An inter-city bus service running between Durango and Grand Junction has drawn strong ridership in its first six months.
The Road Runner StageLines has been averaging about 350 riders a month since it started in July.
“It’s been exceeding everyone’s expectations,” said Michael Timlin, bus operations manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
A now-defunct Greyhound route that ran from Albuquerque through Durango and Grand Junction to Salt Lake City was averaging a similar ridership, he said.
While gas prices have dropped dramatically, Timlin doesn’t expect the ridership on the regional route to fall because it is set up for those who regularly rely on public transportation. The route is aimed at those who lack a vehicle or choose not to use one.
In fact, CDOT is investing $240,000 to provide better service between Denver and Grand Junction for the next year. The funding would be re-evaluated after the first year.
A convenient connection via Greyhound for riders traveling from Durango to Denver existed, but a similar returning service did not exist, said Peter Tregillus, program director for Southern Ute Community Action Programs.
The new route leaving from Denver at 7 a.m. and arriving in Grand Junction around noon started Sunday. The service will run five days a week, Friday through Tuesday, Timlin said. This new connection should help boost ridership overall, Tregillus said.
Ridership numbers help CDOT evaluate inter-city service and decide whether to grant it federal funds.
“We’re monitoring it very closely, and so far we’re very pleased with the ridership,” said Sidny Zink, a CDOT commissioner for Region 8.
The service received $286,000 for the first year of operations, and it estimates it will receive about $91,000 in fares, Tregillus said.
SUCAP manages the inter-city service as well as several other bus routes in Southwest Colorado.
Ease of use and frequency of service encourages ridership growth across all the routes, Tregillus said.
For example, the Ignacio Dial-a-Ride service has seen impressive growth from about 13,000 riders in 2013 to 17,628 in 2014. Expanding service hours from 20 to 80 hours a week was key, he said.
However, Tregillus expects low gas prices will have an impact across all services.
“I have watched ridership go up and down, and it parallels with gas prices,” he said.
He doesn’t think ridership will drop off completely because people take the bus for a variety of reasons, including lowering their personal carbon-dioxide emissions.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
On the Net
Road Runner schedule: http://roadrunnerstagelines.com/
