The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
By Mark Reaman
People riding the bus
Ridership on the Gunnison Valley Rural Transportation Authority (RTA) buses between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte continues to increase. During the December 8 RTA board meeting, executive director Scott Truex said ridership last month was up 31% over November 2022. With 41 roundtrips per day starting this ski season, Truex said the RTA is on track to handle more than 320,000 passengers this year. Last year just under 250,000 people used the buses. “That’s a big jump,” noted Truex. “It’s about 100,000 riders more than our pre-COVID numbers.”
Housing paying off
The RTA owns nine affordable housing units to house employees, and as of December all but two were occupied or would be within weeks. Truex said one of the two empty units is being held for a mechanic position while the second unit will be used for a driver.
Strategic plan to include survey of passengers (and non-passengers)
The RTA board agreed to allocate $85,000 to hire a consulting company to develop a strategic plan for the organization. The board will engage the firm Fehr and Peers. As part of the plan the company will spend some time on the buses surveying passengers. The board would also like the company to survey some people who are not regular users of the RTA buses.
Senior transit question
RTA board member Laura Puckett Daniels said she heard from a resident living in the Antelope Hills subdivision outside Gunnison that the senior service bus would not come pick them up for a medical appointment. Truex said the contract with Gunnison Valley Health designates a service area of three miles outside of Gunnison. The Mountain Express senior service contract does not have such a restriction. Puckett Daniels said in her view all county residents should have equal access to senior transportation availability. “It is important to me that everyone is served,” she said. “There is a wave of seniors coming our way and we should do what we can to help them age in place.”
Truex said he would look into details of the two services and report back to the board on specifics. The board approved both senior service transit contracts at the December 8 meeting.
