The Town of Parachute is seeking funding to launch a new transit service that would provide on-demand rides for passengers in Parachute, Battlement Mesa and Rifle. 

The service would operate in partnership with the transportation company Downtowner, Inc. Similar to Uber and Lyft, residents would be able to request a shared ride using the Downtowner app, which uses GPS to locate the rider and dispatch a nearby vehicle. 

On Monday, Garfield County commissioners unanimously signed a letter supporting the proposed on-demand service, urging the Colorado Department of Transportation, CDOT, to help fund the project in 2026. 

Downtowner has operated in Aspen since 2016 and expanded to Carbondale through a pilot program launched last summer. In May, Glenwood Springs launched its own on-demand, citywide microtransit service, Ride Glenwood on Demand, which chargers users $1 per ride. Fare rates for Parachute’s potential Downtowner service have not yet been determined. 

The proposed program would utilize Parachute Area Transit System, PSATS, vehicles and expand the service area in Rifle, improving accessibility for Western Garfield County residents while reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips.

“It’d be an expansion of PATS — we’d be utilizing all the infrastructure that we have in place now in the Town of Parachute, the buses that we have, the fueling station, all of that stuff, they would basically contract with the Downtowner to manage that, but they would also expand with some on demand services that we currently don’t provide,” Vinnie Tomasulo, Parachute community and economic development director, told Garfield County commissioners Monday while asking for a letter of support for the project. 

“We’re fixed route, and there is definitely a need for on-demand,” he added. “Part of what the Downtowner brings is they have a very robust technology that helps them really dial in on numbers as to what are the most optimal routes to be running, what locations are the most active, whereas currently in the town of Parachute, we really don’t have a lot of that.”

PATS is currently conducting a Comprehensive Operational Analysis in order to secure funding through a Clean Transit Enterprise, CTE, grant from CDOT.

The CTE helps fund public transit electrification projects, including the installation of electric vehicle charges and fleet vehicle replacements. It also supports investment in public transit infrastructure, materials, vehicles and more — all aimed at reducing pollution through frequent, reliable and convenient transit