Glenwood Springs to Rifle bus service gets a boost

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado - Riders catching a ride on the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority's Grand Hogback service from Glenwood Springs to Rifle next year can probably expect to find a few more seats available next year.

That's because the Garfield County commissioners on Monday approved a change to the county's current agreement with the transportation authority, which is expected to fund two additional round trips for the Grand Hogback service. The revision, which comes as the county begins drafting its budget for next year, will also help RFTA to purchase two new buses for the bus route in 2009.

The county currently contributes to RFTA, which provides nine Grand Hogback westbound trips and 11 eastbound trips Monday through Friday, according to a memo from the agency to county commissioners.

RFTA will receive an estimated $658,000 next year to maintain and improve the bus route. About $286,000 will be spent to maintain the current level of Hogback bus service, while another $172,000 would be directed toward funding two additional round trips from Glenwood Springs to Rifle.

Another $200,000 from the county would go to a matching grant so RFTA can receive two over-the-road buses that would service the Grand Hogback route. Those buses have 57 seats compared with standard buses, which have 42 seats.

Putting those 57-seat buses into service along the route would alleviate the standing-room only situation passengers face on the Grand Hogback service during peak commuting hours, according to the RFTA memo.

The number of passengers catching a ride on the RFTA service between Glenwood Springs and Rifle is rapidly growing. The number of riders on the service jumped to 74,810 in 2007, an 11-percent increase from 2006. It is expected that ridership on the Grand Hogback service should exceed about 100,000 this year, which is an increase of 45 percent from 2007.

RFTA officials had proposed several other services for Garfield County this year, including a new Battlement Mesa service that would connect the community center in Battlement Mesa to downtown Rifle and the Colorado Mountain College campus in Rifle. It would cost about $516,000 a year to operate, the memo said.

Another proposed service would connect CMC's Spring Valley campus to the existing bus stop at Highway 82 and County Road 154.

Dan Blankenship, chief executive officer for RFTA, said the Battlement Mesa and the CMC service had been presented to the transportation authority's board. But board members decided that because of current capacity constraints and a lack of drivers it would be best to move "slower."

That led Blankenship to propose only the improvements to the Hogback line to the Garfield County commissioners on Monday.

Garfield County contracts for bus service in the area because it is not currently part of the transportation authority. In 2004, Garfield County voters decided not to approve a sales tax increase so the county could join RFTA.

Earlier this year, Garfield County commissioners voted not to put a similar measure before county residents this election season.

Contact Phillip Yates: 384-9117
pyates@postindependent.com



Post Independent, Glenwood Springs, Colorado CO