Mountain Express considering allowing dogs on the bus

Get your dog registered

[ By Kendra Walker ]

In an effort to increase ridership, Mountain Express is considering allowing dogs on the bus, and is gathering public feedback.
Mountain Express managing director Jeremy Herzog attended both Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte council meetings last week to present Mountain Express’ considerations for adopting a pet policy to help entice folks to hop on the bus with Fido and leave the car at home.

“Our dogs go to work with us, they hike Snodgrass with us, they come with us when we pick our kids up from CBCS…the thought is if pets are going to the places that people are and they’re allowed on the bus, we get more people riding the buses,” he said. “If we get 10 or 15 more people a day to take the bus because they can take their pets, I consider it a win.”

Mountain Express has been looking at other communities that allow dogs on buses for policy ideas, including Mammoth, Telluride, Boston and Seattle. Herzog said that Telluride, probably the most similar to Crested Butte, doesn’t see a lot of dog traffic on the buses in the winter but carries around a dozen dogs a day in the summer.

Herzog presented a potential draft policy, which could require the following: eligible dogs must be registered with the Town of Crested Butte or Mt. Crested Butte; owners must sign a waiver; owner must present valid proof of registration; dog must be on a leash and wearing a soft muzzle; drivers have discretion to ask dog owners to wait for the next bus if it’s too crowded or unsafe; drivers have the right to refuse ridership to any dog if it appears to pose a safety hazard; dogs may not be given food or treats during the ride; dogs must stay on the floor and be controlled by their owner at all times. Herzog explained that people visiting from out of town would still need to register their pets to ride.

“The registration stuff seems fairly complicated,” said Crested Butte mayor Jim Schmidt.

“The reason our board was considering asking for that registration is it sort of provides one hurdle to go through, hopefully limiting it to responsible dog owners,” said Herzog. He explained that the registration was also a method to encourage compliance with the towns’ dog registration requirements, which typically only get 20 percent participation. However, he said in gathering feedback from the bus drivers, all were fairly opposed to a registration process because it adds to their policing duties.

Herzog said that Mammoth requires soft muzzles for dogs riding the bus to reduce liability, and has free muzzles available to distribute. Mountain Express is looking into the possibility of stocking a of number of free muzzles on the bus similar to COVID masks so people with dogs wouldn’t be turned away.

Schmidt was in favor of having soft muzzles, and the rest of the council liked the idea of allowing dogs on the buses.

“With the registration I think we can try this out and see how it goes,” said CB council member Will Dujardin.
“I don’t own dogs but I would not mind at all riding the bus with a dog,” said CB council member Mona Merrill.
The Mt. Crested Butte council was also happy with the idea of canine friendly buses.

In regards to enforcing the policy requirements, “I know that it’s a burden for the drivers,” said Mt. CB council member Lauren Koelliker. “But a lot of the issues that could come up I think they’d probably be pretty rare. I’d image that drunk people on the bus will probably be worse than dogs will ever be.” Regarding muzzles, “If that’s what it takes to make driver’s comfortable and to allow dogs on then I’m OK with it,” she said.

“The biggest concern for me is when the bus is crowded and to have pets taking up space where people could be,” said Mt. Crested Butte mayor Janet Farmer. “Dog bites can happen, but dog bites can happen walking down the street too. Dogs having accidents on the bus wouldn’t be too much fun for anybody, but maybe you make the owner responsible for cleaning it up before they get off the bus. I would hate to put that on the bus driver because that’s not really their job.”

“I’m not a super fan of the soft muzzle. If I’m bringing my dog on there I at least have enough understanding of their temperament,” said Mt. CB council member Steve Morris. “I would hope that people with dogs would utilize down times and early shuttles to condition their dog. Giving the drivers the ability to say yay or nay is probably enough to avoid some of those instances.”

Mt. Crested Butte council member Roman Kolodziej, who is on the Mountain Express board, was in favor of the registration process. “It will get people to be compliant around something they need to be compliant with anyway. There are steps to follow and if you’re here for three days, sorry it’s a bummer, maybe you can’t get your dog registered in time.”

Morris suggested the bus stops could include QR codes that could allow riders with dogs to easily scan and register while they’re waiting for the bus.

Herzog said the Mountain Express board will continue to gather and review community and driver feedback as it considers adopting a dog policy.