The discontinuation of RTD service in Highlands Ranch this month has highlighted a complex, evolving ecosystem of ride-providing programs in Douglas County, and left officials exploring options to help people in that community get from point A to point B.
Call-n-Ride, an on-demand, direct-to-destination shuttle service provided through the Regional Transportation District, served its last Highlands Ranch passenger for the foreseeable future Jan. 13. Chris Krengel, who manages the program, said the service was attracting 2.5 riders per hour in the unincorporated community of more than 95,000 people, below the figure necessary to keep it viable.
“It really hurts when you have to pull these services,” Krengel said. “We tried really hard to get it going.”
RTD considered cutting Call-n-Ride in Highlands Ranch and Parker in , but held off when local governments agree to offer funding support. Thanks to a collaborative effort to promote the program, Parker’s ridership increased and free Call-n-Ride service was reintroduced in the town in . Highlands Ranch’s numbers did not improve enough.Officials are considering options to fill gaps left by the shut down, including working with ride-sharing services like and Uber or local companies like Metro Taxi , according to Jennifer Eby, Douglas County’s assistant director of community and resources services.
“What the (county) commissioners have suggested is that we explore and alternative model, one that might be more responsive and keep costs down a little,” Eby said, noting many felt Highlands Ranch’s Call-n-Ride was hurt by not adequately connecting to commercial centers and other RTD services. “Unfortunately, this is one area that we don’t have really strong service in. This just really underscores the need that we have to provide more transit services, not less.”
In recent years, Douglas County has applied for transportation grants from funders like RTD and the Colorado Department of Transportation through a formal council of municipal and nonprofit partners known as . The group distributes information and directs people to appropriate resources and providers for their specific situation through the county’s hotline, 303-660-7519, Eby said.
One hurdle to meeting the various demands for rides in the rapidly growing and rapidly aging county is grants are often specifically allocated for use by specific groups like seniors or people with disabilities, or specific missions like getting people to work, which limited who can access the services they fund, Eby said.
The popularity of established ride-share services across the county underscores the need. Castle Rock resident Dorothy Everett uses a shuttle service provided by the to get to the center multiple times each week, attending lunches, exercise classes and enrichment activities.
“I feel that I’m not limited in any way at all,” Everett said of her mobility, adding that without the service she might be sitting in her apartment alone “staring at the four walls.”
The grant-funded program, a Douglas County Transit Solutions partner, provides an average of 650 one-way rides in the winter months, and 700 in the summers, said Debbie Haynie, the center’s executive director. It reaches clients as far away a Larkspur and Franktown, and takes them to the center, medical appointments, grocery trips and other destinations on a request basis.
Rich Smoski, a former chair of the senior center board and one of its 45 active volunteer drivers, said, “I firmly believe we are extending lives” with the shuttle service.
As for Highlands Ranch, Doug Tisdale, sworn in Jan. 10 to represent the area on the , voiced hopes this week that discussions on how to provide meaningful Call-n-Ride services can be revisited.
County officials are keeping their eyes and ears open for ways to improve transit services for all.
“We will continue to explore any partnership opportunities we can to further leverage the limited grant resources we have available to maximize the amount of transit services provided,” Eby said. “I think that is where the opportunity lies and we want to be poised to be responsive when those sorts of partnership opportunities arise.”