FORT COLLINS, Colo. — For some Fort Collins residents, the city's regional transportation service, Transfort, is a great way to get things done.
“I use transit for most of my errands,” said Ciara Kidney. “The bus drivers are always really kind and very friendly, too.”
For others, the buses are a lifeline.
“I probably spend like five hours a day on the bus,” said Katie Walker.
Walker is a regular on Transfort Route 81.
“I've recently been displaced, myself and my disabled daughter, and so that's what we use to get around town,” she told Denver7.
However, starting Monday, Route 81 will be one of four routes that will see service reductions. The following changes will take effect on Oct. 13:
- MAX will operate every 10 minutes from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and every 20 minutes during all other service hours.
- Route 81 will operate every 60 minutes, reduced from 30-minute frequency. (Route 8 will continue to operate on the same loop in the opposite direction every 30 minutes.)
- Route 10 will be suspended.
- Saturday service on Route 9 will be suspended.
“As long as you know the schedule, I guess you can adjust, but it does make it more inconvenient for people,” said Walker.
Transfort's director, Kaley Zeisel, blamed the City of Fort Collins' ongoing hiring freeze as part of the reason for the service reductions.
“[The hiring freeze is] really due to lower-than-expected sales tax revenue and increased costs that we're seeing,” Zeisel told Denver7.
While Transfort recently received an exception to continue hiring, it's set them back simply because the hiring and training process for bus drivers is so extensive, according to Zeisel.
“We typically run a class every eight weeks, and we've missed, I would say, probably two to three classes," she said. "So those are opportunities for between six and eight drivers apiece."
She added that Transfort’s operating costs have doubled since 2019.
“The biggest drivers in those expense increases are personnel, fuel, maintenance, equipment, and these are trends that we're seeing across the transit agency, where agencies are reporting between 50 and 75% cost increases,” Zeisel said.
The service reductions are happening just months before Transfort discontinues its fare-free FLEX route between Fort Collins and Loveland. This is due to the City of Loveland ending its financial contribution to the service, creating an annual funding gap of approximately $750,000.
In place of the discontinued Fort Collins–Loveland FLEX route, the City of Loveland will launch a new Loveland–Fort Collins route operated under its COLT transit system. This new route will follow Loveland’s fare structures.
Transfort is now working on an Optimized Service Plan to guide how transit will be delivered in the years ahead, anticipating the full plan to be completed in late 2025 or early 2026, with implementation in 2027.
“We've also been just really combing through a comprehensive data set, ridership, transit propensity, trying to mold all three of those things together to form the principles or the priorities that will help shape our future networks,” said Zeisel.
Part of that plan includes gathering public input from riders like Walker.
“I'm sure that somebody is measuring the results,” said Walker. “A few weeks ago, they had people on the bus doing surveys.
“I know they're doing the best that they can to accommodate everybody's needs and helping for their budget too."
