RTPO reports rising transit ridership and new safety task force data for Mesa County

Mesa County's Regional Transportation Planning Office updated the Board of County Commissioners on transit trends and a newly formed transportation safety task force on March 3.

Dana Brozick (RTPO) said the office represents the Grand Valley Transportation Planning Region, the Grand Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization and Grand Valley Transit. Brozick noted 2025 highlights including Grand Valley Transit's 25th anniversary, completion of a maintenance facility, adoption of the 2050 regional transportation plan and reported annual boardings near 600,000 with about 30,000 paratransit trips.

Brozick said intercity rail boardings at Grand Junction rose to about 27,000 and that bus service to Denver operates six times daily, with growing ridership. She described a Route 12 pilot on North Avenue that increased ridership on a linked route by about 12 percent and explained that most transit funding is federal, supplemented by intergovernmental agreements and MPO funds.

Rachel Peterson detailed the Mesa County Regional Transportation Safety Task Force, created in January 2025 to implement the Mesa County Safety Action Plan. Peterson said partners include state and local government, first responders, hospitals, schools and nonprofits. She reported that Mesa County records about 22,000 to 23,000 crashes annually and said the county is among the highest-ranked jurisdictions in Colorado for fatalities in its population tier (Peterson reported Mesa County as fourth highest among jurisdictions of 100,000+; Grand Junction is third highest among cities of 50,000+).

Peterson provided mode- and factor-specific data: "impairment was a factor in 24 percent of our fatal and serious injury crashes," she said, adding that speeding was a factor in 31 percent and that 24 percent of fatal and serious injury crashes involved drivers under 25. She also said 97 percent of fatal and serious pedestrian and bicycle crashes occurred in urban areas and that 35 percent of motorcycle crashes resulted in fatality or serious injury.

Commissioners asked whether enforcement and local police staffing data were included; presenters said staffing and enforcement are important contextual factors and offered to pursue that data for comparison. Peterson outlined outreach plans including a crash-data dashboard, school outreach, a safety gaps analysis, speed feedback signage and community events such as a Cycle Safety Fest on April 18 at the Mesa County Fairgrounds.

The briefing was delivered for information; no formal board action was recorded on the RTPO update.