Winter bus service sees big expansion

“It is a great schedule,” said RTA executive director Scott Truex. “Hopefully it will get used and the additional buses will take some of the pressure off some of the trips that were overcrowded last year.” The RTA board agreed to increase bus service in the valley by 57 percent over last winter. “We will be running more buses at peak times,” Truex explained. “Instead of seeing a bus every two hours, you’ll see a bus probably every 45 minutes during the peak times. We will now be running 13 round trips per day.” Truex said the numbers showed that, on average, about 23 people were counted on each bus. “For an average, that’s about as full as you can get,” he said. “So we hope that by adding these buses, even more people will take advantage of the public transportation opportunity.” The late-night bus—which will leave Gunnison at 10 p.m. and return down valley departing from Mt. Crested Butte at 11:15 p.m.—was added at the request of local businesses that were finding it difficult to find employees living in Crested Butte. This bus may offer a chance for Gunnison residents working in Crested Butte to find a free and easy way to commute. The cost of the additional daily trip is $37,359 for the season. The town of Mt. Crested Butte committed $20,000 to the effort, Crested Butte budgeted $10,000, the city of Gunnison donated $4,859 and the private business sector has committed to raising the additional $2,500. Crested Butte councilman and local restaurant owner Chris Ladoulis had lobbied for the additional late night bus and he spearheaded the effort to collect some private funds. “With more and more employees and customers traveling back and forth at night, we have a growing need for a safe and convenient option to ride the bus,” he said. “I’m very happy the towns came together to expand the service. It just got a whole lot easier to get a job and hire employees in the valley. Residents, students and visitors at both ends of the valley can now take full advantage of our restaurants, retail shops and nightlife.” The RTA winter service will begin when the ski area opens on Wednesday, November 26 and will run through April 5. Crested Butte South service will start December 15 The Mountain Express has agreed to provide winter bus service between Mt. Crested Butte and Crested Butte South. There will be six trips per day servicing Crested Butte South starting December 15 and running through April 5. The Crested Butte South bus will run from the subdivision and stop at both the Crested Butte Four-way Stop and Mountaineer Square. “Part of the idea was that taking it up to Mt. Crested Butte would perhaps help make it easy for people living in Crested Butte South to hit a powder day,” said Mountain Express board member Glenn Michel. “It could help improve skier day numbers and ultimately provide an increase in some sales tax to both towns.” Michel said the Mountain Express board is picking up most of the $49,5000 tab for this winter’s program, but the idea is that in the future the residents of the subdivision would take on a larger share of the cost. This year, Crested Butte South is throwing in $16,500 toward the cost of the service. “We are looking at this as a pilot program to see what the ridership will be,” said Crested Butte South Property Owner Association manager Dom Eyemere. “We hope this gets a lot of cars off the road and helps with congestion. We think it can help increase sales tax in the towns as well. I think it will be well received. We anticipate skiers, workers, kids will all take advantage of the bus opportunity.”