Snowmass Village Shuttle’s offseason schedule begins

Sept. 22 marked the first day of the new schedule for the Snowmass Village Shuttle. 

The fall shuttle operations will operate mostly on a “service by request” schedule, with rides available from 6:45 a.m. to midnight, according to a press release. 

Commuters can hail a ride through the Village Shuttle app. Assistant Town Manager Greg LeBlanc estimated the average wait time for the requests is about 15 minutes. He added that, unlike the busy times in Snowmass where transit routes must also cater to tourists and visitors, the fall strips the “daytime population.”

“You’re left with the residents and the workforce,” he said. 

With the new schedule — catering to the core demographic of the town — LeBlanc said much of the transit will be oriented to individuals’ daily life — school, work, medical appointments, the post office, and the Snowmass Center, among others. 

Village Shuttle Route 3, which runs between Daly Lane to Snowmass Club Circle, will run regardless of requests by commuters.

From Sept. 22 to Nov. 12, the Village Shuttle will also support RFTA services from the Snowmass Mall Roaring Fork Transportation Authority Depot to the Brush Creek Park and Ride, according to the press release. RFTA buses will be used on the weekends “on a rotating basis.” Transportation services between the two locations will not be available from 2:15 a.m. until 6:15 a.m., Mondays through Fridays, and will only be available from 6:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Saturdays and 6:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Sundays.

Snowmass Transportation Director Sam Guarino said that fall and spring Village Shuttle ridership numbers are driven largely by the seasonal contract with RFTA to provide rides to and from Brush Creek Park and Ride. 

“This route accounts for approximately 80% of the off-season ridership,” Guarino wrote in an email. “During the summers, ridership in the Village itself picks back up, but not nearly to the level of winters. This is due to parking being free during the summers and activities being less centralized.”

He added that the winter accounts for most of the overall ridership of the Village Shuttle.  

“Approximately 75% of the Village Shuttle’s ridership occurs during the winter season, with 40% of the yearly ridership on the Town Park Lot route (Route #4) during the winter,” Guarino said.

Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.