Boulder County, CO Mountain Town Transit Feasibility Study

Charlier Associates, Inc. (CAI) completed a unique transit feasibility study that assessed the opportunities for and the feasibility of greater transit investment serving Boulder County’s mountain communities and major recreational areas. CAI worked with County staff, local transit service providers, and other key stakeholders to address potential means of expanding personal mobility and mountain town travel choices balanced with cost-effective investment of limited transportation resources and funding.

The planning process emphasized community outreach and generated travel pattern data through area-wide online and hard copy surveys. Stakeholders and “community ambassadors” were also especially important to the planning process in helping to reveal the travel needs and patterns of individual communities. Other stakeholder engagement efforts included a project website and a project advisory group. Technical analysis and recommendations focused on potential ridership and demand by day, time of day, and season; physical and location constraints; service parameters; and future funding.

By the end of the planning process the study was already bearing fruit. Based on our recommendations one rural transit provider was working to expand its operations and one of the affected mountain communities had initiated a process to start a local circulator. This study provided a forum for successful collaboration and communication among the study area’s communities about transit issues for the first time. Service needs, desires, opportunities, and challenges became clearer, positioning communities and stakeholders to seek future funding and other service opportunities.