Over 3,000 passengers hitched a ride with Carbondale’s free Downtowner buses in August.

The bus pilot program, inspired by Aspen’s Downtowner and Basalt’s Connect, began servicing the Carbondale Municipal Area in July. 

In June, the town was awarded a grant by the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority that covers half of the program’s operating expenses up to $182,000. 

“We just thought it was a really good opportunity to leverage some of our funds, leverage some of RFTA’s funds, and test this service out and see if it’s something that the community actually wants and will use,” said Jared Barnes, Carbondale’s planning director, on Monday.

Since then, more than 5,000 passengers have requested a ride using the Downtowner app. Carbondale’s Downtowner runs seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday through Sunday. Similar to Uber and Lyft, the app locates passengers via GPS and sends the ride request to one of two 15-seat buses. Passengers can travel to almost anywhere within the Carbondale Municipal Area, as well as two mobile home parks outside of municipal limits. The Downtowner doesn’t travel to schools or the Red Hill parking lot.

Rides increased from 1,128 in July to 2,270 in August, with an average wait time of five minutes. Ridership data from September is not yet available, according to Barnes.

 “I think internally, at least, we’re pleasantly surprised with the ridership and the numbers that we’ve gotten for the first two months,” Barnes said.

The six-month pilot program, scheduled to end Dec. 31, was created to fill the transportation gaps left by the city’s free bus, the Circulator.

“(The Circulator) basically goes from the park and ride to the city market, down Main Street to the Rec Center and back out of town, so a large portion of Carbondale is disconnected from that,” Barnes said. “It’s still within a half-mile walk radius, but it’s not the most convenient. We’ve received some comments about how we can make access to transit a little bit better.”

Whether or not the Downtowner remains in Carbondale depends on funding and the town’s budget, which will be finalized by the Carbondale Board of Trustees in December.

“We’re always looking for feedback from our community,” Barnes said. “So if they like the service and want the town to continue funding the service, we’d encourage people to let the town know, myself, Anna Ramirez, our Board of Trustees, and just let us know that you want the town to fund this again.”

“So (I) just encourage people to let us know what they think about it,” he added. “If you haven’t ridden it, give it a try, see if it works.”