The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Looking for a way off the “merry-go-round”
The Gunnison Valley RTA board met in executive session on Friday, May 13 to discuss the 2011-2012 airline program, but has been delayed in making any final decisions as it waits for final information from the airlines. But there is plenty to keep them busy as they await negotiations with one last airline. The board also met in executive session to revisit its contract with Airplanners, LLC, which assists with airline negotiation, and turned its attention to bus transportation.
“Because I believe in transparency, I would like to make a motion that we direct our staff to review and potentially come up with options for the airline consulting contract and bring it to the board,” Bill Nesbitt said once the board reentered its regular board meeting. “I’d like to see that in a month.”
The board is contending with higher airline guarantees next winter and significantly fewer seats coming into the Gunnison-Crested Butte Airport. Recognizing that something has to change, airline planner Kent Myers approached board chair Jonathon Houck about revisiting the Airplanners contract.
“We need a fundamental shift in what we’re doing, and I am willing to say to the board nothing is sacred here, including my contract,” Myers said in a follow-up interview. “I want to be able to look at this thing and say this is the best thing for the community to get out of this merry-go-round that we’re on—it is not leading anywhere in a positive direction.”
What those alternatives might be is up for debate, and the Airplanners contract is not the only piece of the puzzle. But in Myers’s view, the RTA has been wrestling with this challenge for some time and status quo won’t do the job.
“We need another way of looking at this thing so we can get the RTA a better financial balance sheet, understand where we’re trying to go with this thing long-term… and provide service to the community that fills their needs and that translates into better opportunities in the future,” Myers said.
Contract options will be explored by RTA staff and discussed at the next board meeting in June. In the meantime, business continues as usual for bus transportation. The RTA is in the process of reapplying for transit grant 5311, which distributes federal transportation dollars via the state. The RTA has received the grant for the last four years, and in 2011 it contributed just over $135,000 to the operating budget: $99,440 for operating expenses and $35,934 for administrative costs. But the grant agrees to cover only half of the budget and requires a local match to fund the remainder.
“I’m in the process of applying for the funds. We do this every two years,” executive director Scott Truex told the board. “I need to inform you that you are committing to the local match, which consists of having to match dollar-for-dollar what they put into the operation fund.”
The board made a motion to continue support of the grant application, and went on to approve the addition to Google Maps of the RTA bus service between Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte.
“[Google Maps] defaults to auto, and there is an icon for car, biker, bus, pedestrian. You can say I want to walk from Denver International Airport to Boulder, and get directions,” Truex said. “You can even [get directions] to walk to China—it has a whole section about swimming the ocean.”
The benefit for the RTA, as Truex sees it, is that travelers can get door-to-door directions via public transportation within the Gunnison Valley.
“Ultimately, I’d like to see the Denver bus included in that as well so people could get to Crested Butte from anywhere in the country by public transit,” Truex said.
According to Truex, bus ridership from Denver to Gunnison has increased about 60 percent over last year, averaging 13 people per trip and providing an alternative to flying.
The RTA hopes to be able to make decisions regarding the air program in the coming month—but that hinges on gathering final information from the airlines.
“We need to understand the bigger picture,” Truex said. “We can’t make any decisions until we have all the pieces to the puzzle.”
