Return of free downtown bus service to boost access for commuters, tourists

Sep. 10—Want to see the sights downtown but don't want to drive?

Want to catch the train to work but aren't thrilled about walking that last stretch to the office?

You may have a new option: After a long hiatus, the Santa Fe Pickup shuttle is back up and running.

The free downtown route is offered through a partnership between the city's Santa Fe Trails bus system and its tourism bureau, Tourism Santa Fe, with the latter funding the program through lodgers tax revenue.

"It's an important component for a city that has the level of visitation that Santa Fe does," Tourism Santa Fe Director Randy Randall said, speaking of easy downtown transportation.

City officials emphasized, however, the shuttle is for local residents, people who work in Santa Fe and visitors.

"The emphasis isn't just providing tourists transportation in the downtown area; it also focuses on and is meant to provide commuters getting off the train in the morning a way to get to state offices," said Gabrielle Chavez, transit director of administration for Santa Fe Trails.

Transit dispatch supervisor Andrew Baca said Santa Fe Pickup was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic because it wasn't feasible to run the shuttle with the required social distancing mandates.

"Due to COVID regulations and restrictions, we couldn't give adequate spacing that would still provide the integrity of the service," he said.

After those restrictions went away, "it never really came back," Baca said.

That's in large part due to staffing shortages in the division, which has had one of the highest vacancy rates in the city. Currently, 29 of 46 driver positions are staffed or about to be staffed and 12 of 16 paratransit positions are staffed.

Santa Fe Pickup has run on a subscription basis since the route was discontinued, and groups of state employees have used it to commute from Rail Runner Express commuter train stations to their offices as an on-demand service, Baca said.

While still significantly understaffed, Baca said the Transit Division has grown enough to allow the fixed route service to be brought back, increasing access for Rail Runner commuters and others. Since it was restarted Sept. 3, it's averaged about 100 riders per day, he said.

Riders have ranged from commuters and tourists to people going to St. Elizabeth Shelters to receive services and locals who decided to take it for a spin, Baca said.

"We get a few who say, 'I wouldn't normally jump on this, but I'm going to give it a ride,' " he said.

The route makes a loop through much of the downtown area, stopping at spots including the Santa Fe Plaza, the Old Santa Fe Trail Visitor Center and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, and heads up Canyon Road to the intersection with East Palace Avenue. On the way back toward the Plaza, it makes several stops in the Railyard, providing a connection with people commuting by train at the Santa Fe Depot.

Randall said $300,000 a year in lodgers taxes will go toward the shuttle service, which he said he is "delighted" to have up and running.

"Every first-class tourism destination, it seems, offers transportation to their visitors," he said.

Randall said the shuttle could help tourists visit more of the downtown area than they might be able to see on foot and will be especially helpful for those who have limited mobility.

The shuttle runs seven days a week — 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and Sunday, and 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. It runs on the half-hour, but Chavez said the Transit Division hopes to add a second shuttle by spring, which would decrease the interval to 15 minutes.

Making the second shuttle happen would require bringing more drivers on board.

Baca said the city has had strong driver retention in recent years but has struggled to recruit more drivers to replace people with commercial drivers licenses who retired during the pandemic.

"That created a big impact on the CDL working class," he said.

The division provides paid CDL training, and applicants are not required to have previous transportation experience, Chavez noted.

She said rapid hire events have proven more successful than the traditional hiring process when it comes to filling jobs. However, positions are still regularly available to applicants through the city's hiring portal.

"We are constantly reposting positions," she said. "We pretty much have them on rotation."