South county mayors chide YCAT pullout
Somerton Mayor Martin Porchas said he regretted the Yuma City Council's vote to discontinue funding Yuma County Area Transit.
“We were hoping that it would be approved because all of the cities benefit from YCAT and Dial-A-Ride service.”
He said it's not likely that any of the other governments would be able to pick up Yuma's share of the cost to operate the countywide transportation service.
“At least in Somerton, we can't. We have cut our budget, reduced the work hours of city employees. We wouldn't have anywhere (in the city budget) to get the money.”
Besides affecting YCAT's passengers, he added, the Yuma council's vote will put at risk the jobs of 78 people who work for the transportation system, if there's no money to continue operating it.
On Tuesday, the Somerton City Council approved allocating $29,929 as its share of the total of $523,655 that Yuma County and its municipalities needed to put up in order to receive a match from the federal government to keep YCAT and Dial-A-Ride in operation.
Porchas said the Yuma council's vote could end up hurting Yuma businesses since many of YCAT's riders are residents of outlying areas who ride the buses to Yuma to shop.
San Luis, Ariz., Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla agreed.
The vote, he said, “is regrettable. YCAT benefits the south county, but the biggest beneficiary is Yuma. There's a route, the Yellow Route, that arrives in Yuma after passing through San Luis and Somerton, and that's the one that has the most users. Those people go to Yuma and spend money in stores, restaurants, offices and other businesses.”
Now that Yuma has decided not to contribute to YCAT, Escamilla sAId, “it would be unfair for the other communities putting up Yuma's share and (Yuma) continuing to benefit” from the service.
