Weekly Newsreel – September 18, 2026

On this edition of the Weekly Newsreel, new News and Public Affairs Director Margaret Osborne talks with Doug McMurdo, editor of the Moab Times Independent, about the partnership between Jeep and Moab City, the Arches Shuttle Launch, the Moab Music Festival Grotto Concert, and the Moab Tourism rebrand.

Transcript:

Margaret Osborne: Welcome to the Weekly Newsreel at KZMU Moab. I’m Margaret Osborne, the news and public affairs director, and I’m here with Doug McMurdo, the editor of the Times – Independent. So, Doug, this week was a big week for Moab tourism and marketing, including a new partnership with Jeep. Can you talk about what this partnership is all about?

Doug McMurdo: Sure, the the Moab City Council for a few months has been discussing the potential of entering into a sponsor partnership with Jeep. Jeep would be allowed to be official 4×4 of Moab. Jeep’s been around Moab – they’re synonymous with Moab, predates the very first Easter Jeep Safari that took place in 1967, and it seems like it’s going to be a win-win-win. They’ve entered into a two-year pilot program, and it’s a total of 250,000 that Jeep will put into city coffers. This is unrestricted funding, although they’ll probably use at least some of this funding to fund a part-time position. And that person would be a liaison with the Jeep company. Jeep would be able to proclaim itself as the official 4×4 of Moab and do all their marketing with that, which would really help them as well. We’ll see how the two-year pilot works and see if it gets renewed.

Margaret: So it’s a quarter of a million dollars, and it’s some loaned jeeps to the city, right? And trail stewardship. So a couple other perks.

Doug: Yeah, there are some perks. Good call. They’re going to provide, I believe, up to five Jeeps for the city to use, and I’m sure that the Jeep logo will be everywhere. Other things, other fringe benefits, if you will, will just be Jeep is going to help Moab market itself without Moab having to use any TRT money. They could use that for other branding and destination marketing efforts that they make.

Margaret: So, what comes next? What can we expect to see from this partnership?

Doug: Jeep, Jeep, Jeep. I imagine. I imagine that Jeep is going to be aggressive in marketing this, because it does give them bragging rights, and I think we’re going to see a lot more marketing probably, you know, watching commercials on TV or reading a magazine or looking online. There’ll be a lot more focus on Moab.

Margaret: Okay, so moving on, we have the official launch of the Arches shuttle. What should people know about that?

Doug: Well, this is another pilot. It’s going to be a six-month pilot. It’ll be for September and October for 2026, and then we go into the the slow season, and then it will pick back up in March. And I think everybody is just taking a wait and see period to judge it. You know, evaluate it, see if it’s working, see what could be done to improve it. I think right off the bat that there’s some concerns about the routes. They go to Delicate Arch and they go to The Windows, which are the two most popular places. But they don’t go to Devil’s Garden. We’re going to have to look at, to me, the the main thing is, does this do what they want it to do, which is reduce congestion? And that’s a big if. You know, these are not big 40-seat tour busses. These are shuttles. I think they’re averaging right now – and it’s way too early to say anything – but I think six riders per shuttle, which would reduce cars entering the park by, you know, a fraction. But don’t know if that’s going to have anything to do with reducing congestion. We’re going to find out though, because anybody who’s driven around the last few days knows that the the tourists have returned, and I imagine that the park is going to get tested really quick.

Margaret: It makes a couple stops in Moab, right? So where are those stops?

Doug: There’s four stops in Moab. I know that the MIC is one. There’s a little bit of controversy there, because they’re worried about people driving and parking on Center Street, and their cars staying there all day instead of moving in and out like it was designed to do. That $6 million dispersed parking project the city undertook a couple years ago, so they’re worried about that. Lions Park is another pickup, and then there’s a couple close to hotels.

Margaret: And do you know what information is going to be collected during this pilot period? What are they looking at?

Doug: I think they’re looking at ridership. Efficiency in terms of are they seeing what they want to see? Is it enhancing the the visitors’ experience? Is it popular with them? And is it reducing congestion at the park? That would be the main thing, I believe, is congestion at the park, because it had gotten so congested that people were miserable. They were driving around the park and could never get out of their car because there was nowhere to park. And that’s no good. So that’s why timed entry was brought into the fold a few years ago. They’ll be looking at that. They’ll be looking at – it’s a free ride. And it’s not in this paper, but the city, at its most recent meeting, backs the Arches shuttle. And they need to, because the hotspot funding that funds Moab Area Transit, which is another free service for both locals and visitors, that money dries up. And it’s $600,000 a year. So I think that they’re trying to work out a deal with the county, at some point down the line, where both of these free transit services could be made available. Because Moab Area Transit is very, very popular, especially with locals. There’s a lot of people that, they’re not mobile, you know, and they need that to get to doctor appointments, to get to the grocery store.

Margaret: I mean, this has been a controversial rollout, and for those who maybe haven’t been following this story, where do the main, you know, tension points seem to come from?

Doug: I think people are less opposed to the idea of a shuttle itself than they are in the manner in which the county did it. I think a lot of people feel like, number one, it was was crammed down our throats with very little oversight. They held a lot of meetings outside of the public eye. There was no sun shining on a lot of the conversations. I think it was just the closed, secretive manner in which people perceive it was done.

Margaret: And how much is this shuttle costing in total?

Doug: 3.5 million with the federal government, the state government pitching in. I believe the county’s take on this is 500,000. And that’s really a good question, Margaret. Because another primary concern is the idea is anathema to a lot of people that Grand County taxpayers or tax money should be used to subsidize the federal government. That just doesn’t wash well with a lot of people. I’ve gotten a lot of phone calls from people who tell me that Zion National Park has a shuttle system and that works great. Well, there’s a couple of differences, and they’re major. Number one, passenger vehicles are not allowed in Zion. It’s just the shuttle. You have to get on a bus to get into Zion National Park. And number two, and this is really the main thing for me, is National Park Service pays for that shuttle, not the taxpayers of Washington County. So those are two- In my mind, it’s apples and oranges,

Margaret: And how often are these shuttles going to be running?

Doug: I think it’s every 30 minutes in town, and they get dropped off at the visitor center inside the park. And then they catch another shuttle that’s dedicated to the park, and that’s every 15 minutes.

Margaret: And so this pilot project runs for the next two months, you said, and then it will start up again in the spring.

Doug: Yeah, in March when the tourists come back.

Margaret: The next story that we have is about the Moab Music Festival. Doug, do you want to go over this story?

Doug: Andrew was able to to be a reporter and cover a concert out at the grotto. And he did a deep dive into it, just the logistics and the effort to put this event on. It’s like Herculean efforts. The beachhead, you know, where boats can land, it changes every year, because the river changes every year. It’s always changing, so that’s always a challenge. They got to bring in a grand piano by jet boat, and like a dozen beefy people have to unload that thing. It’s like, you know, wrapped in plastic and all this stuff. And they’ve got to, you know, manhandle that out. They bring enough chairs for 90 people, musicians and instruments and what have you. And then when you’re in the grotto, you’ve got this wonderful, beautiful landscape and the music. The most talented classical musicians in the world are performing. It’s a really good story. It’s beautifully written, and it really gives everybody insight into how much effort the Moab Music Festival puts in on putting on some of these shows.

Margaret: And the grotto concert, that’s an annual thing, right?

Doug: It is, and I think it’s on everybody’s bucket list. You know, everybody who’s a fan of the Moab Music Fest, that’s probably the one venue that everybody would like to go. But seating is limited, obviously, and the tickets are pretty high.

Margaret: Where is this grotto?

Doug: It’s in Canyonlands, so you’re in a national park. And that’s the other thing – they’ve got to leave it just like it was. So they had to radically change it. I mean, they have to put down boards and stuff to protect, you know, the vegetation that’s there, and all that stuff has to be gone. It’s really quite the endeavor.

Margaret: Is the grotto, is that only accessible by boat?

Doug: You could probably parachute in, if you’re really brave.

Margaret: Parachute a grand piano. That sounds intense.

Doug: I’m sure it’s been done, just not here.

Margaret: So the Moab Office of Tourism rolled out a new campaign. Can we talk about that for a little bit, Doug?

Doug: Yes, as everybody knows, the the previous iteration of the Grand County Commission for the last several years focused on “respect the land” when you come to Moab. Stay off – stay on the trail, leave no trace. That kind of messaging. The business community felt that that that messaging was hurting the economy. That they were – they weren’t getting the tourists that they that they needed to sustain their businesses. And some folks on the county commission agreed with them. So they went back to marketing. There was also an audit, where they got in trouble for spending money in manners that they shouldn’t have. I would be not doing my job if I didn’t mention that. But they have gone full on, “Come to Moab, have fun.” Their new brand – rebrand, it’s trying to get people not just to come to Moab, but to stay longer, stay more than two or three days, because there’s a lot to see. “You should have stayed longer” is the message of this campaign. They’ve got quite a bit of money into it, and the the tourism office just won a national award, so they’re certainly doing things the right way.

Margaret: You said they have quite a bit of money. Where are those funds coming from?

Doug: So it’s like $750,000, and almost all of it is coming from TRT- transit room tax funding, which is, that’s what it’s for. And I think the state is also pitching in some money. But by and large, it’s taxes that are paying for it. Transit room taxes, the taxes that people who stay overnight pay.

Margaret: Is there anything else you want to add, Doug?

Doug: Just a shout out. We’ve got the Red Rocks Art Festival coming up on September 25-27. There’s going to be live music and artisans and food. It’s going to be a good time. It’s one of my favorite events of the year. So stick around in Moab for that weekend.

Margaret: Yeah, I’ll definitely be there for that one. Well, thank you so much, Doug, for joining us today.

Doug: I think you did a great job for your first time.

Margaret: Thanks. Thanks for listening, everyone, and have a great rest of your day.