The public has a few more days to weigh in on Mountain Metro Transit’s proposal to make the bus trips between Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs more frequent and free for all passengers.
The changes along Route 3 connecting the two cities are the most notable of 10 proposed updates Mountain Metro could make to its service routes this spring. The public transit system is taking public comments on the changes online through Feb. 5.
The majority of the proposed changes will increase the frequency of the existing routes or allow them to run at new times. If supported by the public and Mountain Metro leaders, the changes would be rolled out on March 29.
Mountain Metro spokesperson Elaine Sheridan said that easily the most attention has been on Route 3, which connects the main terminal in downtown Colorado Springs to Manitou Springs. Both ends of the route are in areas with free local shuttle service for visitors.
Sheridan said that by eliminating the fare and buses running every 15 minutes, officials in Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs hoped to create an alternate travel option for visitors who don’t want to search for paid parking in Manitou.
“The hope behind it is that it eases congestion. It also goes through Old Colorado City, which has similar parking concerns about the street parking in the summer months,” Sheridan said.
The costs for making Route 3 free would initially be paid for by the Colorado Springs Parking Enterprise Fund and the city of Manitou Springs.
While a typical change to the seasonal routes will get a few dozen comments, the current set of route changes has already received more than 200 comments. Sheridan said that more than 120 comments have been received on Route 3, the vast majority of which have been positive about the change.
“I think there’s been some extra comments because it is getting outside of the people who normally take transit,” Sheridan said.
Other major changes to the bus routes would be noticed along South Nevada Avenue. Mountain Metro is proposing to increase the frequency of Routes 10 and 11, both of which leave from Pikes Peak State College’s Centennial campus and take different routes through the neighborhoods south of downtown before reaching Nevada Avenue. Mountain Metro would then cancel Route 20, which covers a shorter stretch of the same segment of road.
On the north end of Colorado Springs, Route 40 would be turned into a year-round bus service. The bus service currently only runs on weekdays during the school year to support Pikes Peak State College’s Rampart Range campus on Interquest Parkway.
If the full set of route expansions is put in place, Mountain Metro estimated it would need to add eight or nine new bus drivers but would not need to add new vehicles to the fleet.
The public survey is available at www.coloradosprings.gov/service-changes.
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