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State says revisions to transit funding coming in March

Proposals could slash funds for Durango, Western Slope bus services
The Colorado Department of Transportation is considering changes to the way federal grant money for bus service is distributed. Early funding scenarios would result in major cuts to Durango Transit. But these options are being revised, the Colorado Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

New state funding scenarios that could hurt Durango Transit are in flux, the Colorado Department of Transportation said Wednesday.

“It is not a foregone conclusion that anybody will lose significant amounts of funding,” said Mark Imhoff, director of transit and rail division of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

CDOT is changing how $7.5 million in federal funds will be distributed each year among rural transit agencies because its system is dated, and there is not enough funding for all the agencies requesting it, he said.

Five options for reallocating the federal funds alarmed the Durango City Council on Tuesday because the changes could force the city to cut service up to 50 percent.

This year, Durango received about $913,800 or about a third of its operational budget from this grant program, said Amber Blake, director of transportation and sustainability.

The options sparked concerned letters to CDOT from the city and other agencies.

“It obviously struck a nerve,” Imhoff said.

There are 29 rural transit agencies that could receive some of the federal funding. By March, CDOT wants to revise how grant applications are evaluated because the system is unfair for those who have never received funding, Imhoff said.

“We currently don’t have a mechanism that allows them to enter into our system and get an equitable amount of funds,” he said.

Those who have been receiving grants, such as Durango, were likely to get more each year to cover inflation.

Applicants seeking 2018 and 2019 funding would be evaluated using the new criteria.

The possible scenarios were sent earlier this month to members of a focus group for feedback. Each one factored in different criteria such as land area serviced, vehicle miles traveled, performance of the agency, population and percentage of low-income residents, said Blake, who is a member of the focus group.

She questioned the fairness of the options in a letter to the agency because they would hurt not only Durango but many other Western Slope transit agencies.

She also asked how the agency planned to mitigate the possible cuts. As budgets shrink, agencies will not perform as well, limiting their ability to qualify for future grants and creating a downward spiral, she said in an interview.

If Durango lost federal funding, the city could not pass along an increase to riders to keep services running, she said.

About 76 percent of those who use Durango Transit don’t have a car and about two-thirds makes less than $25,000 a year.

“Many of our riders can barely afford the monthly pass,” she said.

Before federal changes were floated, Durango Transit was struggling with a budget shortfall and finding ways to raise new revenue.

At the same time, during meetings focused on updating the Multimodal Transportation Master Plan, residents asked the city to expand service, she said.

“If we are facing these cuts, than the needs of the community won’t be met,” she said.

The state’s Transportation Commission is expected to discuss funding changes in September and October, and it will make the final decisions about how applications for funding should be judged, Imhoff said.

CDOT officials will present the status of the funding revisions to transit agencies at a conference in September.

It is possible categories will be created for different transit systems, and that would allow different criteria to be used for each category.

“The goal is that we get consensus from all the transit agencies and their peers that this is fair,” he said.

mshinn@durangoherald.com

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