As expected, Mountain Express is carrying fewer passengers

Powder days still bring the lines and COVID bringing the big bucks

[ By Mark Reaman ]

Even after shutting its doors for two-and-a-half months and decreasing the number of people it is carrying on each bus due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Mountain Express still managed to carry 445,562 passengers in 2020. That is a decrease of 37 percent from 2019. So far in the winter ski season, Mountain Express is down 42 percent as of January 12.

On the bright side, the transit agency has received significant government help to shore up its finances and this week found out it could receive another million dollars in operating grants from the federal government.
“Overall things have gone pretty well,” Mountain Express managing director Jeremy Herzog told the Crested Butte town council on February 1 as he gave his annual report. “The busiest days we’ve experienced this winter were December 29 and the Saturdays in January that were powder days. Some people had to wait since we are limited to carrying 19 people on the town shuttles.”

Herzog reported that this winter, “wait times for a bus rarely exceed 20 minutes at the peak times and patrons were largely understanding of any inconveniences. Since resuming service on June 1, 2020, no employees or patrons have become ill, based on contact tracing that Mountain Express is aware of.”

The wearing of masks by riders has been pretty consistent he reported, “but the holiday week of Christmas included a few cases of escalated negative behavior from some passengers.” If there is an issue with someone refusing to wear a mask on the bus, he has told the drivers not to escalate any conflict and if necessary to call local law enforcement to deal with the situation.

Financially, the system is in good shape and Herzog is expecting to see a small surplus in 2020 when the books are closed. He said the increased revenues of Crested Butte sales tax along with unexpected CARES Act funding would drive that surplus. He reported that the board has $800,000 in operating reserves and a capital reserve of $400,000.

Herzog said this week he participated in a call with the Colorado Department of Transportation last Friday where he learned Mountain Express is in line to receive a major award from the feds as part of COVID relief funds. He said while no official announcement has been made about the exact amount, he was told to expect about $1 million that could be used for operations this year and next. That is on top of a $100,000 grant used to supplement bus service this winter given decreased capacity with COVID restrictions.

“Once we know more specifics, I will work with our board to determine a strategy on how we use our local match funds, for both continued funding of operations and any special projects identified in our five year strategic plan,” Herzog said. “I am excited about this award and what it might mean for our staff and green growth initiatives.”

As for the fleet of 20 buses, he said the average age of the big buses was eight years old while the smaller, condo loop buses, are averaging seven years old. The transit system will be getting a new bus this year and it has applied for grants to purchase three vehicles in 2022. Meanwhile Mountain Express has partnered with the RTA on property for bus facilities in the Whetstone Industrial Park south of town.

During peak ski season days, six town shuttle buses, three condo buses and one Crested Butte South bus are all used. Buses are rotated out daily. Six buses are used for back-ups. Bus miles in 2020 totaled 161,756 while service hours came in at 15,358. Both those numbers are down about 18 percent from 2019.

Herzog said Mountain Express is continuing to assess the readiness of electrical vehicles for the alpine climate, but reliability is not there yet. “Once the COVID19 pandemic subsides and we are able to stabilize transit operations, I hope to be able to devote time to a more comprehensive analysis of that market segment,” he concluded.