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Board agrees to join Transportation Coalition, sets appointments and $18,000 initial contribution
Summary
A newly formed, citizen-led Transportation Coalition asked the BOCC for participation and seed funding; commissioners agreed to participate, asked staff reporting, and approved up to $18,000 in start-up funding from the county strategic initiatives fund and a pair of commissioner appointees as the board’s representatives.
A citizen-led Transportation Coalition convened to explore large-scale, multi-jurisdictional answers to persistent congestion and mobility problems in the Roaring Fork Valley presented to the Pitkin County Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday and asked the board to appoint representatives and provide initial funding.
Former commissioner and community organizer John Bennett and coalition organizer Michael (last name not stated) described the group as a 28-member, community-driven effort that brings elected officials, business leaders, transit operators, hospital and school representatives and local subject-matter experts together to pursue three interlocking goals: substantially reduce daily traffic congestion in the Upper Valley, sharply reduce transportation greenhouse-gas emissions, and shorten trip times for residents and workers.
Bennett said the coalition will build on prior studies — including the Aspen Institute’s Integrated Mobility System work and the 2024 Jacobs technical analysis — and focus on a program of interwoven measures: targeted infrastructure, travel-demand management, transit service changes, and new mobility strategies. “If we do nothing other than all these great ideas, the projections are not good,” Bennett said, citing Jacobs projections that peak-hour congestion could grow materially by 2050 without coordinated action.
County staff and several commissioners asked questions about governance and the potential overlap with existing bodies such as the Eagle County–Pitkin County–City of Aspen East of the Rockies Transportation Commission (EOTC) and RFTA. Coalition leaders said the group intends to avoid study duplication, to include technical experts in meetings, and to aim for consensus recommendations the coalition can hand to elected bodies and implementing agencies for action. The coalition proposed an initial operating budget of about $76,000; the coalition asked Pitkin County for a $18,000 contribution to cover facilitation, expert technical input and meeting logistics.
Commissioners discussed safeguards to avoid perceived conflicts of interest if EOTC members also participate in the coalition’s work. The board agreed that Pitkin County would provide two board-designated seats (a regular and an alternate) to participate in the coalition process. The board asked staff to prepare a formal resolution for a future meeting. In the interim the BOCC agreed the county would provide an initial contribution of up to $18,000 from the BOCC strategic-initiatives fund, and the board designated Commissioner Francie as the regular representative and Commissioner Greg as the alternate for the coalition; the staff transportation professional (anticipated to be Linda [last name on file]) will also act as the county’s technical/resource participant and will report regularly to the BOCC on coalition progress.
Commissioners stressed that any coalition-produced recommendations that require county funding or regulatory action will be returned to the BOCC for formal review and approval; the commissioners also requested frequent written updates from their appointed representative(s). The coalition said it expects to meet repeatedly through the summer and to seek consensus on proposals that, if supported by the group and by implementing agencies, could be pursued by EOTC, RFTA, CDOT or individual municipalities.
