The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Mountain Express searching for solution
[ By Mark Reaman ]
The Late Night Taxi has hit another speed bump. The Mountain Express board of directors last week did not approve a proposed contract with Alpine Express to continue the service for the 2022-23 year as the cost of the service has climbed significantly.
Mountain Express managing director Jeremy Herzog will be approaching both the Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte town councils at their second meetings in May to see if a solution and financial assistance can be worked out to keep the service running.
Under the umbrella of the Mountain Express, Alpine Express has been providing service for people, primarily bar patrons, that need a ride home after the Mountain Express and RTA buses stop driving for the night at about 11:30 p.m. Alpine presented a contract for $210,000 that would start on May 1 and run every night of the year from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m. Passengers in the North Valley would be charged $10 per person per ride that would take them to their house or hotel. Collected fares would be subtracted from the $210,000 contract.
Last year the contract paid Alpine Express $90,000 for just over 300 days of service which included collected fares and subsidies from Mountain Express, Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte, Crested Butte South and Gunnison County. More than 3,300 rides were provided. By extending the number of days covered along with an increase of operating costs, the price rose significantly.
The Mountain Express board last week indicated it understood the value of the service but did not have the available funds to commit to the increase in guaranteed charges.
Herzog explained that he would be explaining the situation to both town councils and seeking both short-term and long-term solutions to the situation. The service has always faced hurdles. Local drinking establishments used to fund the service and then government entities stepped in to assist. But it has never been a line-item priority for the towns or the county.
“It’s an important service for the community but like everything, costs have escalated,” explained Herzog. “We want to keep it going and build it into a more permanent service since the Uber/Lyft business model has not succeeded around here.”
The current contract ends May 1 and until some sort of resolution is figured out the service will run only on the weekends. Herzog will make the case in mid-May for the government entities to raise the subsidy amounts substantially to keep the service running in its current form for the next year.
