Briefs: RTA Transportation

by Mark Reaman

Summer air takes a hit

The Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) is expecting to pay the $202,000 cap for summer air service. Airline consultant Kent Myers said while load factors were about the same in July compared to 2018, lower fares dinged the RTA and the organization lost about $16,000. June air service was lean with an earlier than normal starting date for flights coming in from Houston starting on June 6. Add to that an abnormally cold and wet June that held the snow and not many people flew here in early summer. The June load factor was a mere 38 percent and the RTA lost a lot of money on that month. Myers said August wouldn’t make up the deficit so he told the board at the September 27 meeting they should expect to pay the cap.

Summer bus service cooking

RTA executive director Scott Truex reported to the board that the buses were busy this summer. He said July ridership was up 29 percent over 2018. That did include an 18 percent increase in bus trips. August was up about 23 percent. “A lot of people are riding the buses,” Truex noted. “The summer program is very successful and we have a lot of ridership, with very few complaints.”

One recent complaint he shared was the overcrowding of the late bus the night of the Vinotok bonfire. The RTA ran an extra small bus along with the one regular late-night bus. The buses were swarmed when they showed up to head to Gunnison and not everyone could get on for the trip down valley. A fight resulted at the bus stop and as Truex pointed out, “A couple of people got a very expensive ride down to Gunnison as a result.” He said a second full-sized late-night bus would be considered for the 2020 Vinotok celebration.

Business bus survey

The board conducted a survey of local businesses to determine how the bus service was working for them. As might be expected, most of the responses came from businesses in the north end of the valley. And those businesses would love to see even more service to make it easier for employees living in Gunnison to easily get to their jobs. Truex said he could develop a schedule to match most of the requests from the survey but it would take 18 trips per day as opposed to the current 13 daily trips. Board chair John Messner said he found the comments helpful, providing him with a new perspective from the different feedback.

Future regional bus 

expansion

RTA board member and county commissioner Roland Mason said discussions are taking place at the regional level about possibly getting bus service from Gunnison to Montrose, to complement service to Denver. That route to Montrose is one of seven being considered by the Colorado Department of Transportation. Four routes will be chosen for next year. Mason said the fact that Highway 50 would be closed for the Little Blue Canyon road realignment between 2021 and 2023 could play a part in that route not being selected this go-around. Truex said in the future, the hope is to have a bus storage facility in the Whetstone Business Park that would allow the regional routes to originate from the north end of the valley instead of Gunnison. He said early discussions have started about adding a second bus to service the Denver route, which is very popular.

Stuff

—Board member Laura Mitchell said she received a request from the Crested Butte Bartender’s Association that the RTA help fund a Late Night Taxi service. Truex said he would add it to the next agenda for discussion purposes.

—The RTA’s $4.6 million 2020 budget will be polished and sent to the county. The board will act on it by November 1 and it will then become part of the overall Gunnison County budget. 

—The contract with RTA airline consultant Airplanners, LLC is up for renewal. The board will consider a new two-year contract that ultimately increases its monthly retainer from $5,000 per month to $6,000.

—The Air Command group is requesting that a new survey be conducted of passengers using GUC. The last survey was done in 2014/15 and they want to know if the customer has changed in the last five years.

—The board held an executive session at the end of the meeting to discuss a possible land purchase.