Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Estes Park transit manager reviews 2025 season: red-route trolley leads ridership, QR-code pilot provides new trip data
Summary
Parking and transit manager Dana Klein told trustees the red-route trolley was the most popular service in 2025, the town piloted QR-code live-tracking and onboarding data, and grants (CMAC and a CTE award) will help fund microtransit and infrastructure work.
Dana Klein, the town’s parking and transit manager, briefed trustees on the 2025 transit season on Jan. 27, summarizing route changes, ridership, pilot technology and grant-funded projects.
Klein said the red-route downtown trolley remained the system’s most used service and staff added and adjusted stops (including service near the Stanley Hotel/Aspire Parkway and a Baldwin Park stop) to improve circulation and reduce difficult left-hand turns. ‘‘The red route was obviously our most popular route, our downtown trolley route,’’ Klein said.
Technology pilot and data: Klein described a CMAC-funded pilot that placed a QR code on each stop and an iPad-based Track system in drivers’ compartments to log onboardings and provide live vehicle location to riders. Riders who scanned the code could see where the shuttle was on the route; staff said onboarding was consistently captured and that deboarding data will be added to the system next season.
Ridership and costs: Klein reported season-level metrics, noting higher frequency in 2025 than 2024 and citing a system-wide operating cost per passenger of about $5.40 for 2025 (below a national average cited in the presentation). The hiker shuttle carried roughly 37,000 passengers and the pilot October service helped collect shoulder-season demand data.
Grants and next steps: Klein said the town will continue negotiating service-provider pricing for 2026, pursue grant support for a visitor-center parking redesign, and move forward on CMAC-funded technology and service enhancements. She also said the town received a clean-transit-enterprise (CTE) grant under SB230 for a 14-passenger ADA microtransit vehicle with zero local match, a resource intended to complement fixed-route service and help serve areas with limited coverage.
Board questions touched on verification of the pilot data and whether microtransit would replace or augment existing service; Klein said microtransit is intended to enhance access rather than replace fixed routes and noted ongoing interest in regional connections and small-vehicle options.
Klein closed by noting staff will use the 2025 data to optimize routes and stops for 2026 and will continue work on the visitor-center redesign and further CMAC-funded improvements.
