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Consideration of Citizen Petition Related to Return of Late-Night Public Transit Bus Service - Citywide
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Title
Consideration of Citizen Petition Related to Return of Late-Night Public Transit Bus Service - Citywide
Description
This report provides the City Council with information in response to a citizen petition submitted by Ismael Morales at the July 2, 2025, Formal City Council meeting. See Attachment A for the petition.
Report
Summary
The petitioner requests the City Council to direct the Public Transit Department to draft a report on whether late-night bus service can resume to pre-pandemic service hours, including certain routes on Fridays and Saturdays. The petition further requests that public hearings be held on returning late-night bus service and that an ordinance or report be drafted to reinstate late-night bus service in Phoenix, in whole or in part.
Options for Council Action:
Accept the petition.
Deny the petition.
Other direction to staff.
Per the analysis below and attached, staff recommends that the City Council deny the petition, as Phoenix’s bus service has been restored to 97 percent pre-pandemic levels. Such changes have been based on the Public Transit Department’s continuous analysis of ridership data to determine and recommend the most advantageous and fiscally responsible service restorations. Additional details are explained below.
Background and Analysis
Under the City’s Transportation 2050 (T2050) program, pre-pandemic bus service included late-night operating hours whereby weekday bus service operated past midnight and Friday and Saturday bus service operated through approximately 2 a.m. Late-night service was reduced as a result of significant impacts to ridership soon after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Of note is that even during the pre-pandemic period, late-night service hours were not realizing as high a number of riders as expected. Also of note is that the petitioner incorrectly states that bus service “ends at 11 p.m. for the entire city” - most routes in Phoenix currently operate well past midnight, with many key routes operating through 12:30 a.m. or 1 a.m. throughout the week.
The Public Transit Department (PTD) implements bus service changes twice a year, as needed, based on an in-depth analysis of ridership data, passenger travel trends, and the City’s continued growth. Changes can be related to routes’ length, frequency, or hours of service, with passenger outreach and public hearings held for input during each instance of proposed changes. Because service changes are based on the analysis of ridership trends, it is unlikely future service will entirely replicate pre-pandemic service levels, with remote work options across the region playing a role. Nonetheless, current bus service operates at 97 percent pre-pandemic levels, as early-hour service has been restored, and frequencies have been strategically increased for routes and peak hours with higher passenger demand. Late-night bus service has not been recommended for reinstatement to pre-pandemic levels as ridership data does not support doing so and has not for several years. See Attachment B - Ridership Charts.
Public Transit staff note that very few passenger comments have been received requesting the expansion of late-night service hours. Valley Metro provides multiple ways for customers to provide feedback on bus service. Since 2024, out of the over 150 customer contacts to Valley Metro and the City of Phoenix related to transit service planning, only five requested bus service hour expansion, and only two requested late-night service in Phoenix. Among cities within the Valley Metro service area, Phoenix has the latest bus service span - bus service outside of Phoenix often ends around 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. on weekends.
Financial Impact
The annual cost for returning late-night service to pre-pandemic levels is approximately $11.6 million. Restoring late-night service to only those routes listed by the petitioner would cost $5 million, although staff also do not recommend this approach, as this method does not appear to be based on ridership analysis and may leave riders stranded during late night hours due to a proposed restoration of late-night service to only a small portion of the regional bus network. Additionally, there are limits to the uses of regional transit funds and costs have also been negatively impacted by rising costs for service operations and capital costs for buses and related equipment. Reinstating late-night service would result in a 5.5 percent budget increase to Phoenix’s bus operating budget as well as a pause to the continuous expansion of Phoenix’s bus service under the T2050 program.
Regionally, the Maricopa Association of Governments is rolling out a performance-based model for valley cities’ allocation of Proposition 479 funds. PTD’s approach to funding service based on ridership data and trends aligns with this transit funding model.
Ongoing Ridership Analysis
Valley Metro has hired an experienced third-party transit consulting firm which is currently conducting a Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) of the region’s transit system, of which Phoenix’s service makes up the largest portion. A transit system COA is a large-scale initiative conducted to improve transit service efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness by performing a route-by-route review of ridership and service trends, as well as future growth. The COA began in Spring 2025, with an anticipated final report in the summer of 2026. While it would be impractical to make any significant changes to transit service during this analysis, when the analysis is complete it is likely that it could result in changes to current service, both for Phoenix and for bus routes shared with other valley cities. These changes could be to routes, frequency, or hours of operation. Should adoption of the COA recommendations include some level of increased late-night service, that recommendation would undergo a public hearing and be brought to City Council for approval.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Interim Deputy City Manager Amber Williamson and the Public Transit Department.