… scheduled to be in in May 2013, just in time for Bluegrass.
In tomorrow’s edition (Nov. 4) of the Telluride Daily Planet:
http://www.telluridenews.com/edition/
Bus service to resume between
Durango and Grand Junction
Southern Ute Community
Action Programs, Inc.,
(SUCAP) has been awarded
$200,000 to restore bus transportation
service connecting
Durango and Grand Junction.
The route will serve passengers
in Durango, Cortez, Dolores,
Telluride, Ridgway, Montrose,
Delta and Grand Junction.
The award was announced
Wednesday. The new service will
operate as part of Road Runner
Transit, a SUCAP program division.
The Durango-Grand Junction
line is a segment of the longer
route from Salt Lake City, Utah
to Albuquerque, N.M., that was
discontinued by Greyhound in
September of 2011. The
Colorado Department of
Transportation solicited applications
for transit services in early
2011. After consultations with
stakeholders along the route,
SUCAP’s board of directors
approved submission of an application
in May of 2012 for federal
transit administration funds
managed by CDOT’s Division of
Transit and Rail. SUCAP on
Wednesday received notification
that the application was successful.
Bus service is planned to
begin in early May of 2013. There
will be one round trip per day,
seven days a week, originating in
Durango about 6 a.m. and arriving
in Grand Junction by noon
— in time to connect with
Greyhound and Amtrak services
east and west. It would depart
Grand Junction about 1:15 p.m.
and return to Durango by about
7:15 p.m.
According to a release, buses
will be equipped with wheelchair
lifts, restrooms and storage
compartments for luggage
and freight. The intent is to provide
the same level of services
provided by Greyhound prior to
its route being disconnected, but
limited to the Durango-Grand
Junction segment of the original
route.
SUCAP is an independent
non-profit based in Ignacio that
was founded in 1966 by the
Southern Ute Indian Tribe and
other stakeholders in the
Ignacio community. It offers programs
that range from early
childhood education to youth
services, job training and public
transit. SUCAP employs 160 people
and has a 2012 operating
budget of $6.2 million.