Date: Oct. 10, 2013
Contact: Suzanne Pletcher (303) 447-0078 ext. 5; (707) 489-1325 cell
RFTA Bus Transit Gives Taxpayers Over $50 Million In Value Annually
Benefits from transit include 19.6 million car miles saved, public safety, reduced commute times
Deric Gunshor rattles off several benefits he enjoys from riding the bus for his daily 60-mile round-trip commute from home in Carbondale to work in Aspen, but the biggest of all is quality of life.
“It gives me downtime to relax and read and think. Especially in the winter when the roads are bad, I don’t have to worry about driving. I can just get on the bus and catch up on reading or whatever,” he said.
Gunshor, senior manager of event planning at Aspen Skiing Company, noted other rewards of commuting by bus, most of which are financial. He doesn’t buy gas, or worry about wear and tear on his car, he said, and his employer provides a discount bus pass. Lowering his carbon footprint is something he cares about too, Gunshor said.
These and other local benefits of bus transit service in rural communities of Colorado are quantified in a new study released today, Economic Benefits of Transit Systems: Colorado Case Studies. The study provides a snapshot of financial payback on local transit investment for decision makers and their communities in three different Colorado regions, including the Roaring Fork Valley and Grand Mesa on the west slope and Fort Collins on the eastern slope.
“People often view public transit as an investment that only pays off in larger cities,” said Mike Salisbury, report author and transportation program analyst at the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project. “Now that we have quantified the benefits, those old assumptions can be laid to rest. In the two west slope cases, transit not only pays for itself but also returns millions of dollars in benefits to the community. In the Roaring Fork Valley, the value is more than $50 million a year.”
The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) provides local and regional bus service along a 68-mile corridor that joins the Town of Rifle to Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Aspen. It spans three counties and 10 communities, serving a population of 66,000. Based upon RFTA rider surveys, about 6,729 people like Gunshor commute to and from work on the bus.
“In 2012, our onboard passenger survey showed that about 68% of our 4.1 million rides were people commuting to work,” said RFTA Assistant Planner Jason White. “Bus transit plays a critical role in matching employees with employment opportunities in the valley. With the recent rollout of VelociRFTA, the country’s first rural Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, there are even more rapid and frequent bus commuting options.”
The other major group of bus riders is skiers visiting Snowmass and Aspen during the winter.
By the numbers: A look at transit benefits for Roaring Fork Valley residents
ü Reduced number of miles due to transit system: 19.6 million miles (more than 78 trips to the moon!)
ü Gasoline saved: 953,000 gallons (cost: $3.3 million)
ü Maintenance repair savings: $1 million
ü Total community benefit from reduced congestion, reduced parking and infrastructure costs and other residual costs: $9 to $20 million
ü Economic value of increased employee access to jobs: $43 million
Other key benefits of transit service
ü Seniors are better able to live independently at home rather than moving to assisted living facilities or nursing homes;
ü Residents are healthier because of walking or biking to bus stops;
ü Improved public safety due to accident reduction and safety improvements;
ü Real estate value increases in areas with good public transit; and
ü Fewer air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions help keep residents healthier.
The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project is a public interest organization that promotes energy efficiency in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The organization’s transportation program identifies and promotes the implementation of policies that achieve significant energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector.
Contacts:
Mike Salisbury, SWEEP transportation analyst: (720) 628-5596
Jason White, RFTA assistant planner: (970) 384-4968