Faced with a growing budget shortfall and declining ridership, the Parachute Area Transit System, PATS, received a $225,000 boost in discretionary grant funding from Garfield County commissioners on Monday.

Since 2021, PATS has offered low-fare rides in Rifle, Parachute and Battlement Mesa, with fares ranging from $1 to $4.

During Monday’s meeting, PATS representatives requested $250,000 in funding. However, commissioners unanimously approved $225,000, citing a shrinking county budget due to declining state support. 

The discretionary grant will help offset PATS’ operational and capital expenses, which total approximately $390,000, according to the PATS 2025 update presentation. 

With only an estimated $12,500 in fare revenue projected for 2025 — about 3.4% of total revenue — the system relies heavily on external funding from Garfield County, the Town of Parachute and City of Rifle. 

“We’ve given tens of thousands of dollars every year for many years to PATS, but we sensed as commissioners that transportation really needed to be helped in the west end of the county and this answered part of the need,” Commissioner Mike Samson told PATS representatives during the meeting Monday. “I want this to continue to be successful, but…there’s so many hands out there wanting money from the county, and we’ve been generous because we’ve been able to be generous to so many people for so many years.

“We knew the time would come that we can’t be as generous as we have been,” he added before encouraging PATS to seek more funding from Rifle and local entities like Colorado Mountain College that benefit directly from the transit service. 

Even if PATS had received the full $250,000, its 2025 budget still projects a $13,000 deficit. That shortfall is expected to increase to over $75,000 in 2026, according to the PATS draft budget. 

The growing deficit is primarily driven by increasing operational costs, which are projected to increase by 4.7% in 2026. This includes a 13.5% jump in healthcare premiums through the Colorado Employer Benefit Trust (CEBT) and a 3.25% merit increase for staff wages. 

Ridership is also dropping. After a steady increase from 2022 to 2023, ridership plateaued in 2024 at 6,673 rides. In 2025, it is estimated to decrease to around 6,000. Around 42% of riders board in Rifle, with 31% from Battlement Mesa and 27% from Parachute, according to the presentation. 

Despite declining ridership, PATS formed its first advisory board in 2025, including representatives from Garfield County, the City of Rifle and the Town of Parachute. 

The transit system also received $247,752 from the Colorado Department of Transportation’s, CDOT, FASTER program to replace two vehicles. In addition, PATS secured nearly $107,000 in operating funds for 2026 through FTA 5311 Formula Funding. 

PATS continues to explore expansion and has applied for $60K in annual funding through a Clean Transit Enterprise grant from CDOT. The grant would support service expansion, including a partnership with transportation company Downtowner, Inc for a pilot on-demand transit service. 

In 2026, the newly formed advisory board will begin evaluating feedback and requests for expanded service and may adjust schedules, routes and fares.