The March Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) board meeting occurred fully online and remote. There were no public comments, board comments or changes to the agenda.
Consent agenda
The board quickly reviewed three resolutions. The first authorized applying for $10.5 million in federal funds to purchase six new diesel-hybrid buses and seven new diesel buses for the RFTA fleet. Even with recent changes to the Federal Transportation Administration, RFTA anticipates submitting this application in April. If the grant is authorized, staff anticipates ordering the buses in early 2026 and receiving them in 2027.
The second resolution authorized a related application for $1 million in Congressionally Directed Spending funds to offset the cost of one of those diesel buses. This application would follow a similar timeline if federal funds are granted. The third resolution authorized RFTA CEO Kurt Ravenschlag to execute an Underground Electric Utility Easement with the City of Glenwood Springs Electric Department. The easement will help finalize Iron Mountain Place Employee Housing for occupancy approval and use. All three resolutions passed without discussion.
Microtransit services
Mobility Coordinator Mary Harlan presented an update on the First and Last Mile Mobility (FLMM) reserve grant program. Three meetings between December and March evaluated the status of RFTA’s microtransit program and options for improving the offering. These meetings analyzed the Town of Basalt as a case study, explored digital resource options to make the program more accessible to communities and determined allocation plans for once communities exceed RFTA’s three-year seed funding limit for microtransit.
Some recommended digital resource improvements are a microtransit-focused digital app and integrating a detailed microtransit map with the existing digital map of bus routes. The team sees these changes as increasing the visibility of gaps and redundancies in the system.
Harlan shared data on bikeshare and microtransit trips to and from RFTA trunkline stops. The numbers shared, observed in December 2024, show notably higher use of microtransit and bikeshare resources from Basalt and Carbondale locations than Aspen locations. Of all trips, the percentage of riders from trunkline locations (primary stops including park and rides), both midvalley locations observed bikeshare use in the 50% range and microtransit use at 23% and 33% respectively. Aspen data showed bikeshare use at just below 37% and microtransit use at around 5%.
The mobility team recommended that after the initial three-year seed funding for microtransit in member communities, RFTA offer funding that reduces by 10% each successive year. Harlan shared data observations demonstrating that a gradual shift in jurisdiction funding results in a more manageable funding curve for member communities to take over the costs.
Board Chair Greg Poschman prompted the digital assembly for questions. Hearing none, he inquired whether there had been discussion in the third meeting about electrification of the fleets to further mitigate costs. Aspen’s mayor, Torre, responded that the committee did not examine cost differentials between electric and diesel vehicles specifically, but that the group assumed that electric options would be more cost-effective longterm.
Carbondale trustee Colin Laird weighed in, thanking the group for their participation. Poschman then asked CEO Ravenschlag if the board could anticipate regular updates as the process continued. Torre added that during the FLMM meetings, the committee focused heavily on identifying underserved segments of the community and that research on that is ongoing. The board then discussed service gaps and potential for microtransit electrification.
Public hearings and CEO report
RFTA Finance Director Paul Hamilton shared details for two supplemental budget appropriation resolutions. Both items concerned carrying over unexpended 2024 budget items into 2025 to ensure fiscal integrity and continue moving projects in progress forward. This shifts approximately $12.7 million from 2024 allocation to 2025.
During the CEO report, Ravenschlag shared a statement published on March 7, clarifying RFTA’s position on bus lane availability to general traffic. “RFTA has never agreed to opening the RFTA bus-only lanes during peak hours for general traffic. Historically, RFTA has agreed to allow the use of the bus-only lanes in rare emergency situations,” the statement explained. Ravenschalg also reiterated the statement’s clarification that the authority on designated bus-lane use lies with the Colorado Department of Transportation. The full statement is available on pages 49 and 50 of the March board packet linked to on RFTA’s board webpage.
The next board meeting will occur April 10 at 8:30am in Carbondale. The public is also able to join via Webex. More details will be available on www.rfta.com a week ahead of the meeting.