Those headed home on the Buzz Bus likely noticed a change in recent weeks.

The most visible change is likely the bus itself, which is now an extended 15-passenger van.

The van is owned by the company now running the Buzz Bus for the city, said Amber Blake, director of transportation and sustainability.

The service is expensive for the city to provide, and a contractor could be a more efficient way to provide the service to the community with the existing budget, she said.

The company agreed to run the service for a trial period that will end in September. At that time, the city and the company could negotiate a longer contract.

“If it works, then we will likely be contracting the service on an annual basis with Durango Cab, (and) they will be using or obtaining one of the transit buses,” Blake said.

The city was interested in contracting the service because ridership is falling, and it is expensive to run. The city discussed ending the program in 2013, but officials decided to keep the service running.

Since then, ridership has continued to fall from 3,619 at the end of 2013 to 1,484 at the end of 2014. When the city handed the service over to Durango Cab, only 501 had used the service so far. The Buzz Bus was budgeted to cost about $35,000 to operate this year, according to city documents.

Since Durango Cab took over the service, the ridership has not been high, said Ed Gilbert, the firm’s owner. But he could not say why.

“Maybe because it’s different,” he said.

Durango Cab has maintained the same phone number for the service. It also kept the same stops, and it is doing what it can to draw attention to the service, he said. Durango Cab has agreed to charge the same fare, $8 per trip, and operate the same hours from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

mshinn@durangoherald.com