A mini-shuttle program known as the Island Express will be coming back to Coronado as the City Council directed staff on Oct. 21 to prepare a request for proposal to build out a future program.
City Manager Tina Friend estimates the proposal to be written in the spring of next year.
From June 4 to Dec. 4, 2024, the city operated a free, door-to-door electrical vehicle service for an experimental pilot program.
It was launched, in part, in hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Mike Donovan, who sat on the council at the time of the program, said his goals were to reduce traffic on the island, improve parking availability and benefit the environment.
Just under a year after the pilot program ended, there is now a request for proposal on the horizon, with several factors still to be determined:
- How much the city should charge for a ride: All of the council members suggested charging $5.
- Whether there should be an age limit for riders: There was no consensus. Council member Amy Steward believed children shouldn’t be able to ride by themselves and Council member Carrie Anne Downey disagreed.
- Whether they can continue to provide door-to-door service: All council members agreed on door-to-door service.
- Where to get additional funding for the program: All agreed that funding would help the city out with this service, and potential avenues for funding would be a SANDAG grant and advertising on the shuttle itself.
- If the shuttle would operate in the Cays: Mayor John Duncan is open to it unless it proves to be unsustainable. Council member Kelly Purvis didn’t want to eliminate the Cays, but wanted to figure out a way to lower costs.
- Whether or not a call center is worth the money it costs to operate it: Duncan did not want a call center. Downey thought the call center might be needed, but staff should see if there was something similar as an alternative for people who wanted to call for a ride. Normally, people would use an app to arrange a ride, but the call center allowed for others to call in for pick-up.
- If the shuttle would stop at hotels, and whether visitors would have to pay more for the service: Duncan said he was “adamantly against” not stopping at the hotels, but wanted to charge a higher non-resident fee for tourists.
There was no finalized agreement as to what Coronado’s council members want in the proposal. Duncan’s guidance: “I want staff to tell us how to make it work,” Duncan said.
