Public transit is currently a hot item in Southwest Colorado. Expensive gas, changing mindsets and improved service have conspired to push ridership numbers skyward.

Durango Transit has seen numbers on the Durango T trolley route and the Opportunity Buses climb steadily since last December. In the last six months, ridership on the local system has grown an average of 30 percent. June boasted an even larger gain, with more than 32,000 riders utilizing the local service. By comparison, June of 2007 saw just over 24,000 trips.

“We’re up about 35 percent for the month of June, and we’ve held steady with double digit increases since last December,” said Ann Capela, Durango Transit manager.

Capela gave some credit to gasoline crossing the $4/gallon barrier three weeks ago. However, she added that other factors have come into play as well. “The fact is that we have better routes. We’ve increased our routes. We have increased our hours. We’re keeping up with clean buses and good service. Plus, we’re probably the cheapest ride in the whole region.”

Durango T still offers patrons unlimited rides for $20 per month. A similar pass in Aspen clocks in at $120. Capela noted that $20 for unlimited transportation can amount to a huge cost savings for local residents.

“I always tell people to ride the T and save their money for a mortgage downpayment,” she said.  

Road Runner Transit, a division of Southern Ute Community Action Programs, has posted even more impressive gains in recent weeks. The bus system connects eastern La Plata County with Durango and includes routes between Ignacio and Durango and Bayfield and Durango. There is also a Forest Lakes to Bayfield to Ignacio route. Since gas made the jump to $4, ridership on the system went up a staggering 128 percent overall, and the Bayfield to Durango route saw an increase of 168 percent.

Peter Tregillus, SUCAP programs developer, noted, “We’ve had good ridership for years, but $4 gas seemed to really get people’s attention.”

Road Runner Transit has been in place since 1999, and the Bayfield and Forest Lakes routes were added in 2006. With this in mind, Tregillus noted that Road Runner was ready for the jump in numbers.“The routes were already in place,” he said. “We’ve been prepared for this. Now, instead of planning a rural transit system, we’re figuring out how to make it more efficient and more effective.”

The system will be working to refine itself over the next several weeks and holding “public meetings” on the bus during peak transit times. “We’ll be asking if we’re operating the best routes at the best times,” Tregillus said. “What about increasing the frequency of the route to Bayfield and Forest Lakes? What would it cost to run a route to Aztec?”

However, in addition to planning for the future, area transit managers are also going to take some time to enjoy their success. “They’re very good numbers,” Capela said in closing. “We thought it was an anomaly, and here we are six months later, and we’re way up overall. It’s all really good news.”

FLC student aids in grizzly attack

Grizzly bears, 24-hour mountain biking and a Fort Lewis College student all converged in late June in Alaska. Will Ross, a soon-to-be FLC sophomore, was the second rider on the scene during a June 28-29 bike race after a fellow rider was mauled by a grizzly.

The race had started at noon on the outskirts of Anchorage, and riders had just passed the 13-hour mark when tragedy stuck. A 14-year-old female rider rounded a dark corner at approximatley 1:45 a.m. and was attacked and bitten numerous times by a grizzly. Ross, an Anchorage resident, arrived approximately 6 minutes later and shortly after his friend Pete Bassinger.

“It was a blind corner that the girl had just gone around, and we’re guessing that she ran right into the bear and startled it. Right after the attack, she got her phone out and tried calling for help but couldn’t get through.”

Bassinger succeeding in calling 911, helped the girl move away from the bear and did his best to stop the bleeding. In the meantime, Ross went out and located the paramedic team, which had gone to the wrong part of the course, and guided them to the accident.

In Associated Press reports about the incident, Biologist Rick Sinnott, of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, was openly critical of race organizers’ choice of a trail known to be regularly patrolled by grizzly bears. “Even black bears have better sense than to walk that trail,” he said.

However, Ross, who lives only a short bike ride away from the trail in question, took a different view. He noted that the usual race course was under construction and when a safer alternate route was suggested, Sinnott actually objected because of potential erosion.

“He was the one who told the organizers they shouldn’t have the race on a certain trail because of erosion,” Ross said. “The same guy is now complaining because the attack took place.”

Ross lamented that any finger-pointing is happening in a state known for human-bear encounters. “All this has done is make a big national deal over what was essentially a random accident,” he said.

The 14-year-old is expected to make a full recovery.

Forest Service passes up fire ban

As the monsoons set in, local public lands managers are passing up fire restrictions for one of the first summers in recent memory. Nonetheless, the Durango Interagency Fire Dispatch Center is asking backcountry visitors to be aware that fire conditions are becoming dangerous at lower elevations, and higher elevations are also beginning to dry out. However, caution is urged.

“Recent thunderstorms have brought us lightning, but only spotty moisture, so we are urging visitors to the backcountry to use fire with caution, especially in areas with dry grass or dead trees,” said Mark Lauer, San Juan fire management officer. Lauer encouraged backcountry visitors to take these precautions:

-Don’t park vehicles on dry vegetation.

- Use a spark arrester on off-road vehicles and chainsaws.

- Clear the area around campfires of vegetation and debris.

- Make sure campfires are completely out before leaving.

- Extinguish smoking materials only in cleared areas.

- Remember fireworks are illegal on San Juan Public Lands.

Although no restrictions are in place on forest or BLM lands, the Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute Indian tribes have restricted the use of open fires.

Lauer credited residents, in part, for the continued absence of a fire ban. “One of the reasons we’re not going into fire restrictions is that the public has had a good track record in the past,” he said. “We’re really not as concerned about human-triggered fires.”

New Colorado Trail book released

The Colorado Trail has never been more accessible. The Colorado Trail Foundation recently released a new book of maps and GPS data covering the entire trail from Denver to Durango.  

The spiral bound book was written and edited by Durango cartographer Jerry Brown and Igage Mapping president Mark Silver, of Salt Lake City. Brown and Silver have donated their efforts, and all proceeds from the sale of the book go toward upkeep of The Colorado Trail.  

The book is the result of more than 300,000 readings collected by Brown over several years with professional-grade GPS equipment. The maps and details are completely up to date and include the new Cataract Ridge Reroute in the San Juan Mountains.  

The book can be purchased directly from The Colorado Trail Foundation at  www.coloradotrail.org. A copy of the book may also be viewed at Gardenswartz Outdoors on Main Avenue.

– Will Sands