Los Alamos Townsite and White Rock. Riders could reserve rides through the MyRide App or by calling the Transit Dispatch from 9:00AM to 5:30PM during the pilot. To operate the Saturday Pilot, 5 staff members were utilized volunteering for overtime shifts that included 1 Supervisor, 1 Dispatcher, and 3 Drivers.
Extensive promotion of the service was conducted working with the Public Information Office, library and included fun cross promotions with the County Fair and Rodeo, BearFest, Atomicon and the Fall Arts and Crafts Fair.
Across the thirteen Saturdays, a total of 359 trips transporting 471 passengers were provided. Around 70% of these trips were related to social or shopping type activities.
A Community Survey was conducted with 157 responses received. In general, response were positive with riders requesting continued service and potential later hours.
Since completion of the pilot service, ACT staff have been analyzing the collected data and internal and external feedback. It was determined that the Saturday Pilot Service was a success and a service the community and staff would like to explore as part of the regular transit services provided in Los Alamos County.
ACT staff have gone through a process to identify potential service and staffing models to implement a sustainable service. Given the ongoing challenge of maintaining a full roster of transit operators, ACT staff feel that the best way forward is to identify changes to the existing weekday fixed route services that could free up existing operator resources to be allocated to provide sustainable expanded transit services including Saturday service through On-Demand Service.
Due to the complexities of transit services, we have engaged Stantec Consultants to develop a scope of work to assist us with reviewing our current transit system, ridership patterns and identify opportunities to expand our transit services with our current operator resources. The New Mexico Department of Transportation is currently reviewing the Stantec Study Proposal for potential grant funding. It is expected that the study will take 5-6 months to complete.
2026 Bandelier National Monument Shuttle Service Update
ACT first provided transit service from White Rock to Bandelier National Monument for two months in the Fall of 2011 after the Las Conchas Fire and flash flooding impacted the parking capacity within Bandelier. Since 2012, ACT entered into agreements with the National Parks Service (NPS) to provide transit service for Bandelier National Monument generally from March through October each year with NPS covering 75% of the costs of the service. The ridership levels from the service provided additional federal funding to ACT. Through 2024, this service ran from White Rock to Bandelier with transit shuttle service as mandatory even though the original parking capacity had been repaired with the only exception being for visitors with disabilities or arriving before the start of transit service. At its peak, this service transported over 100,000 passengers per year.
In 2025, due to NPS staffing shortages and hiring freeze, NPS could not support transit service from White Rock and requested ACT provide shuttle service within Bandelier from the Frey Trailhead parking lot, used for overflow parking, to the Visitor Center. ACT provided one bus for this service and operated March through September but only transported around 3,300 passengers during this period with many days resulting in zero passengers being served.
During discussions with NPS for this year's service, NPS indicated they were facing similar staffing issues as the year before, felt that for the majority of the season that they had adequate on-site parking, and through visitation numbers and feedback felt that the previous transit service from White Rock may have suppressed visitations. ACT asked NPS to identify those times when visitations will likely reach levels when the overflow parking at the Frey Trailhead would be needed. Through this review, a total of 55 days were identified between March 14 and October 14. Execution of the annual task agreement with NPS for this service was delayed, so this service started on March 19 and will now be over 51 days through October 14, 2026.
This service will run between 10:30AM and 5:00PM and require 1 operator with supervisor support to cover breakdowns or incidents. The Shuttle will be free, but not mandatory unless the Frijoles Canyon Parking area at the Visitor Center reaches capacity and visitors are required to park at the Frey Trailhead parking lot.
Recognizing the potential impacts to White Rock businesses and attractions, NPS is working with the County Economic Development staff on new initiatives to help make the connection between Bandelier and tourism opportunities in Los Alamos and White Rock. This includes exploring adding a kiosk to their location and Ambassador training. Additionally, the shuttle will have a TV monitor that will show slides with information on other attractions in the area to visit.
This is the last year under the current 5 Year Master Agreement which expires in April 2027. Discussion will begin in August 2026 on the structure and funding of a new 5-Year Master Agreement.
Attachments
A - Transit Presentation
B - NPS 2026 Bandelier Shuttle Service Press Release