Roaring Fork Transportation Authority gears up to switch to fall schedule

The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority will switch to its fall schedule on Monday, Sept. 2.

While winter and summer are RFTA’s busiest times of the year, fall and spring are considered off-season, RFTA Communications Manager Jamie Tatsuno said. Winter schedules will begin Monday, Nov. 25.

“The spring and fall, they’re shorter seasons, but they do have a little bit of reduced service,” she said. “We don’t have as many tourists around riding up to go skiing or go to explore the mountains in the summer. So, we find that it’s a little more cost efficient just to have those seasonal schedules.”

According to data collected by RFTA in 2023, the first winter season, from Jan. 1 to April 16, saw 652,571 riders, with an average of 6,157 per day, between the VelociRFTA BRT, Hogback, and local bus lines. The spring season, from April 17 to June 4, saw 220,054 riders, with an average of 4,491 per day. The summer season, from June 5 to Sept. 3, saw 583,483 riders with an average of 6,412 per day. The fall season, from Sept. 4 to Nov. 19, saw 391,939 riders, with an average of 5,090 per day. And the second winter season, from Nov. 20 to Dec. 31, saw 262,036 riders, with an average of 6,263 per day.

The main changes will be:

1. VelociRFTA BRT, Hogback, and local buses will continue to run seven days a week, but they will have reduced and adjusted schedules. For example, the last BRT out of Rubey Park Transit Center in Aspen will be 10:20 p.m. instead of the current 12:20 a.m. And the local buses will maintain the same schedule, but they will have reduced service on Sundays. 
2. The Carbondale Circulator will run every 15 minutes from 5:02 a.m.-9:16 p.m. every day.
3. Woody Creek service will stop until the winter schedule begins. It will begin again on Monday, Nov. 25.
4. The city of Aspen service will reduce its hours beginning Monday, Sept. 23. The hours will be 7 a.m.-midnight, Monday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on Sundays.
5. The city of Aspen’s Crosstown service will end on Monday, Sept. 23.
6. Maroon Bells Shuttles will continue to run until Sunday, Oct. 20. You can make shuttle reservations at aspenchamber.org.

You can view a preview of the schedules at rfta.com/the-rfta-fall-service-schedules-begin-monday-september-2-2024/. And find more information at myrfta.com/home.

Bike loading hours will also be affected. Beginning the day after Labor Day and running until the last Saturday in October, loading hours will be 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

From the last Sunday in October to mid-November, loading hours will be 7 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

“We cut that down just because it gets darker earlier,” Tatsuno said. “The main reason behind that is for loading safety and bus driver safety. You know, it’s always a little tricky loading your bikes on a bus in the dark with traffic around. Also, bikes on the bus block the bus headlights, so driving around our rural highway is a little tricky.”

Another critical thing Tatsuno noted is bikes can only be loaded at certain stops. All of the BRT stations are bike loading stops, but find more loading stops at rfta.com/how-to/bike-ride/.

RIO GRANDE TRAIL

The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority also re-opened a section of the Rio Grande Trail on Monday that underwent asphalt repairs to smooth out the trail and make it safer for users.

The section, which was a part of the third phase of the project, ran from Rock Bottom Ranch to the Catherine Bridge Trailhead.

The first phase, which began on May 20 of this year, ran from Emma Road to Hooks Spur Trailhead. The second phase ran from Hooks Spur Trailhead to Rock Bottom Ranch. And the fourth phase will run from 29th Street in Glenwood Springs to Emma Road. This part of the trail will stay open during work.

“We had to do it in the summer for summer conditions. We can’t really repair asphalt in the winter,” Tastuno said. “But we highly appreciate everyone’s patience in getting this done. They should hopefully see some really smooth trail between the Emma section of the trail and down to Carbondale. They’re all complete and ready for people to walk a bike and run along at whatever they wish to do.”