County sifting through South Routt shuttle survey results
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Steamboat Springs — Stagecoach resident Chris Zuschlag, like many of his South Routt friends and neighbors, was excited when county officials sent a survey to residents to gauge interest in a regional shuttle service.
"I see a huge need for it here with all the growth going on," he said.
And the survey results are in.
"We had great response from all four South Routt communities," said County Manager Tom Sullivan on Wednesday. "It was very encouraging."
The county received 135 "informal, nonscientific" surveys from residents in Oak Creek, Yampa and Stagecoach. Of those, 103 people expressed interest in using a shuttle service. Thirty-five people were not. Most people said they would use the service between two and four times a week, with some people using it as much at seven or more times a week if the service were provided.
Bringing alternative transportation to South Routt is something near and dear to Routt County Commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush's heart.
"This is something the people need," she said. "Providing this service is very important to everyone's quality of life."
Zuschlag agreed.
"It's the green way to go," he said. "It makes sense."
Mitsch Bush recently applied for a federal grant worth $89,000 to help pay for the service. The grant is administered through the Colorado Department of Transportation, who already provides federal grant money to Steamboat Springs Transit and the Routt County Council on Aging.
Because CDOT already provides grant money to two agencies in Routt County, the grant is a long shot, she said.
Another challenge is accurately representing South Routt's population. Because Stagecoach is not a municipality, its population is not represented in U.S. Census data, which makes South Routt look smaller than it is, she said.
"After a conversation with (CDOT officials Wednesday), I'm less optimistic that we'll get anything," she said. The county will find out in September how much money, if any, it received.
Despite some apparent challenges in receiving federal funding, Mitsch Bush said the county would continue to pursue some kind of transportation program.
"We're trying to look at multi-modal transportation," she said. "The only way to reduce congestion and the impacts of commuting is to encourage other forms of transportation."
Sullivan said the county's next step is to digest the survey results, create a plan and go back to South Routt residents with a clearer shuttle route proposal.
"We need to figure out what our options are," he said. "We obviously realize there would be fewer cars on the roads and less impact for people coming to Steamboat Springs from South Routt. There's some real value in that."
Sullivan said a similar South Routt shuttle service was ended several years ago after it failed to garner enough ridership.
Comments
steamvent 5 years, 9 months ago
With the number of South Routt residents that run me over from behind while I drive the speed limit leaving Oak Creek, not enough of them have the patience to ride a bus, much less wait for one to show up.
corduroy 5 years, 9 months ago
if they do the times for the shuttle correctly and have enough seats for the people that need it at those times I think its an awesome idea! I'm moving to Stagecoach soon and not having to drive would be great (nevermind that my dog comes to work with me and I doubt would be allowed on a bus)
How many people here actually carpool to work? Look at the cars coming from Craig and Oak Creek. See anyone else besides the driver? Probably not.
I think its worth a shot!
katrinkakelly 5 years, 9 months ago
Alpine Taxi ran a shuttle to South Rout in 1998. Expensive but was desperately needed then, so any shuttle service would help out in 2007!
rodcarew 5 years, 9 months ago
To make it worthwhile, it needs to be done right. Doing it right, of course, will cost a lot of money. Doing it right means frequent service (i.e. every half hour, all day long). The Roaring Fork area funds their bus service with a rural transportation district whereby all towns with service kick sales tax money in. Problem here is that South Routt doen't produce much sales tax, especially not enough to support a decent bus service. It would likely be more feasible between Steamboat, Hayden, and Craig. The economics may not be there yet, but we'd better start doing some advance planning so that 5-10 years from now, when the traffic really starts to kick in, we have a plan and a way to pay for it.
bubba 5 years, 9 months ago
For that matter, to make a survey worthwhile, it needs to be done right- an informal unscientific survey such as this can tell you little more than that people who are interested in a shuttle are more prone to responding to the survey than those who aren't.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for more transportation options if they work, but this is not the way to determine if they'll work.
OnTheBusGus 5 years, 9 months ago
We're still waiting on a shuttle from Steamboat II! How about extended bus service from KOA, it's just over a mile past there. I think that would be better service.
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