The Roaring Fork Valley’s public bus system reached record ridership and exceeded the 5 million mark for the first time in 2016.
The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority said it hauled 5.22 million passengers last year. That is an increase of 279,739 riders, or 5.78 percent, from the year before. Ridership has flirted with the 5 million mark the past two years, with 4.81 million riders in 2014 and 4.84 million in 2015. The previous record was 4.85 million riders in 2008, according to Chief Executive Officer Dan Blankenship.
The record passenger count happened despite low gas prices and a relatively mild winter in 2016, Blankenship said.
But the increase might be attributed to something as mundane as better technology, he said. The bus system started using automated passenger counters in 2016 on routes within Aspen. It had previously asked drivers to keep track of passenger counts, which wasn’t always accurate because of the swarms that sometimes ride the Centennial and Hunter Creek routes, Blankenship said.
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