The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We’re willing to step into this out of necessity”
It’s official: due to a decline in revenues, the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) will charge $2 per ride this winter for the bus that runs between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte.
The RTA bus that runs between Crested Butte and Gunnison will be down to six round-trips per day this winter, versus the 10 trips it ran last winter. With a reduced bus schedule on the books, the RTA hopes that charging will help reduce demand for the service. The RTA says the fee will not generate a profit, and will be collected by the service provider (Mountain Express at this time) so the RTA won’t have to take on additional administration costs.
The RTA has discussed a fee for some time, and made the final decision to charge $2 per passenger during the organization’s July 9 meeting.
RTA executive director Scott Truex recommended the $2 fee as a temporary means of reducing demand, with hopes of bringing back the 10 trips per day service when the budget allows for it.
“I don’t think we need to charge for this service—the goal is to get back to 10 trips for free,” Truex said. “The goal of this organization is to carry as many passengers as possible. We can’t run last year’s service again, but we’d like to get back there.”
Jonathan Houck, RTA board chairman, said, “I think we’re going to be running pretty close to capacity even with charging.”
Regarding the public’s perception of being charged for the bus rides, board member Bill Nesbitt said it is important that it appears the RTA is using all means possible to support the service, especially if the RTA has to go to the voters for a tax increase or otherwise in the future. “I’m not looking short term—I’m asking, will the voters perceive that we’re trying to help ourselves [as an organization]?”
The general consensus of the board was that charging for the bus is not ideal but necessary to continue the service. Board member Leah Williams said, “This is a temporary solution to a temporary problem—we hope.”
Riders will pay the same flat fee for all trips. For example, it will cost the same to cross the town of Gunnison as it will to go from Gunnison to Crested Butte.
Crested Butte South presents its own set of unique circumstances, and residents would like the RTA bus to pull into the subdivision year-round. Currently, the Crested Butte South Property Owners Association pays $11,000 for the RTA bus to pull 3,000 feet into the subdivision from April 5 to November 22. That $11,000 is what it costs the RTA to provide the additional service.
Truex said the RTA bus cannot pull into Crested Butte South during the winter because the buses are too full, and the RTA board has a policy that it will not add additional stops until the existing stops are provided with a certain level of service. There have been talks about adding additional Crested Butte South bus service in the winter, but there is a high cost associated with it.
Now Crested Butte South residents will be asked to pay the $2 charge per ride as well. That wasn’t very palatable to the homeowners association manager Chris Behan, who attended the meeting. He said it seemed like Crested Butte South residents were getting over-charged.
“They’re already paying the RTA tax. From the outside looking in, they’re getting triple-dipped,” he said. “If we are paying, you guys are out of your minds if you think we’re going to pay for the bus to come in another 3,000 feet and put $2 in,” Behan said.
Nesbitt reacted to Behan’s comments. “There are limits to what we can do, Chris. Nobody likes the situation, but how do we accomplish it?” said Nesbitt. “I’m hearing a threshold and a threat and that bothers me.”
“Bill, what was the threat?” Behan asked. Before the sparring could continue, Houck intervened and set the meeting back on track.
“What’s in front of us right now is the overarching fee base for the winter,” Houck said. “We know we’re going to charge, everyone in this room knows that. This doesn’t set the tone forever. We’re willing to step into this out of necessity.”
Board member Chris Morgan pointed out that despite the budgetary challenges, the bus service is a success.
“It’s important to recognize that we’ve created a service, and looking to the future, we have something the community wants,” said Morgan. “We’ve created something successful here.”
The RTA will begin charging at the beginning of the ski season.
