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Tri‑county leaders push to knit regional bus services and scout Ridgeway park‑and‑ride
Summary
County commissioners and SMART leadership discussed aligning schedules, creating a rider‑focused park‑and‑ride or mobility hub in Ridgeway, and pursuing state grant matches (SB 230) while raising concerns about funding, vehicle shortages and private‑property access.
County leaders from Montrose, San Miguel and Ouray counties and operators of the SMART regional transit system met March 17 in Ridgeway to discuss ways to make separate local services easier for riders to use.
"We want to try to provide a regional system that's seamless for the traveler," David April, executive director of the San Miguel Authority Regional Transportation, told the meeting. April described SMART as a “relatively small organization” with three full‑time employees and recommended exploring a mobility‑hub or park‑and‑ride to centralize stops, offer restrooms and EV charging, and coordinate timetables across operators.
The discussion focused on Ridgeway, where commissioners and Ridgeway Mayor John Clark identified several publicly owned parcels—including the Ridgeway Visitor Center and a Railroad Street lot—as potential locations. "That visitor center location is 1 potential spot," Jake Neese, Erie County Commissioner and meeting chair, said, urging coordination with CDOT on siting and engineering.
Participants raised short‑term operational problems. April said SMART’s Montrose route recorded about 1,200 riders in 2025 and that new routes typically take more than a year to mature. He also said the authority faces a vehicle shortage and driver recruitment challenges; SMART planned to order a 40‑foot bus and has seen growth in van‑pool usage as a lower‑cost option.
Funding was a central concern. April and others warned of a looming fiscal crunch for intercity services and said recent cuts to MMOF program allocations have reduced local options. Commissioners discussed using Senate Bill 230 (a state clean‑transit funding stream) to leverage operating grants but noted the requirement for a local match.
The group proposed immediate next steps: form a small working group of one commissioner from each county plus transit providers, have staff identify low‑barrier park‑and‑ride sites, and include the project in Gunnison Valley TPR priorities so it can be advanced to CDOT if funding opens. David April offered SMART data and technical support for the planning effort.
The meeting produced no formal vote. Instead, commissioners agreed to continue conversations, pursue a short list of candidate sites in Ridgeway and involve the Gunnison Valley TPR to help position a mobility‑hub concept for future funding rounds.
