Target date for Z-Trans public transportation Nov. 5

• Agreement approved in 3-1 vote with Chairman Preston Stone absent and Commissioner Tom Stewart voting nay

The goal of officials with the new Z-Trans system serving Lincoln County is to have initial route developed and approved, staff and drivers hired and all the remaining details worked out to begin transporting residents by Monday, Nov. 5.

The exact pick up points were not discussed during a county commission meeting last week. because they still must be approved by the New Mexico Department of Transportation, which is paying 50 percent of the operational cost. However, Z-Trans director Joe Hardin said the initial routes will serve the county. Routes in Ruidoso and Ruidoso Downs connecting to Mescalero will come later, as more drivers are on-board.

In July, commissioners rejected a proposal by Z-Trans to serve the county, but they reconsidered in August, committing $40,000 for a one-year trial.

The routes being developed would geographically include the city of Ruidoso Downs, the village of Ruidoso, Mescalero, the town of Carrizozo. the village of Capitan, the village of Corona on an appointment basis, and the unincorporated townships in the county, such as Nogal, Lincoln and Hondo.

Z-Trans is operated by Zia Therapy Center in Alamogordo, which has provided public transportation since 2001 with great increases in ridership over the years, according to information provided. The service currently is carrying more than 110,000 riders annually and serves Alamogordo, Tularosa, Mescalero and Las Cruces. The Mescalero partnership began in 2005, and now comprises about 50 percent of the system’s ridership.

The request to operate the Lincoln County system came from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, after a multiple year attempt under the city of Ruidoso Downs fell short.

Under the submitted contract, Z-Trans would provide a minimum of two and up to three daily round trips between the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. On Saturday, the hours would be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with two round trips, all fixed routes.

“We have to get all (the routes and paperwork) approved by the traffic engineer in Roswell,” Hardin said. “We will meet him next week and make sure the routes are O.K. with DOT before we publish the scheduled stops.”

One driver was being drug tested that day and will run the county route, the first to be implemented, Hardin said. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the route will run from Ruidoso Downs, where the vans are parked, to Carrizozo and come through Capitan. Three stops will be designated in each town, then the return route will be run.

On Tuesday and Thursday, a route will run from Ruidoso to Hondo and Tinnie and back through the settlement of Lincoln.

“We can do that with one driver right now,” Hardin said. As soon as the DOT releases the titles of the vehicles to Z-Tran, they will be painted, he said.

County Attorney Alan Morel said the contract will not be complete until the exact routes are specified and he asked how the service could begin Nov. 5, if DOT has not acted. Hardin said DOT must approve any stops on a state or federal highway, but if the approval hasn’t come through, temporarily, he can use business parking lots and other areas that are safe.

Morel also pointed out that the Z-Trans officials agreed to all changes he requested, including specifying that the $40,000 is inclusive of gross receipts taxes.

The DOT reimburses 50 percent of the operating cost and 25 percent of administration costs, In response to a question form Morel, Hardin explained that monthly cost reports will be submitted to the commission. The reports will be the same as those currently being submitted to other partners, he said. The agreement carries a 30-day notice for either side to cancel. The county does not waive its sovereign immunity.

Commissioner Elaine Allen noticed that the end of the contract falls in September and asked if the county will be paying for a full year, but only receiving 11 months service. Hardin explained that the federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30, and the county only will be billed for reimbursement of service delivered.

“We only bill for what we do, not what we could do,” Hardin said.

“We don’t pay $40,000 in a lump fee, just as you bill us?” she clarified.

Vice chairman Dallas Draper asked a question on behalf of the absent chairman Preston Stone. “What about Corona,” a village at the far northern border of the county.

Hardin said service will be on a call-in basis feature for Corona, because it requires an extra two hours. As a fixed route, it would “blow (the system) out of water, he said. “We can make changes on the fly as we drop someone off in Carrizozo. It will throw off timing, but that’s the same with Arabela, not so much Nogal.”  Two hours is needed, because the patron must be picked up and then delivered back in a round-trip, and drivers are limited to six hours daily, he said

The agreement was approved on a motion by Commissioner Lynn Willard in a 3-1 vote with Commissioner Tom Stewart voting nay.

Morel thanked Hardin and other Z-Trans officials for the ease of working with them, adding, “It’s rare.”