WeRIDE Program ends, leaving some Surprise residents stranded

SURPRISE, Ariz. - Surprise residents who rely on public transit are angry, saying the city suddenly canceled their only means of transportation without much notice.

What they're saying:

Surprise is known as a public transit desert. There are no buses or trains.

People without cars, seniors and the disabled rely on the WeRIDE program to get around. But, last week, the city council decided to kill the pilot program without much notice.

The microtransit company is used by Surprise, Goodyear, Peoria and Avondale residents who have no other means of public transportation.

The city of Surprise says it’s done experimenting with the two-year pilot program.

Resident showed up at June 17's council meeting, begging the city to reconsider ending the service in only two weeks' time.

"You are cutting out the most viable public transportation source this city has to offer. There are no buses here."

"I rely really on WeRIDE to get me to the hospital."

"These folks are going to be walking around in 110-degree heat."

‘They turned us into homebound seniors’

Catherine Reiman, who is visually impaired and can no longer drive, was one of the residents who spoke at the meeting.

She says she and her husband William chose their Surprise apartment, sold their car and picked their doctors' offices based on WeRIDE’s 10-square-mile service area.

"Uber is an option, so is Lyft, but they are expensive. Just to get to physical therapy or a doctor, it’s around $10-15 each way, where before it was $2 each way. The cost is probably three-fourths to two-thirds of our food budget every two weeks," William Reiman said.

"We can’t even go out to lunch now," Catherine said. Her husband replied, "No, we can't."

She adds, "Our hearts are broken. They turned us into homebound seniors, and they don’t care."

By the numbers:

FOX 10 reached out to the city of Surprise, which said the ridership didn’t justify the program's $1.2 million cost.

In summer 2023, there were around 3,000 trips. That number jumped to more than 30,000 for the full year in '24.

INSERT MAYOR'S STATEMENT HERE

Other west Valley cities have higher ridership, but advertise WeRIDE and service larger areas. Peoria is set to expand the program this year.

What's next:

There’s still a chance the council could backtrack on this decision. They say they’re discussing their options and will bring in the public's input as they consider the future of public transit in Surprise.

Until then, WeRIDE ends for Surprise residents on Monday, June 30.

"Council and City staff are currently discussing various transit options and will be working to gather additional public input, including through a survey and community meetings, so that Council has all the information needed to make future decisions on transit services. Starting July 1, those needing transportation who are ADA paratransit-certified or a qualifying veteran can still use the city-subsidized Paratransit and RideChoice programs offered through Valley Metro at valleymetro.org. Valley Metro is also coordinating with the City to host on-site ADA evaluations in Surprise," the city said.

It adds, "Those who do not qualify for Valley Metro services but require transportation assistance to participate in the City’s programming at the Surprise Resource Center and Surprise Senior Center may be eligible for a new pilot program specific to these programs. More information about this new pilot program, which will be offered through the City’s Human Service and Community Vitality Department, will be available later this summer."

Surprise Mayor Kevin Sartor releases a statement

"I genuinely value, welcome and listen to public input, and I admit we could have better involved the public prior to making this tough decision where we determined the cost of the WeRIDE program to be too high compared to the ridership numbers.

While this was launched as two-year a pilot program, and we worked to ensure riders knew that the end of the program was coming through email, a press release and social media notifications, I fully acknowledge and understand the public’s frustration with the lack of public engagement in advance of the pilot ending.

As the City continues to balance infrastructure needs to support our growth with a very lean budget, I commit to a more transparent public process on these difficult decisions in the future.

I am grateful for the residents who came to the June 17 City Council meeting to provide their insight into the WeRIDE program. Residents are always welcome to provide input by email, phone call or at City Council meetings.

I also want to ensure Surprise residents seeking transportation assistance know that those who are ADA paratransit-certified or a qualifying veteran will still be able to use Paratransit and RideChoice services through Valley Metro.

Those who do not qualify for Valley Metro services, but require transportation assistance to participate in City programming at the Surprise Resource Center and Surprise Senior Center, may be eligible for a new pilot program specific to those programs. More information about this pilot program, which will be offered through the City's Human Service and Community Vitality Department, is expected to be released mid-July."

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